You've gotten some good advice above. I've owned my 182K for 15 years and 1000 hours, most of that with the O-470R, upgraded this year to the PPonk O-520 and a 3-blade super scimitar. It was a fun airplane before, and it's a ton of fun now, partly because I can contrast it with the 58P, which is a go-high, go-far and go-fast craft, but it's nowhere near as pure, simple fun. (as I suspect your V is)

The Seibel mods are now available from Horton, and every PIREP I've heard is positive. I think they're the better part of $10K though. I'd like to have them, but I wouldn't pay for them, I don't think.

As a family airplane, the 182 has been dependable, the safety record is quite good, and it's pretty damned cheap to keep. Mine runs OK at peak or slightly lean of peak. The "secret" is running partial carb heat and cracking the throttle plate about 1/2 needle width of manifold pressure to introduce turbulence in the intake and help even the mixture a bit.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have.

From an owner maintenance view, opening the 2 doors and removing the seats gives great access to the instrument panel.

I have a 1964 182G which I upgraded to a 270hp PPONK in 2008.

I flight plan for 140 KTAS at most altitudes and get it at 2450 rpm. Peak EGT at 9000-10000 gives 12.5-13 gph. My cylinders are well balanced for a carbureted engine but I can only get it smoothly lean of peak when there's a blue moon and a comet in the sky and I hold my mouth right.

Look at the front end of a '64 versus a mid-70s and you'll see a lot of the reason why mine is slower: It's almost half a radial cowl up front compared to newer ones. It is a light airframe and I can fill the seats with my family (teen girls and average size adults), have some bags and still go 2 hours plus reserves. A lot of STCs (GW increase among them) do not apply to Skylanes of my vintage.

I love my Skylane for what it does and for the memories of flying with Dad in it as a kid. I've spent a Baron's value getting it perfect and it is as close as I can get it to that goal. I'll have it until I stop flying. That said, I would not trade your Bonanza for a Skylane as you're not getting anything additional for the trouble for the mission you have. You can fly faster on the same fuel, carry the same load, etc., etc. - all the things mentioned above.

Stu,

When i'm flying the C182, it's either rented or hired, so I've never really shot for best range..

I know i'll get 143ktas at about 13gph or the newer birds we have at our school. This is at about 7,000 ft.

Unless you're flying it long distance (800+ miles/5 hours), you can leave some fuel behind and carry a good amount of payload.

The Bo is better looking.. if you ask me! but a lot more complex!

1.) A friend has the Siebert kit on his 182. You'll get 140-145 kts true at 12-13 GPH.

2.) You will never get a 182 to 180 MPH true or indicated. You can't get the RG version there, no way does the fixed gear version even get in the ballpark.

3.) I used mogas for nearly 1000 hours. No brainier if you can find it. The savings pays for the next engine.

4.) The carb'd 470s won't go LOP without being pretty rough.

5.) the Bo gets better gas mileage. I always went/go WOT top of green RPM when on a cross country. On a typical trip from Billings to the MSP area(641 nm)the Bo will get there 45-55 minutes sooner and burn 4-8 less gallons. If I were to slow down to 182 speeds the savings would be approx 4 GPH and therefore nearly 20 gallons on that one trip. The 182 will always burn more gas on any given trip.

6.) After filling my 80 gallon tanks in the 182 I had 645 pounds left. Older planes will perform better than newer ones simply because the newer ones are heavier. Same wing, same HP, basic physics. With the exception of cruise speed. They got sleeker as they got newer. But for any short field stuff older is better.

7.) Baggage space is minimal. I installed an extended baggage kit from Selkirk. Loved the space but the price is a ripoff.

8.) After having a Bo you'll hate the Cessna cowl. Whoever designed that should be shot. God awful design.

9.) All the other Cessna design flaws. Gas caps, shimmy dampener, seat rails(they're so bad the seats have their own seatbelt), etc. you fix a lot of minor stuff that you never fix in a Bo because the 182 is designed that way. You pay for that in the Bo in a heavier empty weight but you don't pay to fix stuff that rattles off like it does in the Cessna.

All in all not a bad plane.

Oh man, Scott couldn't be more right with his #8. It's appalling...

