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Specifications:
Model: Cessna 180 RTF
Manufacturer: WattAge
Distributor: Global Hobby
Type: 3-channel, electric sport plane
Smallest Flying Area: baseball field
Ideal for: beginner to intermediate pilots
Wingspan: 24.5 inches
Wing area: 116 sq. in.
Ready-to-fly weight: 6oz
Wing Loading: 7.45 oz./sq. ft.
No. Of Channels: 3
Flight Duration: 6 to 7 min.
Price: $149.99
You Need
8, AA alkaline battery cells
Small Philips screwdriver
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Scoreboard
+ Can be flown within an hour of opening the box. Made of durable foam.
- Battery charger works only on 110 volts (no field charging)
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GEAR
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Drive System:
Supplied and installed
Radio System Included:
4-channel FM 27MHz
Battery Included:
800mAh NiMH
Batteries Used:
8, AA alkaline cells
 
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In 1964 Geraldine "Jerrie" Mock was the first woman to pilot an aircraft around the world, and she did it in a Cessna 180. She boarded her plane, the "Spirit of Columbus," on March 19 at the Columbus Airport in Ohio. She flew for 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes before landing back where she had started on April 17. While flying 23,103 miles, Jerrie also a set a new world speed record for an airplane weighing less than 3,858 pounds, and her Cessna is now in the National Air and Space Museum. The WattAge Cessna 180 is a great park flyer that captures the spirit and excitement of this historic, much-admired high-wing plane.
THE KIT
When I saw the kit's components, I realized that I could have this plane airborne within an hour. I found a dense, white foam wing and fuselage that had the motor, servos, receiver and pushrods all installed. The Cessna comes with a 4-channel Cirrus DPR-4FM transmitter, an in-flight battery charger and flight battery, a vertical tail, landing gear, two propellers and a 20-page photo-illustrated instruction manual. I hooked the flight battery to the charger so that it would be fully charged when I was ready to test the radio system. I had only to add 8 AA alkaline battery cells and find a Phillips screwdriver on my bench.
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Dense white foam fuselage and wing; 4-channel transmitter; receiver; 2-CS-09 servos; flight battery; 7A ESC; battery charger; a transmitter frequency flag; rubber bands (to secure the wing on the fuselage); and two propellers (in case you damage one on landing.)
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The supplied gear comes snugly installed, and the battery pack is easy to reach under the wing.
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ASSEMBLY
I read the manual once and began construction. I started by installing the 8 AA transmitter batteries and was then ready to move on to step 2.
Installing the vertical fin is the only "construction" job. I carefully pushed it down into a slot in the top rear of the fuselage. With its base firmly seated in the slot, I held everything securely while I carefully threaded one screw through a hole on the bottom of the vertical fin's left side and into the other side of the mounting tab. I was careful not to overtighten the screw because doing so would have stripped the threads in the mounting tab.
FINAL ASSEMBLY
The motor is already installed; to complete the installation, I had only to push one of the two supplied propellers firmly onto the motor shaft.
Hook the pushrod wires to the rudder and elevator control surfaces by gently twisting the control horn and carefully flexing the pushrod wires until you can get them through the outermost hole in the control horn. The manual recommends that you use this control-horn setting for the first few flights. Then, when you've learned to fly the model, move the pushrod wires to the middle or inner hole to increase control response-good advice.
The batteries are installed as far forward in the fuselage as they can go to ensure that the plane is properly balanced. That's it; you're now ready to test the controls.
The control horns come installed; you need only hook up the pushrods-nice and easy.
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PREFLIGHT CHECKS
To check out the radio and the control-surface movements, I switched the
transmitter on and then hooked up the flight pack to power the radio and motor. (There's no need to hit the motor-arming switch at this time!)
Looking at the model from behind, I moved the right-hand control to the right to see whether the rudder would move to the right; it did. If it had moved to the left, I would have moved the appropriate channel servo-reversing switch on the transmitter to the right. Next, I pushed the right-hand control stick forward to see whether the elevator would be deflected downward; it was not. I flipped the appropriate servo-reversing switch and double-checked the movements of both control surfaces.
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Tip: If the landing gear loosens, angle the legs farther outward for a tighter fit in the mount.
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I used the same procedure to check the throttle control. First, I made sure that the left-hand control stick was all the way down; then, while holding the model tightly, I pushed the motor-arming button. I slowly moved the left control stick upward until the motor started, and then I slowly moved it all the way up until the motor reached full speed. I let the motor run until the battery pack ran out of power.
I connected the pack to the charger and kicked back with a cup of coffee until the cells peaked. Then it was time to go flying.
