• 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!

Commonwealth SkyRanger 185

RVBottomly

RVBottomly

PATRON
Asotin County Washington (KLWS)
I was innocently minding my own business, scrolling through aviation stuff on the local Craigslist, when I ran across a Commonwealth SkyRanger 185.


https://lewiston.craigslist.org/avo/d/lewiston-commonwealth-skyranger-185/6966779507.html

I'd never seen or heard of one before. This one has a C-90, is in current annual, and apparently has relatively new fabric. The downside is the owner doesn't seem to know much of its history and only flies it 5-6 hours a year.

But I'm a sucker for the obscure. I wasn't really looking for something like this to buy, but I'm going to look at it tomorrow.

Is anyone here familiar with this type?
Vic
 
Pretty rare air there, nice side by side seating. If I remember right my uncle flew them and said heavy controls and bad in crosswinds. But the plus side was very stable! He liked his cub and lusombe better. I’ve only seen one. I though he said they had slots or slats I can’t remember that was a long time ago. I’m sure there’s some one here that’s knows more.
 
Well it’s certainly cheap! I’ve seen them around but don’t know much about them. My feeling on obscure airplanes is there’s a reason they’re obscure...
 
I almost bought one in the 80's. It was at Ferndale, MT. I wound up getting my Tcraft instead. From what I remember, it was a pretty good little bird. Side by side and sticks! I remember it has a small looking rudder, and not balanced.
John
 
If my memory serves, the Skyranger is a derivative of a late 1930's Rearwin design, probably on the same Type Certificate. A former Luscombe partner of mine bought one in the late '70's, but didn't fly it a whole lot. But of course he got to abbreviate his logbook entries as "C-185" ;-) . I seem to recall a wooden wing structure, so that's something which would need to be carefully looked at, including how it's been stored over the years.

That said, I've got a soft spot in my heart (and head) for these examples of all these old gems, chasing pretty much the same small market. Let us know what you find out.

Thanks. cubscout
 
I too recall it having a wood spars and ribs. Very roomy. I had a friend with one long ago who seemed to like it. I never flew in it. This is a good description: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Skyranger
That price is suspicious, unless the owner just wants it gone. The pictures imply that it has been hangared which is a plus.
It is likely that it is not as well known as the Cubs and Champs because the company went out of business just as the post war boom was starting. They did not have the advantage of a large war time production being all tooled up, along with the war production resources to keep them going.

Let us know what you find. It certainly is not expensive.
 
Took a fella up there to look at it a few week ago. He needed LSA. This little plane doesn't qualify. 1500 grosse wieght.
Not a bad looking plane.
 
Thanks, everyone. I'm heading up there in a couple of hours.

I was not looking for something to buy as I'm building, but I'm sure getting tired of the rent/schedule dance these days.

I'll give a review later, after I get done with all my appointments.

Vic
 
Might be a fun ride. The Wiki article above has a great link to reviews. Taylorcraft-type 23012 wing.

Gary
 
So I checked it out. It looked pretty good. The owner is an older A&P, retired except for a hobby of restoring aircraft. He lives on a private airstrip development 7 miles out of town. I didn't know the place existed. He used to be a spray pilot too. Nice shop with various exotic parts and relics. Turns out he is good friends with a local IA that I respect, who signed the July annual. Reason he wants to sell is to make room for the Ercoupe he has an eye on.

I didn't press him on the low price--I'm going to talk to the IA about that. I did like the airplane: clean and simple. The owner pointed various minor flaws, but the engine seems sound and good compressions measured just 2 months ago. I didn't have time to run it, that will be later. It also has updated Cleveland disc brakes and an electric starter. New mags. I poked around in usual suspicious areas and saw no hint of rust. Logs go back to 1947 and it looked consistently maintained. Top overhaul 6 years ago, overhaul 9 years ago in a shop in Billings. Once concern is low hours over the past 6 years, but that seems common on these kinds of things.

20191004_124015727356079.jpg




It has wing slots on the outer wing:


20191004_123939857613819.jpg


T-craft-like wings:

20191004_125051563074657.jpg


So, despite not planning on buying an airplane, I intend to have another set of eyes look it over. I will probably make an offer. My aviation slush fund has built up to cover it. Now I just have to find a hangar....(He did offer to rent me his for the time being).
 
Hardtailjohn said:
I almost bought one in the 80's. It was at Ferndale, MT. I wound up getting my Tcraft instead. From what I remember, it was a pretty good little bird. Side by side and sticks! I remember it has a small looking rudder, and not balanced.
John
Click to expand...

