Owning a Cessna Light Airplane
Buying the Cessna was one of the best things Garry, my husband, and I have done. It has been a great experience to own and fly such a well designed and reliable light aircraft.
The Cessna 175is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane produced between 1958 and 1962. Ours is from 1961 and the first comment from my husband after we purchased it was that it “was nice to have an airplane which was younger than he was”. While it incorporates airframe changes, the 175 is very similar in appearance to a 172 of the same vintage. The most noticeable difference is the distinctive bulge in the cowling to accommodate the gearbox of the engine. The Cessna 175 uses the big Continental GO-300 engine (hence the required bulge in the cowling) which delivers 175 horsepower, 30 hp more than the 172. The plane, like all other C175s, also has manual flap activation with a bar on the tunnel between the seats, making it great for Short Take off and Landing (STOL) operations.
After a lot of research we narrowed down what we wanted and when we saw the C175 in the flesh we knew that it was the one for us! At the time it looked a little sad and weary but just like the DIY programmes, “we could see the potential in it”. The C175 had spent many years in Cambridgeshire being operated from a farm strip but had not been flown much latterly due to the advancing age of the owners. However, we were to change all that!
Once the final deed was done, the money paid over and the airplane flown to Booker we choose to spend some of our hard earned cash having our Cessna professionally cleaned inside and out. It came back spotless and finally we had a four seater airplane that we could venture further afield in and that looked good.
That first summer the Cessna 175 fulfilled all our expectations and we had trips to the Isle of White (many times) in the Solent, to Perranporth in Cornwall, to Sleap in Cheshire, and all around the Welsh coast and mountains. We also took the Cessna to Ireland and flew all around South East Ireland, landing in Waterford and Weston just outside Dublin. The four seats and extra horsepower of the Cessna 175 proved invaluable that summer as we used the airplane for many sightseeing trips with friends and family. That was a real highlight for me. Being able to give them a taste of both Ireland and England from the air and sharing the experience with them has been one of my “best bits” with this plane. Flying had never been so much fun.
As the year drew to a close, we decided the time was right for stage 2 of the airplane’s refurb plan. We had saved up our pennies (the C175 being an economical beast) and decide to bite the bullet. So that winter the airplane went to Turweston to Mick Allen and had a completely new interior, new roof lining, door linings, new full leather (soft grey) seats, new carpets etc. It also had new seat belts installed. It arrived back at Booker looking immaculate. Spring was just around the corner, we had a pristine Cessna 175 to fly – and we were very excited to get flying again!
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