I am a gadet freak so I would installed a Garmin GPS.  I removed the Loran and VOR from my plane a couple of years ago and put in a new ICOM COM radio and I now have a Garmin 196.  Wouldn't go back for anything!

     Dave

Werner,

I purchased my 1976 airplane in Sept.  On the flight home my #2 comm went dead.  Thanks to the Garmin 150, I was able to get home without trouble. 

The next day the transponder went intermittent and the "portable" intercom had so much static it was unusable.

In October, I elected to get a new avionics package. It cost a lot of money ($39,000) but they not only replaced the avionics, but the old wiring, and a new panel with better lighting (I always hated the post lighting).

My feeling was that if I got the cessna crap radios fixed, I would end up with fixed cessna crap radios.  Luckily, I had money in the budget. 

What is most important is that I plan on keeping my Skylane a long time.  If this is your plan, I would invest in the updated radios.  If you plan on selling the airplane within 5 years, fix what you have.

My 2 cents!

Kevin

Hi Werner:  I have a Narco 122 Nav radio, with glideslope, and a Narco Nav11 vor/loc (no glideslope). for sale. Both of these radios are in excellent condition, with recent yellow tags.  These should replace your existing self contained Narco's with no problems, requiring about 1/2 hour of install time.  Let me know if you are interested.
Bruce Estes
(650)524-7208

RECENTLY PURCHASED 2001 172SP THE TURN COORDINATOR FAILED AT 500.8 TT I ALSO RENTED A2001 172R AND WAS TOLD OF THE SAME PROBLEM AT THE SAME TT IS THIS A COMMON PROBLEM?

In response to Mr. Lynn's post-

Having dealt with several of the "new" Cessna 172's I have found the following:

1) Your new Cessna most likely had overhauled instruments and avionics installed at the factory.  You can look at all the 8130-3 forms associated with your equipment and in either block 12 or 13 you will see the status of the equipment when is was installed.  If you see "Newly Overhauled" then guess what?  You paid for a new airplane which had used equipment installed it.  Granted, it was returned for failure, inspected, repaired to new tolerences, and tested, but....it's not a new instrument.

2) Cessna decided to cut costs behind the panel and used plastic fittings instead of metal on the vacuum driven instruments.  I have found in the field that these fittings do not provide sufficient reliability especially when you're replacing the DG for the third time  (after which we were sent a placard which states: " Banks in excess of 30 degrees or continous turns about a point will cause this DG to spin").

3) After Honeywell moved the King radio production to Singapore, the quality of the radio line dropped- most notably the volume knob rheostats breaking the on/off detent.

IMHO the 172K is the best of the whole line.  It has the flat steel gear which are stout and easy to replace, the landing light out on the wing, and an airbox that isn't attached to the cowl.

You can get a runout clunker for about $35k. Put 80K into it and you'll have a 172 with your paint and interior, a Garmin stack, and a 180HP engine on an airframe that is more rugged and less expensive to maintain and fix.  Then put 20K back into your pocket.

aw nuts...the meter on the soap box has run out again....

Cheers,
RH

Does anyone have any helpful hints for replacing/refurbishing the instrument panel and dash on a 172 M?  The instruments are fine, though I might replace the loran with moving map.

Thanks
Joe

Jeff,

     I am very pleased with Gulf Coast Avionics.  Their prices are the lowest I've found, unless you want to "price watch" on ebay.

Good luck!