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Hmmm... upgrades

In my initial post, I mentioned that my plane had been upgraded since it rolled off the production line. In this post, I will detail what those upgrades are, and also describe other upgrades that have been performed since then.

According to the POH I received with the plane, N5113R is a "Beechcraft Sport 180 B19". The POH does not contain the word "Musketeer" though the model is often referred to as a "Musketeer Sport" as it is derived from the standard Model 23 Musketeer. The primary differences are that it lacked the third window on each side, and it had a 150 hp Lycoming O-320-E2C engine. It was intended as a trainer aircraft.

The previous owner told me that the plane was purchased new by the University of Illinois aviation program and that they quickly realized that it wasn't meeting their needs. So it went back to the factory for installation of a couple of upgrade kits.

The most important upgrade was the replacement of the engine with the 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A4J engine it has today. It also has a 76" propeller, a pilot-side door, and aerodynamic upgrades for spin control. These include downturned wingtip fairings, a ventral fin under the tail, and pointed protrusions on the stabilator next to the fuselage.

Overall, these upgrades mean that the airplane is functionally equivalent to a Sundowner, and it flies with the same FAA type certificate and operating limitations of that model. The larger powerplant is especially nice given that the plane lives at an airport with a 2600' runway. Although it can take off and land with no problem on a cool day, on a hot day, I'll still need to pay attention to the performance tables. It simply requires more room than a 172.

The previous two owners had a considerable amount of work done on the plane, both to address the type of maintenance issues a plane of its age normally encounters, and also to upgrade its capabilities. I'll detail the upgrades and a couple of the more important replacements as the other issues that were addressed are normal, routine stuff.

  • Powerflow exhaust system installed in 2019. Every little bit of performance helps.
  • Electronics International FP-5 fuel computer and SC-5 Super Clock installed in 2019 (see earlier post about these).
  • Baggage compartment door and had shelf installed in 2019. It originally didn't come with these and having them has already proven to be extremely convenient.
  • Front and rear leather seats taken from another Sundowner installed in 2019. The rear seats are now separate instead of being a single bench-style seat. And the leather is in good condition. The added comfort will be appreciated when I start flying longer distances.
  • New carpet installed in 2019.
  • New engine-driven fuel pump and electric-driven boost pump installed last year.
  • Garmin GDL-82 GPS receiver and ADS-B out transmitter installed last year. When the previous owner purchased the plane, it had a uAvionix self-contained ADS-B out unit on the left wing. It required that the position lights be on all the time, and the panel is still placarded to that effect (I should probably remove that). This new unit is much better and will allow upgrading to a GPS nav unit in the future should I want.
  • Garmin GTX 327 transponder w/ SSD 120 altitude encoder installed last year.
  • New Artex 345 ELT installed last year.

 This plane is now quite different than it was when it was built in the mid-70s. It's part of what makes it unique, and it also makes it a considerably better aircraft, both for my particular needs, and in general.

There are two things I'd like to add in the future. The first is to install the necessary equipment to get the strobe lights working. It has strobe lamps, but it doesn't have a switch and is missing some of the electrical equipment required. Strobes aren't required, even when flying at night, but they're nice to have.

The second is a proper GPS nav unit. The airplane is IFR-certified, but in practice it really needs distance-measuring ability. I could add a DME, but I'd rather have a full GPS unit with ADS-B in capability. That's an expensive proposition, though, and it will have to wait. In the meantime, my iPad and Stratux ADS-B receiver can fill that gap, at least for VFR flight.

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