1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

Just got this Kit off ebay. Is the Pica kit a good one or not (be honest). One thing I noticed is that the manual does not have pictures. I am new at building and am working on a G.P. bipe now and it has pics! Any good builder mods. for the Pica kit. THANKS!

1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

RC Report did a review of this kit several years back. It was a builder's kit, but it flew quite nicely. It will be more work than the more updated TopFite kit.

1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

If you want true scale, you have you work cut out for you. The PICA 182's I have seen (2) were awful.

Bish
K7QCP

1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

I built this exact kit a couple of years ago. I wouldn't rate it as a difficult kit, but I would certainly not recommend it for an inexperienced builder. The main thing to say about the kit is that it reflects RC model kit and design of about 10 - 15 years ago. As you found out, the instructions are somewhat limited, and the building methods are somewhat labor intensive. Lots of sheeting, shaping and carving. In terms of mods, get a fiberglass replacement cowl. The multi-part ABS is pretty useless. If you want wheel pants, those are also available in fiberglass. I wouldn't mess with the built-up wood pants shown in the kit. Couple of other possible mods -- add some strength to the windshield posts. They are a weak point of this kit. I buried some 1/8 music wire in mine. Also, you might want to look at how the side windows are mounted. I was not happy with how mine turned out at all. You will be rewarded with an outstanding flying airplane however. Mine flew almost like a pattern plane. Throttled back, it's still a little fast, but looks nice. On final, with the flaps down flaring for a landing, it looks great. Here's a couple pictures of mine before I trimmed it out.

1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

Here's another picture.

1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

Had one for many years, mine was finished quite scale, it does require some work to build, but once done, because of its size, it is quite impressive, I had mine setup for water flying also, it was great, I would think that you should have at least a couple of kits under your belt before tackling this one, I used the plastic cowling and reinforced it with fiberglass and acetone (same for the wheelpants), lasted for like 7 years until I stupidily crashed on take off on a strong cross wind, it was powered with a ST 2000, perfect combo, it however an airplane for somewhat an experienced pilot as Cessna wings can snap quite violently when stalled, I would have to say that it is a more impressive airplane than Top Flite, but not as scale, specially the front end, I would say, keep it, build a couple of kits, then go for it!!

RE: 1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

HI, I JUST ACQUIRED A PICA CESSNA 182 ALL SCALE BUILT. A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. CAN YOU TELL ME WERE TO MEASURE THE C.G.,& WHAT SIZE ENGINE IS REQUIRED FOR THIS PLANE? THANKS VIC.

RE: 1/5 Scale Cessna 182 Skylane (Pica)
 

Start at 25% of the wing chord, near the fuselage. I can't remember the exact measurement on mine, but this percentage should be a good starting point.
Mine was powered by a ST 2000 at 15 lbs flying weight and it was just perfect, even with the addition of floats (3 lbs more).
This is a great flying airplane and quite aerobatic too. Just don't yank it off the ground too early as after the stall comes the snap (this is a typical behavior of tapered wings), if you're planning on putting a four stroker, a 1.5 would also work very well, even a 1.2 would work but with less performance, this is a big airplane!
Please do incorporate flaps, they work very well, either to assist shorter take off runs (deployed no more than 5 deg.) and also slows down its landing speed for perfect landings (20 deg. deployment is enough), do not use more than 30 deg. total flap deployment. Mine didn't require any trim adjustments when landing with flaps, but then again, this depends on CG location and by slow application of flaps as needed.
You'll love this airplane, it's a keeper! Good luck!

the best is a SUPER TIGRE .90

PLANS CESSNA 182 1/5 pica
 

hi. Edward, cant you help me , i neded de plans for the cessna 182 1/5 scale you can made a copy place. Best regards

have you found the plans yet. Im Building one now.
cheers,
John

OK John, best news, tank you