TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Im thinking of for the first time building a kit and the one I want is the Top Flight Cessna 182 with the 80 in. WS.
I have seen pics of this plane being put together and it has sheet balsa..how do you bend the balsa wood on all those round sections and what type of glue would be best to use in building this kit?
With no experience in building..on a scale of 1-10 how difficult will it be?
What do I use to secure the parts down when putting together and do the balsa parts come out of the sheets precut or do you have to cut them out myself?
With all that said..is this a good kit all in all?:eek:

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

I would say the balsa is light enough to easily bend and you would most likely use epoxy, but others will most likely me able to give you more specifics. I am also considering this plane and will be interested in seeing this thread develop. I have built one kit and a bunch of ARFs but think I could handle this one if I take my time. Speaking of time, does anyone know the approximate build time on this? Are there any other planes anyone recommends that can be used for a quiet leisurely day of flying? I was thinking on another trainer, but not sure that would keep my interest.

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

When bending balsa, you usually have to wet it so that it doesn't crack when you form it. It depends upon how much bend is needed. That's detailed in the instructions. For most wood-to-wood joints, you can use one of the formulas of CA adhesive or a regular carpenter's glue, such as the various modeler's wood glues or Titebond or Elmer's Carpenter's glue.

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

You can download the manual for the TopFlite Cessna 182 [link=http://www.top-flite.com/manuals/index.html]HERE[/link]
You can see the manufacturers recommendations on bending balsa sheeting and adhesives etc.
It is not a difficult build. The kit and instructions are thorough. Simply following them will yield a very nice model that you will be proud to own.
Build it per instructions and it will provide a great platform to add as much detailing as you wish.

If you haven't visited my TF Cessna site, here's the link.

http://home.san.rr.com/aircor

Paul

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

No, it's not a difficult kit to build, I chose it as my first, but I'll warn you that it's a time consuming kit.

I had 250 hours into mine when I burned out on it. All that's left is the plastic stuff and covering, but I haven't been able to work up the desire to finish it yet.
Dennis-

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

i am also thinking of this model and wondering if its a good first kit, the price is the thing that shocked me. i live in australia and the cheapest i found was $550. but i am really interested in it. how easy is it to build? what does it fly like?

thanks for your input!

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

pundi,

I'm in the same boat, I wanted to build the Cessna but the price scared me off it.
As a matter of fact, all Great Planes / Top Flite kits are priced this way in Australia. It comes down to the distributor who prices the merchandise out of reach for people. I had a conversation with them some time ago when I wanted to build the GP Giant Extra and they recommended any other kit to me than Great Planes as they were too expensice. They quoted me AUD$1300 for the Extra.

It's a shame we can't get these kits better priced here as they are excellent kits. Great Planes / Top Flite must wonder why none of their kits sell down here.

P40-LUVR, sorry if we have gone off track in your thread.

Ari

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

I use a spray bottle filled with water and spray the outside of the balsa sheet and let it set for 5 minutes before installing it on the plane. I like to use wood glue on sheeting because it gives you more time to align the sheeting than CA does.


You can use pins, masking tape, rubber bands, or my favorite zip lock sandwich bags filled with pennies to hold the sheeting down while the glue drys. Out of all of the kits I've build I never had one where the sheeting was pre-cut, so I would guess you will have to cut the sheeting to size.

Hope this helps

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

what would be a good price for top flite cessna 182? if i could get them to knock a bit of the price off i will probably buy it.
its a great looking model and if i get stuck building it as im a first time builder, there are meny people at my club to help out.

if i get it i will let u know what price i got it for.
do u have any suggestions at what australian shops are cheap?

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

SD, Have you ever built anything else. If so please send me pic's:D

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

I will say that there's a LOT of sheet stock in this kit. You have to join the sheets along edges to get larger sheets, then cut them close to the size needed. Wetting them will make bending them to fit contours easy enough; I then rubber band them in place for awhile to get them to conform to the curves prior to starting the gluing process. I used medium CA, but wood glue might be better for first time builders.

Be careful when cutting the sheets before final trimming, some of the sheets you make are used to cover more than one part and there's VERY little margin for error. Cut just an 1/8th inch too much and you won't have enough left for the next part!

As a first time builder I found trimming the sheets at the top center of the fuse very frustrating, but if you take your time it goes okay. I also found the leading edges of the wings to be difficult.

I didn't like the arrangement for the rudder control connection, so used ball links, but I believe they changed it in later kits. (I had one shortly after they came out.)

