As an old 195 driver explained it to me, if a spot on the bump cowl moves an inch, the tail just moved at least a foot. You also sit directly on the mains which seems to remove some natural sensations you would have otherwise. I grew up at an airport with probably 8 or 10 195's. All were owned by your average Korean War Vet of the time. I spent a lot of time in them. Great airplanes! I love it when the engine is all the way back to full idle the the airplane starts rocking back and forth on the spring gear. Only in a 95'! Enjoy!
What a BEAUTIFUL AIRPLANE!!!!! I can’t imagine how many hours just in polishing to get the aluminum to that chrome like finish. I’ve always loved those Cesnas !!! And thanks to you I’ve had the extreme pleasure of not only seeing such an extraordinary example. But riding in it as well. THANK YOU!!!!
I want I born 85. This is Robert. I can just picture myself playing in your 195. It brings back memories and you do have 1 beautiful 195. Thank you for sharing it with me. I enjoy. Being in your 185 flying it just from the picture.Thank you so much for sharing it with me
I owned and flew a 1952 195 for several years some time ago. Mine had the Goodyear crosswind gear and was very predictable, and manageable on roll out. At one point I thought I had to have wheel pants, which are incompatible with crosswind gear. So, I installed straight gear spindles and 310 brakes/wheels. The 195 became very unpredictable on landing. Although I did not ground loop it, it was unnerving compared to before. By chance I encountered a retired Cessna engineer at a 120/140 club gathering. Since both the 120/140 and 190/195 were developed in the same era, I asked him about the problem. He quickly explained that you should NEVER use straight gear spindles on the ‘light gear legs’ used with crosswind installs. They are very flexible which works well with crosswind. However, the straight gear REQUIRES the use of the ‘heavy gear legs’ for stability. Recalling how many 195’s I had seen at airshows and gatherings (Oshkosh, Sun N Fun, etc.) with the light gear legs and straight spindles, I had to wonder how many ground loops were attributable to the mis-matched components. That is not to say that a properly equipped 195 isn’t a bit challenging in the first place, only that whatever tendencies it has are substantially exacerbated by the too often mis-matched gear. Never before, or since, talking to that Cessna Engineer have I heard or read about this problem before experiencing it myself. I promptly re-installed the crosswind gear and regained the predictable and relatively docile landing manners I had been accustomed to. Alternatively, I could have obtained a pair of heavy gear legs. However I thought the added safety of the crosswind gear was worth sacrificing the wheel pants.
Crosswind gear was an option from Cessna. You could order a 195 with non-crosswind gear (so you could mount wheel pants) and they had the fixed spindle. Landing gear legs were changed (in the parts book) by serial number. Stated differently, Cessna manufactured 195s with "light" gear legs and fixed spindles (to accommodate wheel pants). This would have originally came with Goodyear wheels & brakes (not the triple puck 310 wheels and brakes you find on most 195s these days). My understanding is Cessna engineers went with the "heavy" gear as the weight of the aircraft increased over the years (again, by serial number). They did this on the 180/185 series airplanes as well (later/heavier 180s and 185s got thicker/heavier gear legs over the years). These days you find light or heavy gear on all kinds of (different year) 195s. FWIW, although like any 195, you have to stay on top of it, but this 195 is not "unpredictable" on landing rollout, and I have a number of hours in a '53 model with heavy gear on it for comparison. I am thinking any unpredictability may have more to do with individual aircraft/landing gear rigging than whether it had the light or heavy gear on it...
@@av8ter1 perhaps your understanding of the various possible combinations of gear legs and spindles is correct, but I standby my discussion with the Cessna Engineer. He emphatically said that crosswind gear legs were not at all suitable with fixed spindles. Perhaps there are three leg variations, rather than two, being light, heavy and crosswind. The difference between crosswind legs and what I have observed on fixed gear is substantial. The crosswind gear leg in noticeably more tapered as it extends toward the spindle mounting area. It is intentionally more flexible than the standard gear leg. As for rigging, I had a very experienced A&P, one who was very familiar with taildragger Cessnas, including 170 and L-19 models, install the fixed spindles on my 195. As you may be familiar, tapered shims are used to align the spindles. When I went to pick up my 195, I immediately noticed on takeoff roll (paved runway) that it was ‘squirrelly’, something it had never been. Likewise when landing at my home field, also paved runways, it was ‘squirrelly’ on touchdown and roll out. The wheels were visibly misaligned when parked. Any movement of the plane would change the alignment of the wheels. I called the A&P and explained my concern. He offered to again align the gear. I returned the plane to him for that purpose. No change in behavior. At that point I took the matter into my own hands. I have several decades of mechanical experience in the automotive realm and a fair amount of working on my own planes under supervision of an A/P IA. Using a selection of shims, tape measures, straight boards and ‘grease plates’, and the AC 43.13, I spent hours getting the spindles ‘aligned’. Only to have the wheels point a few degrees in any direction at their own free will when the aircraft was moved. Landing on grass reduced the irregular tracking somewhat, but it was still unstable. I obtained NOS Goodyear brake parts and rebuilt my crosswind gear and reinstalled it. Problem solved. You, or others reading this story can draw whatever conclusions you wish, including questioning my competence. However, before the 195 I had owned and competently flown several aircraft including a Globe Swift. That airplane is short coupled and had a full swivel tail wheel. It also is considered to be ground loop prone, but I had no difficulty with it. I also had a small amount of seat time in a Cub. One of my closest friends was a long time 195 owner with whom I had often flown, occasionally left seat, all with no issues. To reiterate my original point, I think the number of 195s that have had straight gear spindles installed on crosswind gear legs has very likely to have increased the incidence of 195 ground loops. Also, I did not own my 195 in a vacuum. Aside from my friend mentioned above, I was a member and participant in the Cessna 195 Association, even before I bought mine. I am not posing myself as an ‘authority’ on 195s, not by any stretch of the imagination. But I am saying I was neither ignorant of the plane’s history, construction and characteristics nor especially inexperienced. My original intention in commenting was to offer some insight into gear issues that appear to not be either commonly understood or have been ignored. In any case, the point being that 195s are wonderful, soul stirring airplanes that maybe don’t quite fully deserve the ‘ground looper’ reputation that has been attached to them. Best wishes for many years of enjoyment with your 195…..it is a really beautiful ship.
