N8045W
The plane that we fly is a 1965 Piper Cherokee 180 C. We bought the plane in 2020, but we were already quite familiar with this aircraft. We have been flying it on and off for about 3 years before purchasing it. The owner then mentioned that he might sell the plane, and my wife and I decided to buy it. We have a lot of plans for 45W, including some further updates and lots more traveling. We will post some updates here.
The avionics in the plane was updated in 2012. At that time, a Garmin 650, an S-TEC autopilot, a JPI engine monitor, and FuelScan 450 fuel computer were installed. In 2018 a new transponder was installed to meet ADS-B requirements. In 2019 a Garmin G5 was installed as the old attitude indicator had failed. In the summer of 2021, we installed a second G5 and removed the vacuum system.
At this point, we are pretty happy with the avionics. We might look into updating the engine monitoring system and a better fuel monitor system, but we want to tackle a few other things first.
Avionics
The engine is a 180 HP Lycoming O-360-A3A. In 2018, a Tanis engine heater was installed (we’re in Iowa, so we need it). In 2020, we installed an electronic ignition system. This replaced one of the magnetos with an electronic ignition system. The carburetor was also replaced with a rebuilt one in 2018.
This engine does have one quirk. Due to the hollow shaft, there is a yellow arc on the tachometer. This goes from about 2100-2200 RPM. This is due to potential vibrations that can occur. It’s annoying, but you can work around it in most cases.
In 2023, we got news that a cylinder failed a compression test during the annual. Further inspection found a few other issues, including damage to the camshaft. This triggered a complete overhaul of the engine, which it is currently undergoing. What happened? Well, there are a few theories, including a possible part from the carburetor that got loose and may have been sucked into the engine. But the other issue is that the last overhaul was only a top overhaul. To some degree, it doesn’t matter. The engine will be rebuilt, and from here on out, we can work on keeping her flying.
Engine
The airframe on 45W hasn’t changed much. Our biggest issue with the aircraft is needing a new paint job. This isn’t cheap, though, so we are working on saving up to do it right. We will probably at the same time, replace the wing tips and some of the other fiberglass components as they are showing a lot of age right now.
We will probably also replace the exterior lights at the same time. It does have an LED taxi light, but the rest are the older incandescent or xenon strobe lights. We plan to replace the wing tip lights (strobe and nav) with LEDs and the rotating beacon and tail light.
