• 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!

Cessna A185F stretcher door and photo port photos

bat443

Registered User
Barnstormer asked about these photos of a 1973 A185F I previously owned. The original owner when new was the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, they used the photo port to drop fish in lakes as part of a planting program. They took the seats out and had a tank installed with a dump valve that dropped the fish out of the belly. They also had O2 tanks to keep the fish in the tank alive. The photos of the photo port show the ring removed that connected the floor and the belly skin as they were taken during an annual inspection. The smaller opening aft was for the view finder. If I had not sold the airplane for financial reasons I would have removed the photo provisions, restored the control cable routing to standard configuration, and replaced the floor and belly skins so that I could install the C3200 skis I have. The stretcher door was very handy but is not approved for airplanes with a float kit.

I currently have a 1954 170B 180 hp that I am flying until I get a chance to finish a 180H project. The 170B has the offset photo port behind the pilots seat. Next time I get to the hangar I will take a few photos of it also and add to this thread.

Tim
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
Tim
 

Attachments

  • may72007 118.webp
    may72007 118.webp
    65.1 KB · Views: 1,040
  • may72007 117.webp
    may72007 117.webp
    78.7 KB · Views: 941
  • may72007 101.webp
    may72007 101.webp
    35.6 KB · Views: 931
  • may72007 100.webp
    may72007 100.webp
    45.9 KB · Views: 940
  • may72007 098.webp
    may72007 098.webp
    92.7 KB · Views: 924
  • may72007 095.webp
    may72007 095.webp
    84.2 KB · Views: 917
  • may72007 091.webp
    may72007 091.webp
    95.7 KB · Views: 930
  • 3379S baggage door.webp
    3379S baggage door.webp
    260.1 KB · Views: 1,513
  • 010.webp
    010.webp
    89 KB · Views: 1,075
A 180 that parks next to mine has a big stretcher door. The owner hauls lots of freight and supplies and even with that he never uses it. He says its a pain in the butt and wouldn't have another. I think his is taller than yours but his 180 doesn't have the back window to contend with. Does your stretcher door come with any operating limitations that differ from standard 185s?
 
Last edited:
I think that the door you describe your neighbor has is a STC'd, door if I remember correctly it was from Alcor in the 60's. If it is the one I am thinking of it goes from the aft door post bulkhead on the left side to the aft end of the baggage compartment. I have only ever seen photos of that door. Looking at the photos it appears to have several latches and would have to be propped up when open. Then you would have to bend down under it to load things as the forward end is still under the wing. I can understand how that would be hard to use. The one in the 185 I owned was a Cessna factory door, it ran from the aft end of the baggage door to the aft end of the factory extended baggage. It had two latch pins at the front, one top and one bottom, very easy to open and close. There were no additional or different operating limitations on the airplane.

Tim
 
Thanks Tim. It's especially interesting to learn how the photo port was used in that plane.
 
Was just looking at a 180 project with a camera bay in it the other day. Quite the system to re-route the cables! The one I put in our 206 was much more simple!
 
Looks like I’m late to the party. Here are some pictures of the Alco Cargomore door as I am doing an inspection on this aircraft and also need some info if anyone has any. I’m trying to find particular STC information regarding battery relocation. This AC also has the camera port and the large circular hatch. This AC is one of 3 that was owned by AA Northwest.IMG_5872.webp
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5862.webp
    IMG_5862.webp
    765.9 KB · Views: 72
  • IMG_5860.webp
    IMG_5860.webp
    1 MB · Views: 63
  • IMG_5859.webp
    IMG_5859.webp
    1.6 MB · Views: 62
  • IMG_5858.webp
    IMG_5858.webp
    1.9 MB · Views: 58
  • IMG_5873.webp
    IMG_5873.webp
    2.7 MB · Views: 55
That big door just looks spooky to me. I wonder if they'd ever get something like that approved these days.....

MTV
 
I believe that AA Northwest was a flight service in the Portland OR area many years ago.
Like you said, they had three 180's- all painted the same.
N172AA used to be owned by Paul Lawrence,
he was heavily involved with the NW Antique Airplane Club
when they used to put on the Evergreen Fly-in in Vancouver WA every year.
I believe it is currently in the San Juan Islands in WA, at least part of the year,
owned by a guy who used to do biplane rides at Orcas Island.
You might try getting ahold of the owner,
maybe he has the documentation you're looking for.N172AA.webp
 
I believe that AA Northwest was a flight service in the Portland OR area many years ago.
Like you said, they had three 180's- all painted the same.
N172AA used to be owned by Paul Lawrence,
he was heavily involved with the NW Antique Airplane Club
when they used to put on the Evergreen Fly-in in Vancouver WA every year.
I believe it is currently in the San Juan Islands in WA, at least part of the year,
owned by a guy who used to do biplane rides at Orcas Island.
You might try getting ahold of the owner,
maybe he has the documentation you're looking for.View attachment 105915
Yeah that would be great to talk with him. That is correct the AA Northwest (Air Ambulance North West) was in Vancouver, Wa according to my research. The STC number I found was SA238SW which come back to a Richard A. Ashley of San Antonio Texas and the STC was reissued in 1987 but haven’t found any info on this fellow.
 
Back
Top