AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2017 - 54

DRESSED TO THE NINES
Behind the scenes of the Sweepstakes 172's evolving look
Craig Barnett of Scheme Designers, in Cresskill, New Jersey, has brought his
design expertise to nearly all our sweepstakes projects. He created both the
initial and final paint schemes for the Sweepstakes 172. The first iteration,
seen at Sun 'n Fun and AOPA's Camarillo Fly-In, uses labels on the fuselage
to showcase our 172's many safety and efficiency enhancements. Inspirational quotes from Richard Bach, Amelia Earhart, and Bill Gates decorate
the empennage. Paul Howes of Moody Aero-Graphics, in Belleview, Florida,
manufactured and applied the decals.
The sweepstakes 172 will get its final design and paint at KD Aviation,
in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The airplane is scheduled to go to the paint
shop the first week of May. KD Aviation painted AOPA's 2004 Win-A-Twin
Comanche and the 2013 Crossover Classic Cessna 182. We're thrilled that
Ken Reese (the "K of "KD") will once again shepherd an AOPA sweepstakes
aircraft through its final beautification.
-JWT

Barring the skins and the handheld microphone, very few
parts of Johnson's 1978 Cessna 172N can be considered original. N739HW-now N172WN-is a wonderful example of how
a classic airframe can be brought into the twenty-first century,
ready to serve a new generation of pilots with a multitude of
innovative features.
THE ASCEND WAY

The Sweepstakes 172 is the most recent in an industrywide effort
to breathe new life into legacy aircraft and provide a more affordable alternative to flying. (AOPA's 2015 Reimagined 152 was built
to like-new standards by Aviat Aircraft in Afton, Wyoming.)
N172WN (172-win, get it?) is the fourth airplane to emerge
from Yingling Aviation in Wichita, via Yingling's Ascend 172
remanufacturing process. Launched in 2015, the Ascend program starts with 172Ns, which are inspected for corrosion and
firewall damage. From there, virtually anything that can be
replaced or rebuilt is-from control cables or landing gear to the
fasteners on the cowling. Contributors to AOPA's sweepstakes
project have made this Skyhawk one of the best you'll ever see.
PERFORMANCE ALL AROUND

A 160-horsepower Lycoming O-320 H2AD was the standard for
the 1978 N series. One hundred sixty horses can be a little anemic,
so we've traded them in for a 180-horsepower Lycoming O-360.
The 172XP supplemental type certificate kit from Air Plains
Services in Wellington, Kansas, makes it possible (and legal).
And what a difference those extra 20 horses make. When
transitioning from my 160-horsepower Piper Cherokee to
the 172, the 172's takeoff roll always manages to surprise me.
Rotating at 60 knots, the Sweepstakes 172 is off the ground in a
few hundred feet.
The ElectroAir electronic ignition system lets the engine
operate more efficiently and we're seeing fuel consumption
10 to 15 percent less than a typical O-360. The ElectroAir system replaces one magneto. We'd like to have replaced both,
but the FAA says that would require an additional alternator
54 | AOPA PILOT May 2017

for a dual system. So, the remaining
magneto functions as a backup to the
electronic ignition. The system gives the
Sweepstakes 172 not only a simpler startup but also a nifty pushbutton starter, so
the winner will need to use the keys only
to lock and unlock the left door and baggage compartment.
Speaking of performance, Knots 2U, in
Burlington, Wisconsin, has outfitted our
Cessna with a wardrobe of components
that reduce drag and make the airplane
look sharp. These include wheelpants,
dorsal fairings, strut fairings, vertical
fin tip, left and right tips for the elevator, a rudder cap, and a rudder butt tip.
The curved wheelpants are a big aesthetic
improvement over the original oil-tankershaped pants.
While we all love to go fast, sometimes
we have to go slow. Micro AeroDynamics,
in Anacortes, Washington, furnished the
Sweepstakes 172 with a full set of micro
vortex generators. Installed on the leading edges of the wings as well as the
vertical and horizontal stabilizer, the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2017