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The Cessna can zip through the air fast enough to entertain advanced pilots, but its slow, stable flying capabilities also make it great for beginners.
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In The Air
I picked a calm day for my Cessna 180's first flight; after checking the controls and the motor, I was ready to go. I armed the motor, tossed the plane into the wind, and away it went. Under full power, it wanted to climb, but once I had added the right amount of downtrim, it flew level. It zipped around the sky at a fair speed, and when throttled back a little, I found it easier to fly. It flies very well and makes surprisingly tight turns. My first flight lasted a little over 6 minutes
When landing the Cessna, you should time it so that it has enough battery power left for a smooth landing. I found it best to throttle back and let the plane sink into its own glide path; then, just before touchdown, increase power slightly and add a little up-elevator to give a nice smooth flare.
Climb Performance. On a fully charged pack, the plane will climb out at about a 20- to 30-degree angle from a hand-launch. From a rolling takeoff, I like to keep its climb angle shallow-somewhere in the area of 10 to 20 degrees. I let it gain a comfortable altitude before I turn it back toward the runway.
Flight Stability. At full speed, controls are responsive but not too sensitive, even at slow speeds. It didn't show any bad stall characteristics, and at low speeds, it's a very docile flyer.
Pilot Recommendations. With a smooth runway, the Cessna 180 can easily do a roiling takeoff, but I like to hand-launch it because I can get it airborne sooner without using as much battery power. Rolling takeoffs-especially the longer rollouts-use quite a bit of power.
Performance Highlight. This plane is really fun to fly. Because you can build up a fair amount of speed at full throttle, it will even do simple maneuvers. By pointing the nose down and entering a shallow dive while flying at full throttle, you can build up enough speed to do a loop. The same goes for a stall turn.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
The WattAge Cessna 180 has nice, slow-flying characteristics; it's a great trainer that's perfect for beginners. It will also take a lot of abuse, and spare parts are readily available. This scale-looking, slow-flying trainer can easily be flown in a schoolyard. What more could you want?
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Cessna Skywagon- Aviation's pickup truck
I've always been a sucker for blue-collar airplanes-the birds that work for a living and always look as if they have grease under their fingernails. And that pretty well describes the Cessna 180.
In 1952, when Cessna decided it needed to pump some testosterone into its 145hp, four-place 170 for the next model year, the company already saw it as a workin' bird. In fact, the 180 was touted as the "Businessliner" for a while, but it wasn't long before the 225hp airplane was adopted by ranchers and bush pilots worldwide. Here was an airplane that could haul a healthy load into ratty little runways and still make its way across country at 155mph. So, what's not to love?
If you're a pilot who's used to 172s or even 170s, and you walk up to a 180, you get the impression that this is a big airplane; but your impression is wrong. It's actually exactly the same size as a 170 or a 172, but its pugnacious tail-down stance puts its nose up in the air as if to say, "Come on-I dare you"
Once you're in the pilot's seat, you'll likely have the urge to find a few Manhattan phone books to sit on; you can see absolutely nothing straight ahead. Your world has been reduced to a slim, triangular wedge on the left side of the windshield above the panel. This is no worse than the view in a lot of tail-draggers, but the wide instrument panel gives you zero visibility to the right.
It's amazing how 80 more horses changed the 170 pussycat into the 180 tiger. As you hug the control yoke to your chest and feed the power in, the airplane really gets with the program and puts you back in the seat.
A few seconds after hitting the power, you lift the tail; this does wonders for the visibility, but even so, it still stinks. That's when you feel something that I think is the airplane's only negative: when you're running on that willowy main gear for takeoff, it "waddles" just a little and doesn't feel really solid.
The 180 uses the so-called "Paralift" flaps that Cessna introduced on the "B" model 170. They are true slotted Fowler flaps that translate back while they are going down. This not only increases the wing area a little but also-for the first 20 degrees or so of deflection-really lowers the stall speed.
I love to point the nose at the runway and yank that big flap handle up until it's sticking up between the seats and the flaps are all the way down. They generate so much drag that the nose is pointed at the ground at a scary angle. Plus, with full flaps and the nose started up for flare, the airspeed needle practically falls off the dial.
Although you can get some truly monumental bounces and crow-hops out of that spring gear, the C-180 is really not that hard to land. You'll have to work at it, though, if you expect to make it look consistently good.
So, whether you picture yourself in a backwoods cabin or running your own cattle spread, don't forget to include a Cessna 180 in that image. Otherwise, you'll he missing the best part of living in the boondocks. -Budd Davisson
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