Nobody is questioning anything, and you may well be right! It would be fun to talk to a Cessna engineer from the time-period now, but sadly, time has marched along for all of us... There is a neat book floating around out there that was written by a retired Cessna engineer (who's name escapes me), and as I recall, there was a whole chapter written about the 190/195 program. I'll have to find that book, but one thing I remember that was mentioned, was how the 190/195s were "lovingly hand-built" by the most senior (and experienced) Cessna engineers & factory personnel at the time, and it shows... They are wonderful aircraft from a bygone time-period!
Must admit I’d never heard of, or ever seen a 195. That was until I’d seen one in the Munich Aircraft museum. Thank you for the joyride, she’s a truly beautiful bird.
The vendor of the "piano key" switches must have been a _very_ active member of the Wichita Chamber Of Commerce in the late 1940's, because my Bonanza had them, too. ;-)
The 195 is a work of art . . . yours is immaculate . . . I had one in the 80's, up in Reno . . . Thanks for taking us along; brought back fond memories. Bob
Many....MANY thanks for posting such an enjoyable video. As an old Kansas boy, I've always been fond of Cessna's and still believe the 195 was one of the prettiest ever made. If I could have ever owned a plane, a 195 would have always been my first choice. (smile) I did learn something new though......I had no idea the 195 flaps provided drag only....no lift. Makes sense......just never thought about it before. But again.....Thanks for taking us along on the ride......I loved it!!!
Beautiful airplane and I appreciate the time it takes to keep it looking like that! I had the pleasure of taking a couple rides in my teens with a pilot friend hauling Skydivers in his 195...I've always been fond of the model! Great video!
Nice video sir. As a fellow 195 pilot. Look long on landing, never take your eyes down. Stick back. Lovely video fellow caretaker of a 52' 195 4400C 44 double buchshot Charlie. Spokane.
Talk about memory lane! Many, many hours buzzing up and down Northern California in my dad's 195. Not many people can say they start their plane on a distributer and then switch to mag. And, as a bonus, as soon as you cleared the tree line I thought "hey, that looks familiar." Turns out I live just down the road. If you ever want someone to pay your gas bill for a joyride, let me know!
Thanks for a great video. And thanks for just the sound of the Jake and the captioning rather some rock music or speech that interrupts that wonderful radial sound! Kudos for a sharing these sights and sound of your beautiful airplane.
Thank you Bella..great video. I love having the plane at the house. Mine is virtually inside my house on MSFS. LOL My favorite plane on the simulator. About 100 hrs worth. Thanks for putting the numbers out on Rpm and Prop....My performance is better now. Great stuff!
Thank you for posting this wonderful video, gorgeous aircraft! Also, I love the fact there's a street light directly in front of the centreline of the runway, that's never gonna cause a problem.
Did you buy this out of KMAE California? N190? If so unbelievable transformation. Also my first ride in a plane…I’m very close friends with the prior owner.
Yes, was N190. The original N number for this airplane came up for grabs from the Feds right after I acquired the airplane in mid-2016. Say hi to Don for me (great guy!). I am taking good care of his old airplane... 8^)
My dad's and I favorite general aviation aircraft. And you have a stunning example of one. Never seen 195 with one yoke does it swing over to the first officer side? Also aways felt the wheelpants were the finishing touch to the exterior. Is the reason there are many without is because of the crosswind landing gear being installed? Hope you take us along again for another lesson. Take care.
Most 190/195 were constructed with dual yokes. A handful got the throw-over yoke (like the early Bonanzas). If you have the crosswind gear (which not many do anymore these days), you can't mount wheel pants.
Please rethink the way you pull your prop through. Wrapping your hands around the backside is so dangerous if you have an unexpected hot mag. It is much safer to place your hands only on the front of the prop wrapping your fingers over the top of the blade. That way you are not drawing your arms or body into the path of the swinging blade in the case the engine fires. Enjoyed the rest of your video. I only comment out of concern for your safety.
No, our 195 had an old / partially faded paint job on it when we acquired it in 2016 out of Madera, California. My wife and I stripped the old paint off of it, and I polished it + painted the stock/original (Serge Blue) stripes back onto it.
No, Roger owned his 195 for many years before we acquired ours. I'm not sure if he still has it (it had undergone some repairs in the recent past). This one came from central inland California (guy I bought it from owned it for ~40 years!).
Great Video,,, The "View" Out The Windscreen Is VERY MISLEADING,,, He's Got The Camera On The Top Of His Head, Right Up At The Roof Line,,, Makes It Look Like You Can See Out of The Monster,,, I've Flown Stearmans, Mustangs, AT-6's As Back Seat Check Out Instructor,,, This Airplane Is Not For "Spam Can Drivers",,,