I think you already have a great plane but if you want to downsize consider a Grumman Tiger. When I was looking for a C182 for the Cougar and her Cub, I ended up buying the Tiger. They love it. Its a 130kts on 10 gph and has a 900# or so useful load.

Its a great flying plane and cheaper to purchase and operate.

The downside is that you need to keep a Tiger in a hangar. Its not a plane to be tied down outside in the weather.

Stuart
I have a 2005 182T (not a turbo as you probably know). To answer your questions, I flight plan 145 TAS and always beat that. I flight plan 14 GPH and always beat that since I generally fly above 7,500'. GPH is 12.5 @ 10,000; 11.5 @ 12,000; and 10.5 @ 14,000. I lean to 50℉ ROP for my Lycoming IO-540-AB1A5. Mine will run smooth at 50℉ LOP with a fuel flow of 9.5 GPH, depending on altitude, but I need to go as fast as I can to catch all the BO drivers. My useful load is 1,100. Large CG envelope as you are probably aware. My last annual was $1,232. I hope this helps.

I have a 2002 T182T that is very nice; at 17000 it trues 167 kts on 16 gal rop. I haven't had much success getting it to run lop without sacrificing 10 kts or so.
Useful ld is 1,140, engine is a Lyc IO540.
I could post a picture of the panel at altitude if anyone wants to see it.
It just happens to be for sale!

Just as many of us read "Mr. bonanza" to learn about Bo's, if you are even ever going to consider a 182, buy the CPA Buyers Guide, book.

http://www.cessna.org/buyers-guide-182-toc

Note that the 182RG has a Lycoming O-540-J engine, which if run very regularly, almost always make 2000hr TBO. The legacy fixed gear 182's have Continental engines which seldom make TBO without major cylinder work. Sorry Continental guys. That can make a huge difference in long term operating cost.

If you want cheaper annuals, consider Piper. They have fewer inspection covers, way fewer. Less to inspect equates to being more difficult to find anything wrong, so less to maintain and fix.

stuart,
I think your "teddy grahams" are playing tricks in your head. don't even consider selling your Bo for a 182, you'll be kicking yourself in the behind forever. buy a set of tip tanks to get 180# more useful and all is well. sales tax alone is a strong consideration not to mention any depreciation recaputure if you've depreciated in a business.
gary

In no way did I intend for my post to be construed as persuasion for OP, or anyone else, to shift from a Bo to a Skylane. I was just trying to be helpful in the theme of the 182 discussion.

Actually, more reasons come to my mind to shift from a Skylane to a Bo.

Perhaps the grass looks greener from the other side of the runway.

I'll generally agree with Scott's 8 points, however, I do think the baggage area in my 182P is similar to my F33A as is my useful load. Unfortunately, I can load the 182 and not worry about CG where the F33A is basically unable to use the entire useful load due to CG issues. I agree that the 182P with the low compression O-470 does burn more fuel, I see 13.8GPH 75ROP at 23mp and 2400rpm (about 75% power) at lower altitudes. Mine flies at books speeds between 138-140KTAS (using the factory airspeed indicator), however, I generally flight plan for 130KTAS.

The 182 is a great airplane for a different person than a Bonanza. Mine has been a relatively low cost airplane and my factory overhaul and prop reseal last year cost $32k including the installation and annual.

Tiger! That's something to think about. I had a Cheetah (actually a Traveler) and it was wonderful. FWIW, there's no MoGas STC for Tigers.

As for tips, I looked into them and found they won't help much because I run out of cg before I run out of gross weight. I have a SkyWatch in the tail and probably some other stuff back there. Moving stuff forward is on my To Do list.

Sales tax is also worth noting. For the cost of sales tax on a decent 182 I could almost paint the Bonanza. Add in brokerage fees and I could come close to paint and interior and I'd have a new Bo for free! Kind of. See how that works?

It's time to really mess with your head.

Sell the Bo.

Buy a reasonable 182 for local flying and travels with a couple people.

For serious travel with four people, buy part of a nice locally owned B55 Baron. 180+ kts. Almost 1800 lb useful load. 300 lb capacity nose compartment. Boots, alcohol props. Sweet ride.

I know, you hate me