Cessna 188 Explained

The Cessna 188 is a family of light agricultural aircraft produced between 1966 and 1983 by the Cessna Aircraft Company.^[1] ^[2]

The various versions of the 188 included the AGwagon, AGpickup, AGtruck and AGhusky, along with the AGcarryall variant of the Cessna 185 Skywagon, and constituted Cessna's line of agricultural aircraft.

Development

In the early 1960s, Cessna decided to expand their already wide line of light aircraft by entering the agricultural aircraft market. They surveyed pilots and operators of other brands of agricultural aircraft to see what features and capabilities these operators were looking for. The resulting aircraft was a conventional single-seat, piston-engined, strut-braced low-wing agricultural airplane.

The Cessna 188 borrowed heavily from the Cessna 180, the initial version using the same tail cone and fin structure as well as the same Continental O-470-R 230 hp (170 kW) powerplant. The 188's airframe is predominantly built from 2024-T3 aluminum, with the chemical hopper constructed from fiberglass. The fuselage is of semi-monocoque construction and is lightly pressurized on later models (using the dynamic pressure resulting from the aircraft's forward speed) to reduce induction of chemicals into the airframe.

The Cessna 188 was first flown on 19 February 1965. The aircraft was certified and entered production in February 1966, with 241 aircraft delivered the first year.

The initial design of the Cessna 188 was so successful that over its 17-year production run the basic airframe remained unchanged. Only the engines and the agricultural products dispensing systems were upgraded, other than some minor changes to the ventilation systems.

The main use for the Cessna 188 series was for agricultural purposes, but many examples were later acquired for use as glider and sailplane tugs.

A total of 3976 Cessna 188s of all four variants were built during its production run, made up of 53 AGpickups, 1589 AGwagons, 1949 AGtrucks and 385 AGhuskies.

Variants

188 AGwagon 230

Initial version powered by a Continental O-470-R 2300NaN0 powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of 33000NaN0 and 38000NaN0 in the restricted category. Certified on 14 February 1966.^[3]

188A AGwagon "A"

Powered by a Continental O-470-R 2300NaN0 powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of 33000NaN0 and 38000NaN0 in the restricted category. Certified on 26 September 1969.

188A AGwagon "B"

188B AGpickup

Powered by a Continental O-470-R or O-470-S 2300NaN0 powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of 33000NaN0 and 38000NaN0 in the restricted category. Certified on 20 December 1971, production ended in 1976.

A188 AGwagon 300

Initial version powered by a Continental IO-520-D 3000NaN0 powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of 33000NaN0 and 40000NaN0 in the restricted category. Certified on 14 February 1966.

A188A AGwagon "A"

Powered by a Continental IO-520-D 3000NaN0 powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of 33000NaN0 and 40000NaN0 in the restricted category. Certified on 26 September 1969.

A188A AGwagon "B"

A188B, AGwagon "C" and AGtruck

Powered by a Continental IO-520-D 3000NaN0 powerplant, a 280 US gallon (1060 liter) hopper, with a normal category gross weight of 33000NaN0 and 40000NaN0 in the restricted category. Certified on 20 December 1971, production of the AGwagon ended in 1981 and the AGtruck in 1985.

T188C AGhusky

Powered by a turbocharged Continental TSIO-520-T 3100NaN0 powerplant, a 280 US gallon (1060 liter) hopper, with a normal category gross weight of 33000NaN0 and 44000NaN0 in the restricted category. Certified on 8 September 1978, production ended in 1985.

Aircraft on display

Museum of Transport and Technology, Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand – Cessna A188 Agwagon ZK-COO^[4]
Aero Space Museum of Calgary, Alberta, Canada – Cessna AgWagon 1966 C-GXQM^[5]

References

Bibliography

Book: Cessna Aircraft Company . Cessna . 1973 Cessna Agricultural Aircraft . 1973 . Cessna Aircraft Company . Wichita, Kansas .
Book: Taylor, John W. R. . John W. R. Taylor. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77 . 1976 . Jane's Yearbooks . London . 0-354-00538-3.

External links

Notes and References

Christy, Joe The Complete Guide to the Single-Engine Cessnas 3rd ed, TAB Books, Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, USA, 1979, pp 119–128
Web site: The Cessna 188 Agwagon series. 15 March 2010. Demand Media.
Web site: TYPE CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET NO. A9CE Revision 27. 2010-03-14. Federal Aviation Administration. Federal Aviation Administration. March 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20110608055334/http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/723ff5d994d022e4862572430067d8eb/$FILE/A9CE.pdf. 2011-06-08. dead.
Web site: Museum of Transport and Technology: Cessna A188 On Display . 2010-02-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120303231433/http://www.motat.org.nz/collections/AVIATION/Agwagon.htm . 2012-03-03 . dead .
http://www.asmac.ab.ca/aerospace/main_collection_details.asp?list_id=11 Aero Space Museum of Calgary: Cessna 188 AgWagon On Display