Wellington, KS. (Sept. 15, 2017) -Air Plains Services, a world leader in extreme performance upgrades for a variety of general aviation aircraft models, today announced it recently sold its 500th 300 horsepower 182XP engine upgrade, this one for a Cessna 182 owner in Kansas City.
“This was special for us, not only as the 500th 300 horsepower upgrade, but because it ended up sparking a tip-to-tail aircraft refurbishment by the owner and was our most complete aircraft project in our more than 40-year history,” said Mike Kelley, founder and owner of Air Plains Services. “While a lot of our upgrade engines are shipped as complete kits for installation to other parts of the world, this one was installed at our shop in Kansas so there is an added measure of pride for our team.”
In addition to the Air Plains 182XP 300 hp kits for Cessna 180 and 182 model aircraft, the company also sells and installs 180 hp engine upgrades kits, the 172XP, for Cessna 172 models, with more than 2,500 of those sold around the world – more than 3,000 total XP kits.
The owner, Mike McRobert, was so pleased with his upgrade, he renumbered his airplane
to N182AP for Air Plains. McRobert was prompted to tell the story of his massive refurb project in a current three-part series in Cessna Flyer magazine, the official publication of the Cessna Flyers Association (Part 1 appeared in the May issue, with the final two in June and July).
“Every time I looked to add something, I would ask “how much” and Air Plains would always give me a good estimate, and a quick update if anything changed, which rarely did,” McRobert writes in his article. “Air Plains cost estimates were solid and allowed me to make good decisions. Air Plains was always fair, and I could not be happier.”
The Air Plains 182XP engine upgrade for this project consisted a completely new firewall-forward assembly centered on a new Continental IO-550 engine with a three-blade Hartzell Scimitar prop. The Air Plains XP upgrades can be installed by Air Plains in Kansas or shipped as a complete kit anywhere in the world.
“Air Plains XP kits are shipped complete every part, screw, bolt and assembly your mechanic needs for a smooth installation,” Kelley said. “We also offer complete tech support whenever a customer calls – something they tell us is the best in the business. “It is certainly one reason we do so much repeat business,” Kelley said.
Air Plains also performs a wide array of scheduled maintenance and inspection activities, custom airframe and interior work and specializing in custom avionics panels, engine analyzer installations, ADS-B solutions, airframe repair, and complete tech support. Air Plains offers more than 500 PMA spare parts including many hard-to-find part numbers at affordable prices. Another Air Plains product is the INPULSE ADI system that enables the operator to use 91-octane unleaded automotive fuel (MOGAS) in some high compression engines.
For more information about Hartzell propeller options or any of Air Plains other products or services, call 1-800-752-8481 or +1-620-326-8904, visit www.airplains.com. For online shopping, visit the new Air Plains web store at https://shopairplains.com.