The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane, built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats, installed in the baggage area. Introduced in 1956, the 182 has been produced in a number of variants, including a version with retractable landing gear, and is the second most popular Cessna model still in production, after the 172.
Development
The Cessna 182 was introduced in 1956 as a tricycle gear variant of the 180. In 1957, the 182A variant was introduced along with the name Skylane. As production continued, later models were improved regularly with features such as a wider fuselage, swept tailfin with rear "omni-vision" window, enlarged baggage compartment, higher gross weights, landing gear changes, etc. The "restart" aircraft built after 1996 were different in many other details including a different engine, new seating design, etc. By mid-2013 Cessna planned to introduce the next model of the 182T, the JT-A, using the SMA SR305-230diesel engine running on Jet-A with a burn rate of per hour and cruise at. Cessna has no timeline for the JT-A and the diesel 172. The normally aspirated, avgas fueled 182 went out of production in 2012, but came back in 2015. Cessna 182s were also built in Argentina by DINFIA, and by Reims Aviation, France, as the F182.
Design
The Cessna 182 is an all-metal aircraft, although some parts - such as engine cowling nosebowl and wingtips - are made of fiberglass or thermoplastic material. Its wing has the same planform as the smaller Cessna 172 and the larger 205/206 series; however, some wing details such as flap and aileron design are the same as the 172 and are not like the 205/206 components.
Retractable gear
The retractable gear R182 and TR182 were offered from 1978 to 1986, without and with engine turbocharging respectively. The model designation nomenclature differs from some other Cessna models with optional retractable gear. For instance the retractable version of the Cessna 172 was designated as the 172RG, whereas the retractable gear version of the Cessna 182 is the R182. Cessna gave the R182 the marketing name of "Skylane RG". The R182 and TR182 offer 10-15% improvement in climb and cruise speeds over their fixed gear counterparts or, alternatively, 10-15% better fuel economy at the same speeds at the expense of increased maintenance costs and decreased gear robustness. The 1978 R182 has a sea level climb rate of 1140 fpm and cruising speed at of 156 KTAS at standard temperature. The landing gear retraction system in the Skylane RG uses hydraulic actuators powered by an electrically driven pump. The system includes a gear position warning that emits an intermittent tone through the cabin speaker when the gear is in the retracted position and either the throttle is reduced below approximately 12" MAP or the flaps are extended beyond 20 degrees. In the event of a hydraulic pump failure, the landing gear may be lowered using a hand pump to pressurize the hydraulic system. The system does not, however, allow the landing gear to be manually retracted.
