174 knots in a Skylane!

Thought I'd get some simulated instrument time today with the Cessna 182 Skylane. The plane I rented, N182SJ has a glass cockpit with a fully integrated autopilot (which I've never used). Thought it would be nice to get a cross-country flight in to try it out. The original destination was Springfield, VT but there was an Airmet for moderate turbulence and a 25 knot west wind which made a mountain flight sound a little rough. I opted for a trip to the Vineyard, instead.

The airport was unusually busy with a bunch of jet traffic; a BAe Hawker HS 125-700 was one of 4 corporate jets taxiing to runway 29.

Also, the main terminal area was a mob scene with Pan Am loading its commuter flight, a charter operation loading a Boeing 737 and a bunch of folks from the Boston College alumni association waiting to board a Boeing 757. They were headed down to Clemson to watch BC take the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.The control tower allowed me to squeeze between the flight line and the 757 and follow an Air Force T-28 Talon. The jet blast from one of these was a worry so I made sure to keep my distance on the taxi out. After runup, we were off amidst some moderate turbulence on the climb out. At 500 feet, I retreacted flaps and pitched for an 85 knot climb and set power for 25" manifold pressure and prop to 24oo rpm. Traffic was light so ATC gave us a direct to routing almost immediately at 4,000 feet. I requested 7,000 to get above the broken cumulus layer and into smoother air. The 182 climbed like a champ and once at 7,000, I pitched down and closed the cowl flaps, set a cruise setting of 23" maifold pressure and 2300 rpm and leaned the plane to peak EGT minus 100 degrees. Fuel burn was about 14 gph. The plane trued at 132 knots but with the brisk tailwind, we were showing as high as 174 knot grounspeed, a new personal first! in only 20 minutes, were were cleared to descend to 2,000 feet and cleared for the ILS 24 approach into Vineyardhaven. Winds were 270 at 12 gusting to 17 which made for a maximum 12 knot crosswind, which is my personal maximum. The ILS approach was good and I took off the foggles at decision height and held a steep slip for a good landing on the upwind main gear first. The flight back was below the cloud layer at 4,000 feet and a bit bumpy. Even with the headwind, the ride back was 40 minutes despite ATC routing around Hanscom to intercept the ILS 29 localizer from the north. Winds were 260 at 15 knots gusting to 26 and the tower cleared us to land. At DH, I removed the foggles and there was a Cessna Caravan still on the runway so I executed a go around keeping to the right of the runway to maintain visual contact with the Caravan. The tower thanked us and cleared us for a right traffic downwind approach and landing for runway 29.