1963 Cherokee 180
Hi everyone, we just got the word we officially got her! 1963 Piper Cherokee 180! So happy to be part of the group. We are going through major upgrades before we bring her home. We are completely redoing the panel, garmin g5’s, another garmin nav/com, garmin 430, and a garmin 255 so we can lose all the cdi’s. Looking forward to interacting with everyone. I tried putting some pics in but they wouldn’t load. We are also documenting it all via video on YouTube but don’t want to violate any rules by posting the vid. Can’t wait to meet everyone!
Tom
Comments
Congratulations hopefully you took some before and after shots that'll really be cool to see especially on a 63. Carl
49 yrs A/P IA DAL A/C inspector. 172N Rotax IRMT 912/914
Hey Carl! Thanks. Yeah we are doing videos of everything we are doing. I was just wondering how to post pics. I can’t get them to load. And… are videos ok on the site. I didn’t post because I didn’t want take a chance on breaking rules on my first day!😎
Hi 1080tommy,
If the images are too large, they will not post. I am not sure of the size cutoff. I use the Preview app on my MacBook and choose 800 x 800 to resize the image and it will post.
Congratulations on the '63 Cherokee 180. Early one for sure, only 1 year after introduction. What engine does it have? The O-360-A3A or O-360-A4A? The type certificate allows either one and the A3A with the hollow crankshaft requires periodic inspection and has an RPM restriction from 2150-2350 RPM. When I had my 1966 Cherokee 180 engine overhauled, I opted for the A4A to remove both the inspections and the RPM restrictions.
Regards,
Mike
Thanks Mike! It's an O-360-A3A. I talked to the mechanic doing the overhaul and he's going to check into the issues with the hollow crank. I was a bit confused because we have a fixed pitch Sensenich prop and the hollow crank supposedly is for the constant speed prop. Not sure what's going to happen, but the engine is getting a full overhaul. He said the engine has been completely disassembled and the parts are going to be sent out. It's been awesome so far. We are also doing a panel upgrade. I'll have some pics and vids. Again, I'm not putting the vids up cuz I'm so new and I do not want to offend anyone or break the forum guidelines. Haven't had the time to really see what those are as I am down in Missouri this week.
Tom
About videos, have seen others posts with links to 'tube content showing-off some plane skin. Just say-in.
New owner here. I am not the pilot "yet". I told my 25yr old son I would partner with him on one. We got a 1965 Cherokee 180. He has roughly 55 hrs in it , and was checking off a few minor things in order to do his check ride, and we discovered a prop strike. It did not kill the engine, and neither my son or his CFI ever remember hitting anything. That being said, we ( the A&P), are in the process of getting the prop off and the engine out to have the IRAN done. It really sucks that he was that close to getting his license, and now the plane is out of commission for 6 months or more.
Depending on TIS of the engine, stay in contact with the IRAN shop. Your insurance is picking up the cost of the Lycoming prop strike AD minimum, and maybe even the IRAN, so if that comes close to an overhaul it may be worth paying the delta for that. That is what our shop does with any prop strikes we assist with.
Tom Jackson
PA28RT-201, N3022U
Tappahannock, VA (KXSA)
A&P/IA, Private Pilot, IR/A
Hi 1080tommy,
Just wondering what the outcome is on the swap from the hollow O-360-A3A to the solid crank O-360-A4A for your Cherokee to avoid the RPM restriction and periodic inspections?
Regards,
Mike
Find my article on prop strikes. There's some good useful information there if you have not seen it. Carl
49 yrs A/P IA DAL A/C inspector. 172N Rotax IRMT 912/914
well, my engine just has about 1375 SMOH so not sure I want to spend the money right now for the total overhaul, unless they find something bad when they open it up.
I do like the idea of making that swap, and will definitely look into that when I have to rebuild it. At this point I am just leaning towards doing the IRAN, as long as everything looks good, and flying it for 600+ more hours until TBO.
thank you, will look that up
Thanks to you guys for the suggestions and info
Anyone have an opinion on which audio panel is better Garmin VS PS Engineering ? I am looking to upgrade my avionics and don't know much about this stuff. I have purchased 2 AV-30's with the AV-link, AV-HSI, and the External Mag. I am looking at either the Garmin 345 or the PS Engineering PMA 450C for the audio panel, and a Garmin GNC 355. Does anyone know if this will all "JIVE" together ?
Either audio panel will work with what you are installing. For me personally, I like PSE as all they do is audio panels, and they do them very well. The AV-30 gear is system agnostic, so will work with either Avidyne or Garmin navigators.
Full disclosure, my shop is not a Garmin dealer, so I skew towards PSE, Avidyne, etc.
Tom Jackson
PA28RT-201, N3022U
Tappahannock, VA (KXSA)
A&P/IA, Private Pilot, IR/A
Am loving the PS Engineering PMA450. Ability to spatially move one of the perceived audio locations for each COMM channel (IntelliAudio) is a game changer and makes listening to ATC while getting weather a non-event. Have not dug into the Garmin specs, but if it has the audio separation feature for COM1 and COM2 along with ability to play music in stereo, then it is just a matter of price.
One thing I have learned with the PMA450 is that it tends to drop the second Bluetooth connection when something broadcasts over the first Bluetooth connection. Scenario: the tablet with flight software (ForeFlight, Garmin, whatever...) is first to connect, and then later while in flight, a music device is second to connect. Music plays through out the flight, UNTIL, the tablet broadcasts something (ex: check ATIS on XXX.xx, a hazard advisory, or an airspace advisory). Once the tablet makes its broadcast over Bluetooth, the second connection either drops or goes stale (do not know which) and the only way for playing music again is usually to reconnect the second Bluetooth device and restart the music player (sometimes I am able to simply pause the music and restart, but this is rare). As the scenario most commonly occurs when I am reaching the destination with the alert to check ATIS, I just go sterile cockpit at that point anyway and stow the music device. This 'feature' (or perhaps bug?) was present in the PMA450A that I had, and is still present in the new PMA450B that I recently installed (the PMA450A developed a few other quirks that were not fix-able which drove the new PMA450B decision).
FWIW, if there are plans to record audio on a DVR via Bluetooth, IIRC the PMA450C will not handle this role where the PMA450B will stream audio to a DVR.
One thing to note (and at the risk of insulting), if deciding to go with the PMA450 device for the IntelliAudio feature, chances are good that the plane's intercom wiring will need upgrading to stereo as the common OE configuration is mono. Without stereo capability in the intercom wiring, IntelliAudio features are worthless. Another FWIW, current headsets are likely to have stereo capability and it is just a matter of finding the mono / stereo switch.