Restarting The Skylane

As generations of pilots know, 182s are capable grass or gravel-strip performers, even in their stock configuration.

After passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 that granted some relief from never-ending liability, Cessna management kept its promise to restart piston-engine production. Because the Wichita Skylane plant had been converted to other purposes during the interim, a new factory was built in Independence, Kansas, where production resumed in 1997. Not surprisingly, the retail price of a new Skylane had essentially doubled by then.

These 182S and 182T Skylanes are not your father's 182. Their hulking Lycoming IO-540 engines maintain the 230-hp certification limit and feature fuel injection to remove the carburetor icing risk. A three-blade propeller, while listed as optional, was essentially standard, and there were more substantial crashworthy seats, extra ventilation and dual vacuum pumps. The landing lights were moved back to the leading edge of the left wing, and the fuel tanks were peppered with five quick-drains each (plus three under the belly).

The introduction of the 182T in 2001 saw few changes over the 182S, but it did mark the arrival of a turbocharged sibling in that year. Painted trim stripes replaced the vinyl appliquÃ©s used previously. A more significant milestone was the 2006 introduction of the Garmin G1000 avionics suite for the Skylane, followed by the G1000 Skyhawk a year later. The competition from the flashy Cirrus airplanes required major shifts in the equipage of the staid old Cessna singles. Cessna attempted to compete with Cirrus with the Columbia/Corvalis/TTx airplane, leaving the Skylane in its all-around step-up role.

Cessna 182 Skylane

J BeckettWriter