• If You Are Having Trouble Logging In with Your Old Username and Password, Please use this Forgot Your Password link to get re-established.
  • Hey! Be sure to login or register!

Floats on a 180

Eddie Foy

Eddie Foy

MEMBER
South Florida
How big a goat rope is it to put an 180 on floats that did not come with the seaplane kit?
 
Eddie
I could be wrong but unless you install a seaplane kit it’s not legal. My last 180 had one added to a 1964 G in 2008 at a cost of $18,000. He thought it was a good deal at the time. Lots of labor for sure.

Lou
 
Yep, I found a killer deal on a set of floats and checked on putting them on my Cessna. I founf that it would have been cheaper to sell the plane and get one already on floats.
 
If you decide to change planes all the 185 are float kited from the factory, or at least most are. The way to tell if a Skywagons has a factory kit they zinc cromated the inside of the entire plane. The guy that know Skywagons on floats is MTV.
SIDE NOTE, I wanted to put my 185 on floats a year or so ago and the insurance was $9,300 a year in Alaska vs. $3,300 on wheels. It's on wheels,lol.
 
Eddie get a small floatplane for that and keep the 180 for that. But if you want to explore Canada and Alaska on floats then you know now what it'll cost. Plus lots of fuel onboard.

Gary
 
There was a member on here who was adding a float kit to a 180 a few years back. I remember his avatar but not the name. He didn’t think it was as bad as most of us who’d never done it had suggested. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
 
The late Clare Wesley (big dealer in Cessna and floats in Minnesota) told me years ago that he had one done in his shop. It was very labor intensive and expensive. He would never do another one.
 
BC12D-4-85 said:
Eddie get a small floatplane for that and keep the 180 for that. But if you want to explore Canada and Alaska on floats then you know now what it'll cost. Plus lots of fuel onboard.

Gary
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I did! Wanted to fly floats, bought a sweet Champ on floats and got my SES in it. Flew it about 300 hours before I resold it. The most fun I've ever had was flying floats!
 
About 10 years ago I inquired about adding a float kit to my '54 180. He was extremeley versed in the 180/185 world and although he was an AP/IA he used those certs for his own air taxi operation, not exclusively for a living. His answer, "$10,000 if he did the work, $20,000 if I helped."

Unless you have sentimental ties to the plane, find one with a FACTORY float kit installed or a very reputable shop. I have heard several horror stories of kits installed in the field.
 
Eddie Foy said:
Okay. What about putting a J-3 on floats?
Click to expand...

Pretty darned easy!!

Seriously, if that is your desire, keep your eyes out and you can find a champ, Sedan, or something like it for about 40k on floats. Finding good J-3 or champ floats can take awhile, seems more planes on floats are for sale than quality little bird floats.

Let me know I will keep my eyes out.

I do know of a 185 on Aerocetts for sale in primo shape, and another unbelievable 185 for adoption on amphibious floats back east... the Amphib will take a grueling interview, and you will need letters of recommendation from members, and a lot of dead presidents before the owner lets you near it though:lol:
 
I am seriously considering a J-3 that a friend owns. It is on wheels. It is just me thinking out loud. If I lived on a lake, I would do it in a New York minute.
 
More fun than one should be allowed with their clothing on!

A guy in Juneau has one with a 100 hp. keeps it on a trailer in the hangar. Takes him less than 20 minutes to go from hangar to taxi. He has carried a large buck on each float coming home, and a couple of times come in with 150 lb halibut attached to the spreader bars!

Great machines, simple, fun and affordable to fly.

If you can afford it, just buy the Aerocetts for it and laugh the rest of your flying life!
 
Agree. One of biggest surprises for me in performance was J-3 85hp on floats. I learned on J-3 65hp on floats and Taylorcraft BC12D 65hp on wheels but the 85hp version is strong in memories of "little" planes.
 
For more strength convert by STC and SB the C-85 to effectively a C-90 via a longer stroke O-200 crankshaft, O-200 three spring cylinders with higher but legal compression, and a C-90 cam with more valve lift. Finish that with a freer flowing intake and exhaust plus the longest propeller approved. Limit power via rpm to the manufacturer's recommendation if required.

Gary
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Cessna 180 Float Kit Install
Replies
27
Views
3K
airChris
A
H
floats for salt water
Replies
2
Views
2K
mvivion
mvivion
wingnut18
Best Anphib Floats
Replies
8
Views
3K
hikouka
H
W
flying with amphib floats off pavement
Replies
10
Views
4K
sj
sj
S
Which on floats?
Replies
22
Views
6K
Cub Kid
Cub Kid
Back
Top