AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2021 - 26

SAFETY SPOTLIGHT
Inner circle
Rebuffed again by the Skywagon
BY RICHARD MCSPADDEN / Senior Vice President
AOPA Air Safety Institute
MY AFFECTION FOR the Cessna Skywagon is one-sided. The
180/185s are guarded, selective with who makes their inner circle,
and I'm not in it. I first approached the rugged taildragger formally,
as you would a debutante. I had proper introductions from pilots
warmly accepted in the Skywagon's strata: AOPA's Mark Baker,
Dave Hirschman, Katie Pribyl, and most recently aerobatic pilot
Jim Peitz. Still, the beast of the backcountry greets me unpredictably.
It plays favorites.
Cessna 180/185s are notoriously difficult airplanes to land well,
consistently. The Skywagon insists on a tender touchdown with
precise fuselage alignment, and active flight controls for crosswind
deflection. The large vertical stabilizer catches even the slightest
crosswind, and the springy Cessna landing gear will push you right
back airborne if you're even slightly firm on touchdown. Once the
heavy tail starts to swing, it gains momentum quickly and requires
active, sometimes large rudder input to control. It's a heavy airplane,
and it feels heavy with large flight controls that take a lot of
control movement, especially at slow speed.
Skywagons are stunning performers, however, known as the
" big iron " in the backcountry. Nothing can match their durability
and versatility. Large useful load; good climb power; decent
cruise speed; and excellent short-field performance. You can load
four people, luggage, and enough fuel to cruise at more than 150
mph for three hours or more, then land on a 1,500-foot gravel bar.
A 185 at takeoff power echoing through the canyons of the backcountry
is one of the most distinctive sounds in all of aviation.
I get the chance to fly a Skywagon occasionally. I was caretaker
of one, which I flew for 43 hours and landed 97 times, three of
which were good landings. Most recently I flew Jim Peitz's handsome
180. I met Jim late this summer, bumming for a seat with a
group of pilots flying the island airstrips in the San Juan Channel
off the Washington coast. Jim and Cathy Peitz took me on, and Jim
offered me the left seat for the day. I accepted, without admitting
to Jim that I loved the Skywagon much more than it loved me.
My first landing at Friday Harbor (FHR) was decent. So now
I had four good landings in a Skywagon. Next, we flew to Roche
Harbor (WA09). Landing to the west, the 30-foot-wide runway
slopes downhill. Fast on final, I elected to accept it and just work
off the excessive speed in the flare (seasoned Skywagon pilots are
beginning to snicker). The Skywagon made me pay for the sloppy
26
AOPA PILOT / November 2021
approach. We bounced and yawed a couple of times, and I wrestled
the persnickety airplane under control. Jim burst out in a loud
laugh. He saw it coming. The Skywagon will not accept sloppy
speed control on landing. Our third landing was on Olympic Field
(WA45), a 2,500-foot grass runway with a canal uncomfortably
close to the west edge for seaplane operations. Decent landing.
Being on speed makes a difference. Grass is easier. The canal along
the right side was a big motivator for precise landing control.
We finished the day at Jefferson County International Airport
in Port Townsend (0S9). I lined up beautifully, perfectly on speed
with a nice long final. In the flare, I ballooned a little, then a slight
bounce on touchdown, the right wing raised and suddenly it was
all I could muster to get the fuselage straight, get the right wing
down, and bring the impetuous brat back under control. I paused
for a second. Silence. Poor Cathy, I thought. She's not used to such
landings. Her husband is in the inner circle.
I taxied in, bewildered at what went wrong. Jim and I sat on the
deck of the Spruce Goose Café, sipping a beer and admiring what
was a splendid day. Good flying, great people. But I was brooding
a bit, still bothered by the last landing and embarrassed. On the
day, I was two for four on Skywagon landings. The demanding 180
rightfully punished me for landing too fast on the second landing.
Fine. I accept that. But I couldn't figure out the last landing.
Jim departed, and I sat on the deck looking out at the Skywagon
and in the distance behind it, the runway approach end-scene of
the crime. Then I noticed the windsock: a small, right quartering
headwind with some gusting component. Not large, but definite. I
didn't notice it setting up for arrival. That would cause it. A small
gust to initiate a balloon, and not enough aileron and rudder input
quick enough to keep the fuselage straight and the upwind wing
down. A bounce, and without enough upwind aileron, the wind
pushed the right wing up and yawed the nose upwind.
I'd attempted a fast landing and then a crosswind landing without
diligence on the controls. The
Skywagon would have none
of it: " Don't bring your unrefined
manners around here, " it
seemed to say, as it pushed me
back out of its esteemed circle.
richard.mcspadden@aopa.org
RICHARD MCSPADDEN
was once so stymied by
Skywagon landings that he
mounted cameras to review
the footage with another CFI.
aopa.org/pilot/povlandings
http://www.aopa.org/pilot/povlandings
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2021

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