N185KA is a 1979 Cessna 185F.  It has been upgraded to an IO550 with an 88” 3-blade McCauley prop; a power plant combination that serves well when flying heavy loads on skis or floats.  It has an 88 gallon wet wing configuration and, when flown for economy, has tremendous range, which makes Alaska flying so much more enjoyable.  The back seat is easily removable thus providing a very dynamic load-hauling platform.  I fly 5KA on Aerocet 3500s, LH400 wheel skis or Gar Aero tundra tires.

The plane is very “experienced” in its own right.  It served as a test bed for Soloy and one time had a 450 hp Allison turbine engine on the front!  In addition, it served as the test aircraft for the certification of the LH4000 wheel skis by Airglas engineering (exceeding 200 mph during the dive tests.  Yikes!).

When I bought the plane in 1994 it was in definite need of love.  After years of steady upgrades and fixes the plane is in great shape and most of the modifications that make Alaska bush flying safer and more enjoyable have been done.