AOPA announced today their selection for the 2011 airplane sweepstakes. The airplane will be a 1970's Cessna 182 Skylane. However, the final airplane will not be your typical Skylane once the AOPA delivers the plane to the winner. The project is being called the 'Crossover Classic.'
The first article on the sweepstakes airplane will be featured in the 2010 October issue of 'AOPA Pilot' magazine when they document their search for an airworthy aircraft capable of becoming the Crossover Classic. You can also follow along with the project online with their blog at 'The Sweepstakes Logbook' The first post details some rather less than airworthy airplanes they've encountered in their search as well as good insights from their pre-purchase inspector, Don Sebastian.
The Skylane, once selected, will be flown to Air Plains Services in Wellington Kansas at the Wellington Municipal Airport (KEGT). This is where the transformation will begin. The first step will be completed by Air Plains, and will be a replacement of the C-182's engine with a factory remanufactured Teledyne Continental Motors IO-550D engine. This modification will take the Skylane from the factory 230HP to 300HP, a dramatic improvement of @30%. According to Air Plains website, cruise speed increases from 145MPH up to 180-185MPH and rate of climb increases from 1,000FPM to 1,700-1,800FPM at sea level. The service ceiling also improves from around 18,000' to 24,000'.
Other modification planned for the C-182 Skylane will be a Hartzell three-blade propeller, short takeoff and landing kit, wingtip fuel tanks, Garmin G500 avionics suite, PS engineernig audio panel, JP Instruments EDM-930 engine data system, a redesigned interior by Air MOD, and L-3 Trilogy standby instruments. The plane will also receive a paint job by Aircraft Painting of Salisbury, NC.
When all the modifications and additions are completed, the Crossover Classic Skylane will be in it's own class with some of the most state of the art equipment and offering amazing performance.
To see how to qualify for the sweepstakes, and to read the official rules, you can visit the Sweepstakes Official Rules.
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