Proud (partial) first-time airplane owner

Today I purchased a 1/4 share in a Cessna 172-I, N35388. The airplane was built 9 years before I was born, but has been well maintained and updated over the years to keep it from getting too out-of-date. It has a VFR GPS (a Garmin 250xl) and a relatively new paint job.

This is the first airplane I have been an owner of and I'm excited to start taking overnight trips with it soon. Having never made an overnight trip before (since I've always rented airplanes) I am looking forward to seeing what new flight-planning curve balls those types of trips throw my way. My underlying plan is to make sure I have a flexible schedule, since I will not be pushing any limits when the weather is involved.

Some of its interesting traits, being an older 172, is that the right-side door does not have a window and there is no step-up to get to the fuel tanks - you need a little ladder. The airspeed indicator is in MPH. It also has old style switches (push-rod type) and a mixture that can't be twisted to make small adjustments (it just operates like the throttle push-rod). Another interesting point is that you are to switch to single-tank fuel feeding when you reach 5000' because of the possibility of a type of fuel-line vapor lock. Apparently Cessna was never able to really reproduce the potential problem, but they issued the AD for it anyway as a precaution. That's probably good practice for me anyway in the event that I move to a low wing airplane in the future (as they tend to operate in single tank feed mode all the time).

So my first tasks now that I am part owner are to:
  • Get another hour or so under my belt in the plane
  • Get a overnight trip under my belt
  • Get a credit card on file at JGG for fuel charges
  • Update the 250XL database with current data
  • Train my dog to wear hearing protection so he can join us on flights

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