Looking at putting speed mods on my 67 180C. Looks like the gap seals, wing root fairing and flap hinge covers will net me the best results. Has anyone else put these on and are they worth it? (Already have wheel pants).
My Previous plane was a 67 180 c/ Loved it. It had all of knots2u mods including the ones you mentioned. The stall speed was lower, the gound speed was 124kts. It handled extremly well. below is a link for the website it is on. It sold in one day. The new owner has commented several times at how great a plane it is. The speed mods were a huge benefit in speed, handling, looks, and selling the plane.
The flap hinge fairings will give you the biggest boost in speed (about 1.5 - 2 kts). The gap seals won't give you a measurable increase in speed, but will increase your roll rate by about 20%, making the plane a lot 'perkier' -- of all the mods, they are the best bang for the buck. The wing root fairings sure do look nice.
By way of comparison, the 150C (160 hp) that I fly has quite a few mods and cruises at about 134 kts at altitude and about 117 kts at 1100' DA.
My '66 Cherokee 180C has most of the mods as the previous owner spent a lot of money on them. I wasn't looking for them specifically but they are a "nice to have". I'm consistently getting 125 knots and the plane handles very nicely. I don't know if I would go out and purchase all of them though. If I had some spare money I'd probably buy an IFR GPS and other avionics. I really like the Knots-2-U wingtips though because the lights are great! You look like a KingAir on final when you have them lit up. You can see some of the pictures of my mods at http://n9526j.thefreyfamily.net
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Jeff Frey - [n9526j.thefreyfamily.net]
Places that I've flown: [flights.thefreyfamily.net]
"It's your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude." - Fortune Cookie
My Cherokee 180C will also consistently turn 120-125kts, true airspeed, at a DA of 8000 feet, producing about 75% power at wide open throttle at just a smidge under 10gph.
The only "go fast" mod are the Hoerner wingtips. Stock pants.
The secret is a very careful job of rigging per the service manual and a recently overhauled engine.
I'm not knocking the aftermarket providers of go-fast stuff, but really, it doesn't make any sense to start modding things if the basic aircraft doesn't perform to book numbers to begin with.
Rigging, by the Piper service manual, is the hands-down best speed mod you can possibly do and it only costs the few hours of labor in order to accomplish it. It does take time and a lot of mechanics don't follow the full procedure because most people figure if it flies level, that's good enough.
>I'm not knocking the aftermarket providers of go-fast stuff, but really, it doesn't make any sense to start modding things if the basic aircraft doesn't perform to book numbers to begin with.<
I agree with Larry. Rig first. The 150C (160hp) that I fly gets 135 knots at 8000'DA and just under 75% power, but it is heavily modded. I think there's at least another 10 knots to be found.
JimC
jim what type of speed mods do you have as my 1977 140, only gets up to 100KTS. my mods are wing tips gap seals. inner wing vgs,i know vgs are not a speed mod and wheel pants, and wheel fairings.
Martin,
submerged radio antennae in the wingtips and dorsal fin, gap seals, wing root fairings, aft flap hinge fairings, flush tail beacon, laminar oleo fairings, modified mainwheel fairings, modified nosewheel fairing, one-piece windshield, windshield-cowl fillet, 160 hp, 62" pitch prop, prop tip mod.
At what altitude are you getting 100 Kts? If low, you would do better at higher density altitudes. At 1100 feet, I only get about 117 - 118 knots cruise. Top speed at 1100 feet is 141 knots.
I've been thinking about buying one for my 140 since a fellow at my field bought a similar type of fairing for a Cessna 182 and reported that his "works as claimed".