I would highly recommend down-loading the manual and reading it over thoroughly before buying. It is an a relatively easy kit to build, but as I said in my earlier post, it's also extremely time consuming. Emphasis on extremely. ;)

I have seen a club member's fly a number of times, and it is by no means a trainer type plane. It has a relatively high wing loading and needs to be flown pretty fast. It will slow down fairly well for landing, as long as you have flaps deployed.

Good luck,
Dennis-

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

thanks for the info i will make sure i look carefully every thing u said
thanks.

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

What is the rules on shipping to Australia?

Does customs or duties really kill ya coming in?

I have one of these in stock and would ship if you know the details of getting it there.

I have also seen one of these things completed and flown, a member at our field has one and it is absolutely beautiful..... he had over 100 hours in his and now just loves to fly it.

Bill

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Hi vanman,

It's not so much customs, we have low tariffs on most things. It's more that many mail order companies in the States only ship parcel post which rules out kits due to the size of the box.
UPS and others similar seem to charge a high price for shipping.

Oddly enough, Canada is easy to deal with in this regard. So is most of Europe

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Bill, what are the dimensions and approximate weight of the box?
I'm looking into shipping methods and am keen to know how big it is and how much it weighs.

Ari

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

I hate to be the big killjoy here but you really should reconsider this for your first build. Without putting a few kits together first, you may get the 182 together but by not developing the necessary skills first, it probably won't be something to be proud of. If you already know how to fly, then I'd say Goldberg kits would be something to consider for a first build.

If you don't already have techniques develped for covering, glueing, sheeting, sanding and, most importantly, building straight,, then this could very well be a disaster.

The 182 parts are already cut and soaking sheeting with Windex with make them bend any way you want without breaking.

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

apalsson

The box is 49"x11.5"x6" which calculates to 84" for shipping purposes, parcel post limits it to 79"

The box weighs in at 13 pounds.

Bill

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Damon,
Have you built this kit?

If you follow the instruction book, to the letter, it is not difficult to build, and the kit is designed so that building straight really isn't an issue either. As I said in an earlier post, it was my first kit, and by taking my time and following the instructions, it came out very nice.

Now, if someone is impatient, or doesn't have some mechanical aptitude or wood working skills, then I'd agree. :D
Dennis-

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Dennis-

No I haven't built this kit but I have built the Gold Edition P-47, TF Piper Cub(a long time ago) and most recently, their large version P-51. I'm not sure, but I believe their instructions recommend these kits for experienced builders. I agree with you about Top Flite having straight forward building and their instructions are excellent. However, considering some of the questions that were asked in the original post and the amount of effort needed to complete it, I would still not recommend this particular kit for a first build.

I guess, maybe we all could benefit from a little more background on the person writing the post before making an educated recommendation.

Damon

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Just for the heck of it, I checked how much it would cost to ship this box using DHL. I just picked Melborne as the destination. It would cost $219 from Central Illinois (not too far from Great Planes) to get it there. :([:@][:'(] Or you could save a whopping $17 by using FedEx. :eek:

Sorry

Kerry

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Kerry,

At the same time, a Canadian model kitter quoted me $87 Canadian dollars to ship a similar sized kit to Sydney and apologised for the high price. Go figure ...........

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

If you guys are serious about getting the kit to Australia, my wife is from Sydney and we're going there for Christmas. We're leaving on December 12. For the three weeks we're there, we'll be traveling going back and forth between Sydney and Chittaway. I can make room by checking in a huge duffel bag rather than a suitcase and you can either meet me at some point or I can mail it to you from there.

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Hi DamonTX,

Thank you very much for the offer, it's most appreciated.
I'm lucky as my wife will fly to San Fransisco on Sunday and is planning to bring back one of these kits plus some extra goodies.

Thanks anyway. When in Sydney, why don't you get in touch and I'm happy to show you around some clubs and flying sites

Best regards

Ari

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Cool. I will definitely do that. I'd love to see what everyone is flying over there. I'll keep in touch and PM you with some contact information shortly.

Thanks,
Damon

RE: TopFlight Cessna 182
 

Just ordered the Cessna from Tower. Am having it shipoped to San Fransisco where my wife will pick it up and bring back to Sydney.
Also ordered the landing lights, navigation lights and the rotating beacon plus the Robart nosegear.
Quite a Christmas present, huh?

Should make for a fantastic winter project for next year

Ari