Thinking of downsizing

[flyguy]

Quoting XXXX It has to be able to get in and out of a 2300 foot grass strip (with power lines at each end) at 4225 foot field elevation, and typically 100 degree summer temperatures. It has to be able to carry at least three plus luggage for family cross countries. In short, I think of my 180 as a 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban with wings. And the question is, will a half ton Tahoe do the job? XXXX End Quoting

NOT "NO" BUT "HECK NO". Balanced out with the parameters you have set, the "stock"170 can never cover the whole ball of wax. Most of us would trade you for your dilema but, IMHO, "Keep the 180" and I would modify what Rudy said by advising her to rent instruction in a 182 at first then slowly introduce her to the joys of tailwheeling.

[Skywagonguy]

Wow, thanks for all the response. My unofficial tally of the votes leans heavily toward keeping the 180, which says a lot coming from this crowd. Btw, I just landed here in PHX..."keep the speed up as long as possible on final, America West 757 is five miles in trail..." There was a KC-135 waiting to takeoff at the first taxiway, all four engines pointing at the second...so I elected to pass on my normal land-short-as-possible-and make-the-second-taxiway option, and instead kept it fast and long, slowed and landed almost midfield and made the high speed. Staying OUT OF THE WAY of 757s is the name of the game here...buttering up the TRACON just don't work at PHX...unless you can do it by wowwing them on how quickly you can get out of the way!

[wa4jr]

I'm with the rest of the guys and say keep the 180. I want a 180 but can only afford a 170 now. When I take my wife and two children and 100 lbs of bags on a long vacation, the performance is anemic...but we get there cheap. I'll continue flying my 54 170 and having a blast, but as I get it close to payoff, I'll be looking for a nice 180 flying project plane.

My wife is chomping at the bit to learn to fly, and she is going to learn on our C-170. I'm of the opinion that you do a student a great disservice by starting them on nosewheel aircraft. If a student plans on flying a taildragger at some point, they should start and finish in a taildragger for primary training. I came to this realization when I was certified for TD operation just before picking up my 170 in 2002. Even with 11,000 hours, I felt like a bloomin idiot trying to transition to the 170. A life of nosewheel aircraft has SERIOUSLY degraded my flying skills. If your wife learns on a trike, and then cannot get comfortable with the real airplane, you might find yourself selling the 180 for a 182....a fate almost worse than death