The Cessna 188 is a family of light

agricultural aircraft An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use – usually aerial application of pesticides (crop dusting) or fertilizer (aerial topdressing); in these roles they are referred to as "crop duster ...

produced between 1966 and 1983 by the

Cessna Aircraft Company Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

.Christy, Joe ''The Complete Guide to the Single-Engine Cessnas'' 3rd ed, TAB Books, Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, USA, 1979, pp 119–128 The various versions of the 188 included the AGwagon, AGpickup, AGtruck and AGhusky, along with the AGcarryall variant of the

Cessna 185 Skywagon The Cessna 185 Skywagon is a six-seat, single-engined, general aviation light aircraft manufactured by Cessna. It first flew as a prototype in July 1960, with the first production model completed in March 1961. The Cessna 185 is a high-winge ...

, and constituted Cessna's line of agricultural aircraft.

Development

In the early 1960s, Cessna decided to expand their already wide line of light aircraft by entering the agricultural aircraft market. They surveyed pilots and operators of other brands of agricultural aircraft to see what features and capabilities these operators were looking for. The resulting aircraft was a conventional single-seat, piston-engined, strut-braced low-wing agricultural airplane. The Cessna 188 borrowed heavily from the

Cessna 180 The Cessna 180 Skywagon is a four- or six-seat, fixed conventional gear general aviation airplane which was produced between 1953 and 1981. Though the design is no longer in production, many of these aircraft are still in use as personal aircr ...

, the initial version using the same tail cone and fin structure as well as the same Continental O-470-R 230 hp (170 kW) powerplant. The 188's airframe is predominantly built from 2024-T3

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

, with the chemical hopper constructed from

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

. The fuselage is of semi-monocoque construction and is lightly pressurized on later models (using the dynamic pressure resulting from the aircraft's forward speed) to reduce induction of chemicals into the airframe. The Cessna 188 was first flown on 19 February 1965. The aircraft was certified and entered production in February 1966, with 241 aircraft delivered the first year. The initial design of the Cessna 188 was so successful that over its 17-year production run the basic airframe remained unchanged. Only the engines and the agricultural products dispensing systems were upgraded, other than some minor changes to the ventilation systems. The main use for the Cessna 188 series was for agricultural purposes, but many examples were later acquired for use as glider and sailplane tugs. A total of 3976 Cessna 188s of all four variants were built during its production run, made up of 53 AGpickups, 1589 AGwagons, 1949 AGtrucks and 385 AGhuskies.

Variants

;188 AGwagon 230 :Initial version powered by a Continental O-470-R powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 14 February 1966. Cessna A188A Agwagon N9961G Minden NV 27

Cessna A188A Agwagon N9961G Minden NV 27

;188A AGwagon "A" :Powered by a Continental O-470-R powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 26 September 1969. ;188A AGwagon "B" :Powered by a Continental O-470-R powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 26 September 1969. Cessna188AGWagonZKCSE

;188B AGpickup :Powered by a Continental O-470-R or O-470-S powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 20 December 1971, production ended in 1976. ;A188 AGwagon 300 :Initial version powered by a Continental IO-520-D powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 14 February 1966. ;A188A AGwagon "A" :Powered by a Continental IO-520-D powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 26 September 1969. ;A188A AGwagon "B" :Powered by a Continental IO-520-D powerplant, a 200 US gallon (760 liter) chemical hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 26 September 1969. CessnaA188BAGtruckC-GARY

;A188B, AGwagon "C" and AGtruck :Powered by a Continental IO-520-D powerplant, a 280 US gallon (1060 liter) hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 20 December 1971, production of the AGwagon ended in 1981 and the AGtruck in 1985. ;T188C AGhusky :Powered by a turbocharged Continental TSIO-520-T powerplant, a 280 US gallon (1060 liter) hopper, with a normal category gross weight of and in the restricted category. Certified on 8 September 1978, production ended in 1985.

Aircraft on display

Museum of Transport and Technology The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a science and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has ...

, Western Springs,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

– Cessna A188 Agwagon ZK-COO *

Aero Space Museum of Calgary The Hangar Flight Museum, formerly known as the Aero Space Museum of Calgary is a museum located south of Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History The museum was founded in 1975 as the Aero Space Museum Association of C ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

– Cessna AgWagon 1966 C-GXQMAero Space Museum of Calgary: Cessna 188 AgWagon On Display
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Specifications (1976 AGtruck)

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Photo of Cessna A188-300 AGwagonPhoto of Cessna T188C AGhusky
{{Cessna aircraft 1960s United States agricultural aircraft 188 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1965 Glider tugs