The Cessna 120-140 Association Forum

I am located in Northern California and have been a professional pilot for 16 years. I have wanted a fun flying airplane since before the aviation adventure began. I am finally in a position where I can make this dream a reality.

I am looking at the Cessna 140. I have one in mind that is relatively local so it makes it convenient for him to come up this weekend and show me the airplane. It's absolutely beautiful in the pictures!

Looking for some advice on what to look for during my first walk around, any tips someone thinks will help me in the beginning of owning and flying one, or whatever feedback you see fit for a first time buyer. Especially when it comes to value and price.

Also, maybe someone knows a great plane that's for sale!

Thank you!

To be honest with you, the Cessna 140 series is one of the best two seat airplanes available. Some individuals may tell you that the 140 is not as fun as say a Piper J-3 Cub or an Aeronca Champ; however, in my opinion, and others on this site, the 140 series will do everything a Cub and a Champ will do plus more. You can actually go somewhere in a 140 series airplane whereas with those others only short hops are the norm. If you're a member of the Cessna 120-140 Association go to the main website, and look up resources section. In there you'll find a 100 hour inspection list that is an excellent guide to looking at this particular design. Ken Morris, one of our past Association Presidents owns along with his wife this year's EAA Grand Champion Cessna 140A prototype. I've heard Ken mention that there is no better 2 seat airplane available.

Welcome!

Also on the main web site, under "resources" is a list of all the member mechanics, by state. There are quite a few in California. Maybe you can find someone close by to help you evaluate the plane.

Thank you for that lead. I've been searching online to see if there are any resources near by so that will help a lot. I also am trying to find any recurring ADs for the 140. I'll take a look at the resource link in just a moment.

I'm super excited. The more I research the airplane the more I feel like it's a good fit for me!

I bought a 140 -first airplane, then a Navion, both are great. That said, the little 140 with its tailwheel is the most fun of all Get a pre-buy, have an oil analysis done, make sure there's plenty of time left on the annual; they're really really fun little airplanes, simple to own and operate.

Plan to hangar the plane especially if it has fabric wings. Finding a hangar can be more difficult than finding a plane.

8413 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 1:25 pm Plan to hangar the plane especially if it has fabric wings.

Don't let that be a deal breaker! Mine sat outside through 10 New England winters before I got it hangared! Not ideal, but better than not having it at all!

I found the ADs and Service Letters on this site to be very comprehensive. If you read all of those you will be pretty well educated. Almost every plane of this ilk you might consider (champs, cubs, etc) will have the same engine-C-85/90/O-200 so only real question is condition.

Your biggest decision is fabric vs metal for wings. I have fabric and have never flown metalized wings but a friend who has said the fabric fly better. My impression is that the metalizing was done in a number of ways back in the day, including one-offs with 337s. Perhaps others can comment on any variations or methods to avoid.

At 5'2" the airplane will love you. I think getting it as light as possible is key but there is a huge variation in empty weights-maybe 200 lbs --900-1100 empty. The difference between solo and dual is quite noticable in my opinion. If you can keep it closer to 900 empty you can actually load two reasonable sized people, full fuel, and some luggage. If you start at 1100 you are more in J3 cub territory flying two folks (350 lbs useful load).

Thank you for the feedback! The one I'm looking at has the fabric wings and as of right now in my area the only thing I could find is a shade hangar, that will have to do if I do end up getting this airplane and fingers crossed I could meet somebody with a little bit of room in their hangar to share or I'll find a hangar one of these days.

Have you considered a 120? Most have been modified to 140 status as far as electrical system, hat shelf, D windows, etc. But a 120 saves the weight of the flaps and associated systems, maybe 30-35# worth. Since the plane slips beautifully the flaps aren’t really needed at all IMHO. That said 140s are lovely also.

Fabric is the way to go - somehow smooths the whole experience.

120/140 have very well harmonized controls, more so than every other two place I’ve flown (which is most of them).

The orignal pan seats seem fine to me. Personally like the C-85 stroked, though the stock C-85 and the O-200 perform ok as well. I flown all three motors and the stroker seems to leave the ground the fastest (torque?).

Scott 3200 tailwheel or ABW equivalent. Clevelands are very nice. But brakes are mostly for steering on the ground - all the 120/140 are fairly nose heavy to some degree.

150 exhaust is a nice mod.

Look at the gear box through the two access panels.