| Buying the Cessna was one of the best things Garry, | | | | Cessna professionally cleaned inside and out. It came |
| my husband, and I have done. It has been a great | | | | back spotless and finally we had a four seater |
| experience to own and fly such a well designed and | | | | airplane that we could venture further afield in and |
| reliable light aircraft. | | | | that looked good. |
| The Cessna 175is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing | | | | That first summer the Cessna 175 fulfilled all our |
| airplane produced between 1958 and 1962. Ours is | | | | expectations and we had trips to the Isle of White |
| from 1961 and the first comment from my husband | | | | (many times) in the Solent, to Perranporth in |
| after we purchased it was that it "was nice to have | | | | Cornwall, to Sleap in Cheshire, and all around the |
| an airplane which was younger than he was". While it | | | | Welsh coast and mountains. We also took the |
| incorporates airframe changes, the 175 is very similar | | | | Cessna to Ireland and flew all around South East |
| in appearance to a 172 of the same vintage. The | | | | Ireland, landing in Waterford and Weston just outside |
| most noticeable difference is the distinctive bulge in | | | | Dublin. The four seats and extra horsepower of the |
| the cowling to accommodate the gearbox of the | | | | Cessna 175 proved invaluable that summer as we |
| engine. The Cessna 175 uses the big Continental | | | | used the airplane for many sightseeing trips with |
| GO-300 engine (hence the required bulge in the | | | | friends and family. That was a real highlight for me. |
| cowling) which delivers 175 horsepower, 30 hp more | | | | Being able to give them a taste of both Ireland and |
| than the 172. The plane, like all other C175s, also has | | | | England from the air and sharing the experience with |
| manual flap activation with a bar on the tunnel | | | | them has been one of my "best bits" with this plane. |
| between the seats, making it great for Short Take | | | | Flying had never been so much fun. |
| off and Landing (STOL) operations. | | | | As the year drew to a close, we decided the time |
| After a lot of research we narrowed down what we | | | | was right for stage 2 of the airplane's refurb plan. |
| wanted and when we saw the C175 in the flesh we | | | | We had saved up our pennies (the C175 being an |
| knew that it was the one for us! At the time it | | | | economical beast) and decide to bite the bullet. So |
| looked a little sad and weary but just like the DIY | | | | that winter the airplane went to Turweston to Mick |
| programmes, "we could see the potential in it". The | | | | Allen and had a completely new interior, new roof |
| C175 had spent many years in Cambridgeshire being | | | | lining, door linings, new full leather (soft grey) seats, |
| operated from a farm strip but had not been flown | | | | new carpets etc. It also had new seat belts installed. |
| much latterly due to the advancing age of the | | | | It arrived back at Booker looking immaculate. Spring |
| owners. However, we were to change all that! | | | | was just around the corner, we had a pristine Cessna |
| Once the final deed was done, the money paid over | | | | 175 to fly - and we were very excited to get flying |
| and the airplane flown to Booker we choose to | | | | again! |
| spend some of our hard earned cash having our | | | | |