This might be the same one. Looks like it spent time in eastern Montana in the 80s.
 
Was the shop that did the overhaul MAC? Or Tim McGinnis? Awesome guy if it is! We used to run a bunch of TSIO-360 Continentals and he was the only one I found that could make them stick together consistently to TBO.
Looks like a fun little rig!!!
John
 
Hardtailjohn said:
Was the shop that did the overhaul MAC? Or Tim McGinnis? Awesome guy if it is! We used to run a bunch of TSIO-360 Continentals and he was the only one I found that could make them stick together consistently to TBO.
Looks like a fun little rig!!!
John
Click to expand...
It was Tim McGinnis. The current owner spoke highly of him too.

Sent from my SM-J320V using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
There was one around this area when I started my shop in 84. Guy rebuilt it and brought it in to me for an annual. Looked up in the wings and saw paint stirring sticks used to repair the wood ribs. I passed on working on it.
 
A friend of mine had one back in the early 80s in Toledo, WA. Nice plane. As previously mentioned, the large vertical stab and small rudder limit the crosswind capabilities, but otherwise a nice solid plane. Was originally born with a C-85. I can tell you the grillwork and exhaust aren't original, but that's probably not a huge surprise. It was built with drilled diffusers on the exhaust. It looks like those are just missing, but shouldn't be an issue. I can't recall what the cowl looked like, but the inlets on that one aren't it. :lol: I'll have to dig through my old photos and see if I can't find my pictures of it. At any rate, if I was in the market for that class of plane, I'd be all over it for that price. Original instrumentation was all the engine instruments in a single gauge around a large tachometer. Kind of like the dash on a 1950s car. ;-)

-Cub Builder
 
S2D said:
There was one around this area when I started my shop in 84. Guy rebuilt it and brought it in to me for an annual. Looked up in the wings and saw paint stirring sticks used to repair the wood ribs. I passed on working on it.
Click to expand...

I did peek up at the spar and ribs and didn't see any paint sticks. I didn't see any obvious cracks or rot, either.
 
Cub Builder said:
Original instrumentation was all the engine instruments in a single gauge around a large tachometer. Kind of like the dash on a 1950s car. ;-)

-Cub Builder
Click to expand...

I have to admit that was one of the first things that started tugging on me. That and it reminded me of my first car: a 1938 Buick Special.
 
S2D said:
There was one around this area when I started my shop in 84. Guy rebuilt it and brought it in to me for an annual. Looked up in the wings and saw paint stirring sticks used to repair the wood ribs. I passed on working on it.
Click to expand...

Lol, when I worked at Rhinebeck and had a rib repair on a flying airplane we went to the snack bar trash and got the popsicle sticks and 5 min epoxy.
They are beech sticks, if you ever tried to twist one off in your teeth when you were a kid you know how tough they are

Glenn
 
A2ACD16D-CD3C-40A2-AB2C-DA7C70458209.jpg
A buddy has one down in Florida that I flew, C85 on that one. Sticks, comfortable, not very fast, agree on the low crosswind limitation.

Enjoy!
 

Attachments

  • A2ACD16D-CD3C-40A2-AB2C-DA7C70458209.jpg
    A2ACD16D-CD3C-40A2-AB2C-DA7C70458209.jpg
    99.9 KB · Views: 363
I'm still checking on things. One question though: it doesn't have shoulder straps. I think there is support in the superstructure to attach something, but I don't have a fuselage drawing.

I really want shoulder restraints. Even my 1972 Subaru had that.
 
It’s an outgrowth of the Rearwin Cloudster. Been a long time since I worked on a Commonwealth, but the rear carry through should be OK to attach shoulder harness to. It only has a single diagonal from the front carry through to the rear, so if you ever recover the fuselage, installing an X brace would be a good idea. I had to straighten the diagonal on a Cloudster following a very light wing tip strike.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

RVBottomly
Commonwealth SkyRanger 185
Replies
4
Views
2K
BC12D-4-85
BC12D-4-85
H
Engine Overhaul woes
2 3
Replies
75
Views
29K
beezerboy
B
Cubus Maximus
2003 Rainy Lake Fly-In
Replies
3
Views
4K
murph
murph
Steve's Aircraft (Brian)
SR-71 Blackbird, Brian Shul's memoir
Replies
27
Views
44K
mvivion
mvivion
C
Have you ever spent the night in Corsicana, Texas?
Replies
9
Views
6K
dreamer
dreamer
Back
Top