Long before my Meridian woes described in another thread, I had decided to sell and was looking for what next?
Trouble is after close to 35 years of flying I have been lucky enough to experience most fixed wing activities I could afford. SEPs (several), MEPs (several), Ex-mil jets (Even more), Aerobatics (Very average at them but had 3 Pitts S2Bs), Catalina & displays and latterly Meridian.
After quite a bit of thought I ended up looking at STOL aircraft and then refined that to a C180 or C185 for no better reason, I liked the look of them and wanted a machine with a reasonable amount of power. I saw a couple on Planecheck at $300k or so…., lots in the USA but at least $200k by the time they were ferried and VAT so I looked in Europe. I found a 1972 Cessna 185E in Hungary that looked ok but travel restrictions being what they were, normal procedure of viewing, pre-buy, payment, collection just wasn’t possible. But it was a good price and I figured there was enough margin in it to spend a decent amount on maintenance and an avionics upgrade. (IFR or VFR that is the question…)
And by November 2020 impending Brexit looked like it would add 20% import VAT to the price so there was some incentive to just do it and buy it unseen. So I did and as part of the deal the seller agreed to ferry it to the UK.
So the aircraft has been at Lydd now for 3 months and has been inspected and nothing really bad has been found so far. Lots of dings, scrapes, insect nests, dodgy repairs (odd as apparently it was accident free but I never believed that), dismal avionics but nothing that surprised me or has worried me so far.
So the buying unseen whilst obviously risky seems to be the bit that is ok.
The part that is causing trouble is the transfer of airworthiness. I applied for a G registration in mid-December 2020 and registration division responded very quickly and said in writing on the 18th December:
a) Aircraft needs to be deregistered from Hungarian reg before they can issue a “G”
b) Only document required to transfer airworthiness was a valid ARC
This last point reinforced the question raised by my Engineer at Lydd to the CAA on the 1st December. He asked the CAA (phone unfortunately) to confirm requirements for document transfer and was told ARC only required and this will not be affected by Brexit as this is good for 2 years transition period.
So I deregistered from HA and aircraft is now G-OMUD. The trouble was that buried on page 856 or so of the Brexit agreement released on the 31st Dec, used aircraft imported from EU also require an export CofA from the 1st January 2021 with no transition period.
Trouble is I didn’t get an Export CofA as a mere 14 days earlier I was told in writing just an ARC was needed.
So the bit that both my Engineer and I had done reasonable due diligence on is the one bit that is now holding us up. We were obviously very cautious about anything to do with Brexit and made what we thought were suitable enquiries to the UK regulator. Apparently there are a number of aircraft in the UK that fell into this timing trap as well.
We have asked the CAA to be reasonable given the advice that was received from them in December but nothing heard yet.
Assuming I get the airworthiness sorted I am planning a complete panel upgrade but VFR or IFR?
VFR is easy but where do you stop with IFR?
I kept an eye on that aircraft on plane check but always thought it could be hiding some sort of nasty surprised.
Was there a reason you chose G reg rather than N reg?
I hope you are able to resolve it and get flying. A great bush plane.
What „missions“ do you have with the 185?
Panel wise.
A couple of g5’s , decent digital engine monitor. Ditch the vacuum system.
and for IFR you could have a 650 / 750 and GFC500.
There seems little need these days to have much more in a bush plane, and with the modern electronic solutions you can have lots of capability with only a handful of bits and not a huge amount of weight.
Congratulations @PhilG I also studied this example and thought it good value.
I also looked at a C180A on the LN which would have attracted import duty as Norway is outside the EU. It had a proper Skywagon panel! No gyros except ball and needle, a VHF COM and Mode C. The King of Norway occasionally flew it :)
These aircraft like to be kept light so I would measure panel upgrades in ounces, possibly just a GTX375 and a GNR225. SuperCub.Org has plenty threads on 180-185 makeovers, especially on lightening the interior.
@WF still has nostalgia for his Skywagon.
Well just missed out on a nice Bonanza, sold to the first buyer who turned up at asking price. Missed out is an understatement, twelve buyers at asking price!
Aircraft now safely in the Heimat of 90% of Bonanzas in Europe :)
Here is a photo of the Skywagon panel to stay on thread.
What „missions“ do you have with the 185?
A good question from Boscomantico, in spite of C185’s usual VFR profile, I can’t shake off the convenience of IFR flight that I became accustomed to. The C185 is still a 140kt machine so no Cirrus but it’s still ok for many desirable places in Europe* inside 2-3 hours of Lydd. But the mix of trips I would like to do are:
VFR
IFR outside controlled airspace (In UK we have this)
IFR inside controlled airspace
IFR to VFR arrival
But my preferred IFR panel is costing about the same as the purchase price of the aircraft! Makes zero sense to do this unless I am going to keep the aircraft for 10 years.
But that is well over double the time I have ever owned any other aircraft so it’s looking a bit risky from a cost-benefit point of view. But then again, when has private aviation ever won a cost-benefit argument?
And… VFR touring just seems so difficult but telling myself that is just because I lack VFR experience and is easily fixed with a few long flights and practice.
Gosh, this is sounding like an aviation therapy session :)
* I am assuming of course at some point in the next 6-12 months travel becomes possible with COVID and we Brits can still visit continental Europe….
You don’t need much for IFR around Europe. I manage just fine with a KLN94+KMD550. Everything beyond is mostly eye candy / nice to have / gives you LPV and +V.
IFR is massively simpler in mainland Europe in general, although VFR is very doable in some parts, and at lower levels.
It must have been a culture shock to go PA46T → C185 
@PhilG unless the UK CAA decides to over complicate things, for the few times you actually WILL file airways in a C185 you just need a GNX375 (Mode S and IFR GPS) and a GNC255 8.33khz NAV COM. Alternatively a second hand 430W and 330 Mode S. There should be change from £10k.
Lydd has an RNP approach and France is embracing RNP. Arguably a GNX375 and GTR225, plus keeping an old NAV COM would suffice.
