If you're looking for a Skylane that can do it all — haul the family on a weekend cross-country, shoot approaches in actual IMC, and still make sense as a time-builder you won't feel bad flying often — this is it. The panel is the standout here. The Garmin GFC 500 is the same digital autopilot going into new-production Cessnas, Cirruses, and Cubs — smooth, reliable, envelope-protected, and a massive step up from the old servo​/​vacuum autopilots most 182s of this era are still carrying. Paired with dual Garmin G5s for attitude and HSI, and a GTN 650 with Flight Stream 510 for GPS​/​nav​/​com and wireless flight plan transfer to your iPad, you've got a genuinely modern IFR platform that flies like a much newer airplane. The JPI EDM 900 rounds it out as a full engine and systems monitor — real-time CHT​/​EGT on all cylinders, fuel flow, and trend data that takes the guesswork out of leaning and gives you an early warning system most 182 owners wish they had. Combined with ADS-B In​/​Out via the GTX 355, you're flying with the kind of situational awareness that makes long trips genuinely relaxing instead of a workload. This is the kind of airplane that's equally at home training you toward your instrument rating, building cross-country PIC time, or loading up the family for a weekend away — capable, well-monitored, and priced to be flown, not just admired in the hangar.

Home Airport(s)

Raleigh-Durham, NC (Hangared at KRDU)

Manufacturer year

1981

Registration Number

N9611H

Make/Model

Cessna 182R

Airframe

~11,300 hours (tach)

Engine Details (e.g. Total Engine Time; Suggested TBO; Hours Remaining)

* Top overhaul: ~1,535 hrs since major overhaul (TSMOH), completed 2023 @ 1,373 hrs * 2 brand new cylinders recently installed * Prop time: ~920 hrs since overhaul (last overhauled 2015) Avionics — Modern Glass Panel * Dual Garmin G5s (CDI​/​EFIS) * Garmin GTN 650 GPS​/​Nav​/​Comm with Flight Stream 510 * Garmin GFC 500 digital autopilot * Garmin GTX 355 transponder w​/​ ADS-B Out * Bendix​/​King KX 125 comm radio * PS Engineering PMA6000M audio panel * JPI EDM 900 primary engine​/​systems monitor * 406 MHz ELT

Aircraft Model Overview (Reference only)

The Cessna 182R Skylane is a four-seat, single-engine fixed-gear high-wing aircraft produced by Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas, from 1981 through 1986. The final variant of the original O-540-powered Skylane lineage, the 182R represents the mature culmination of a design philosophy that Cessna had refined through fifteen years of O-540 Skylane production — the same Lycoming O-540-J3C5D engine, the same constant-speed McCauley propeller, the same broad-shouldered high-wing cabin, and the same proven fixed spring-steel tricycle gear, now in its most refined factory specification. The 1981 model year is the first production year of the 182R, preceding the production pause that Cessna would implement in 1986 when the general aviation market contracted sharply under product liability pressure. Power is provided by a Lycoming O-540-J3C5D six-cylinder horizontally-opposed carbureted engine producing 230 horsepower at 2,400 RPM, driving a two-blade McCauley constant-speed propeller. The O-540-J3C5D is the same powerplant installed in the 182P and 182Q, meaning that engine parts, overhaul procedures, shop familiarity, and performance expectations transfer directly across all three variants — an important ownership consideration that buyers comparing O-540 Skylanes should note. Fuel burn at cruise is typically 11 to 12 USG per hour at 75% power, and Lycoming O-540 overhaul and parts support remains universally available across the certified maintenance network. The 182R's constant-speed propeller enables climb and cruise optimization that fixed-pitch alternatives cannot provide. The 182R airframe is the established Cessna 182 formula — all-metal semi-monocoque high-wing construction with fixed spring-steel tricycle landing gear and strutted wing — at its most mature factory specification. The structural refinements Cessna incorporated across the O-540 era reach their fullest expression in the 182R, and the type carries all progressive systems improvements from the 182P through 182Q production runs. The fixed gear eliminates retractable system complexity and contributes to the 182R's well-earned reputation for low and predictable annual inspection costs. The strutted high-wing delivers the characteristic Cessna advantages: unrestricted gull-wing door boarding, outstanding downward visibility, and the stable, turbulence-damping platform that has made the 182 the preferred IFR training and cross-country aircraft of American owner-pilots for nearly seven decades. The four-seat cabin carries the progressive interior refinements that Cessna incorporated through the O-540 Skylane production run, reflecting the manufacturer's attention to owner-pilot comfort expectations in the competitive early-1980s piston single market. Shoulder room, headroom, and rear-seat accommodation are consistent with the 182's well-established reputation for practical four-place cross-country comfort, and the dual large doors on both sides provide unobstructed boarding for all occupants. The 1981 panel reflects Cessna's standard avionics offering of the period; most actively operated 182R airframes have received successive avionics upgrades across their 44-year operational lives, and modern glass cockpit installations, ADS-B Out compliance, and GPS navigation are common across the active fleet. The 182R handles with the stable, confidence-inspiring character that defines the Cessna high-wing single family — heavier in roll than comparable Piper or Mooney designs, with well-damped and predictable control responses that reward consistent technique and make the aircraft an outstanding instrument platform. The constant-speed propeller adds a management element for pilots transitioning from fixed-pitch aircraft, and a checkout flight with a 182-familiar instructor is standard practice for first-time 182 owners. The Cessna Pilots Association (CPA) and Cessna Flyer Association provide active type support, and A&P familiarity with the 182 is universal at every certificated maintenance facility in North America. In the current used market the 1981 Cessna 182R occupies the most desirable tier of the original O-540 Skylane family — produced in the final years before Cessna's 1986 production pause, carrying the most mature specification of the O-540 Skylane design, and priced at a modest premium above the 182Q and 182P that reflects the type's later production year and refined specification. For buyers who want the absolute best available iteration of the original O-540 Skylane before the design resumed in 1997 as the 182S with the injected IO-540, the 182R first-year example from 1981 represents a compelling and historically significant choice. Engine and propeller status, corrosion inspection, constant-speed governor condition, and avionics currency are the primary pre-purchase evaluation priorities.