2022 Cessna 195 Convention

By
Mariano Rosales
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3

Mariano Rosales visits the International Cessna 195 Club’s annual convention in Joliet, Illinois, on the airplane’s 75th anniversary.

Mariano Rosales
Mariano Rosales
Mariano Rosales has worked as a freelance aviation and editorial photographer for over 20 years. He is a commercial airplane and glider pilot who flies his Cessna 170B for fun. By day, he can be heard at Chicago Center as an air traffic controller.

3 COMMENTS

  2. The Cessna 190/195 Airplane was in my dreams when I discovered it’s “little brother” the Cessna 170 which is also coming up on its’ 75th Anniversary celebration and will be featured next year 2023 at Oshkosh.
    I was standing in the FBO at Huntsville, Tx when I observed a beautiful 195 land and roll-out and having just sold my Baron, I remarked to the lineman “That is the model airplane I hope to buy soon!”
    The lineman replied, “Well,…THAT one is FOR SALE… it’s owned by Ed (with-held).”
    I couldn’t believe my ears. Ed was a former co-employee when we both flew for the same corporation. Ed had gone on to fly for an airline and I went to fly for the state gov’t.
    I walked down to the T-hangar Ed leased and as he was wiping some oil off the lower cowl I approached him unseen and remarked, “i heard you wanted to get rid of this thing.”
    Without turning around Ed recognized my voice and responded, “George! What in H E Double-EL are you doin’ here?”
    We renewed our old friendship and when I asked him if he really wanted to sell it he replied, “Yes… but before you get too excited let me tell you why I’m selling it. Whenever I cross over the runway threshold …I get the sudden realization that just before touch-down… I have NO IDEA what this thing is Gonna DO!”
    We discussed his experience with the airplane as being simply unpredictable in landing.
    After a short visit I decided to reconsider and we parted. I heard later on that Ed was taking a medical retirement and acquired a Mooney…. and I simply couldn’t get over my love of that beautiful taildragger with those round tail-feathers.
    I bought the best example of a Cessna 170-B I could find and have kept and enjoyed it now 23 years.

    PS: I was always surprised that a pilot as talented as Ed would find the 195 to be a handful on landing…. and later discovered the simple answer that particular airframe had a mis-rigged landing gear with improper wheel-alignment…. that a properly rigged and maintained 195 is no more difficult than most other Cessna taildraggers once one gets used to the visibility references over that huge radial engine. Except for the operating cost differences…. I have always still had a longing for a Cessna 190/195. Beautiful airplane!

    • Some of those birds have crosswind main gear, and they’ll land sideways with help from the rudder and pilot inputs. You truly have to fly those old Cessna taildraggers to the tie down. My taildragger time was in Citabrias, Luscombs, Taylorcrafts and Champs. Those planes were relatively tame.

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