Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an aircraft that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.
Today’s Top Pick is a 1977 Cessna 185F Skywagon
Many of us learn to fly and buy our own aircraft so we can travel long distances and gain access to new places. When those places are out of the way and have only a short turf or gravel strip for arrivals and departures, a muscular taildragger like the Cessna 185F might be the only realistic way to go.
This is a far cry from the Cubs or Citabrias in which many of us got our tailwheel endorsements. The 185F generally is considered a more demanding and rewarding machine. Known for its short-field performance and useful load of around 1,400 pounds, the 185F has long been a favorite of wilderness guides for hauling hunting parties into the bush and carrying them out with any big game they have managed to bag.
Imagine yourself at the controls of this sharp 185, carrying family and friends to remote camps and resorts, often hundreds of miles from the nearest airline service.
This Cessna has 5,172 hours on the airframe and 535 hours on the 300-hp Continental IO-520D engine since new. The propeller is a three-blade McCauley with 1,288 hours since overhaul. The airplane has a factory float kit, long-range 84-gallon fuel tanks, stainless steel cables, a windshield V brace, Cleveland wheels and brakes and more.
Pilots seeking a rugged airplane for transporting people or heavy cargo to remote destinations—or simply a 300 hp ticket to aerial adventures—should look into this well-kept 185F, which is available for $295,000 on AircraftForSale. You can arrange financing of the airplane through FLYING Financial Group. For more information, email info@flyingfinancial.com.
- FLYING Magazine: Alaska Wild in a Cessna 185
- FLYING Magazine: Six Classic Utility Aircraft
- Plane & Pilot: The Cessna Buyer’s Guide
- Plane & Pilot: Cessna’s Big 185
- The Aviation Consumer: Used Aircraft Guide: Cessna 185 Skywagon
