Greg Hansen of Moses Lake, Washington, has always been fascinated by airplanes.
“Even though I’m not a pilot, only a simulator pilot,” he says.
Even so, when he saw the remains of a 1956 Cessna 182 that had been retrieved from the side of a mountain in Washington state, he decided to make a wind vane out of it.
“I thought I’d give the plane a retirement job as a wind vane,” he says.
“The fuselage and some of the parts were given to me by the widow of an A&P,” he relates. “Some of the parts I had to fabricate myself.”
Greg adds he has no formal training working on aircraft, “but when you grow up on a farm and have to fix things and tinker around with old cars, you learn to improvise.”
He adds he had help along the way.
“My brother Roger, who is a machinist, helped me with the propeller shaft and turntable mechanism and my brother Mick provided the pedestal the plane sits on and crane to put it in position,” he reports. “Also a friend, Dave Floretta, helped put the plane together.”
After a year of working on it, the Cessna was placed on its pedestal Sept. 24, 2022, on Mae Valley Road in Moses Lake.
“It’s been amazing the number of people who drive by and look at it,” Greg says. “I’ve dedicated it to Maggs and Bob Skowronski, the A&P mechanic and his widow.”
Search images “DC-3 weather vane in Whitehorse, Yukon” . When driving through Whitehorse you can’t miss it ✈️
The DC-3 Weathervane at Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is impressive indeed, having seen it in person a couple of times! The lady who is now my wife lived there for several years and told me about it, seeing it turning in the wind.
There is an F-86A Sabre on a pole at the Great Falls, Montana International Airport that is mounted as a wind vane.
I have seen other full size aircraft used a windsock,but never one as large as a 182
They have used a discarded kit plane(BD-5) and an Ercoupe etc.
Fun project for you & those of us that loved flying in small planes will enjoy seeing it every time we pass by.
Nice job! I flew many hours on a 182, including 2 ferry flights from Wichita to South America!
Wonderful memories!!!
Very cool. Put a seat in it and sit in once in a while. Maybe while playing flight sim on a laptop.
Only problem is it won’t hold still for me to climb into it.
We have Jimmy Stewart’s Cessna 310 on a pole at KIDI
I’d do that but I enjoy having a wife and a home. Very cool
That’s very cool. I love planes, nice job.
I must admit, at first glance, a straight tail retract 182 has some sexy lines!! Nice job. This reminds me of the 150 “on a stick” that can be seen along I-44 at the Cuba, Missouri airport.
The prototype 210 looked just like this! The production model got the swept tail. Cool “tetrahedron.”
Cool!
Way kuul.
I hope he didn’t any vortex generators ?-)
The old girl doesn’t have to worry about stalling, the 8 x 12 inch tubing will keep it up there.
1st time Ito see this. I’d rather be flying the 182 as opposed to using it like this. On the Positive Side I could look at it every day!
I’d rather have the plane in the ftont yard on the ground where I can share it with the world. I would be able to sit in it and imagine flying it in my advanced age considering my Health problems. Ted P