N5642J

N5642J is a Cessna 188, a single-engine piston aircraft operated by GREATER HOUSTON SOARING ASSOCIATION. SkyMeter has tracked 116 flights totalling 26 hours of airtime via ADS-B across 2 callsigns. The most frequent segment is TE71 to KELA. Service window in our records spans 382 days. Of those flights, 4 (3.4%) carry at least one detected incident: a go-around, unstable approach, stall warning, or runway excursion. The Cessna 188 has a 42 ft wingspan, a maximum takeoff weight of 3,300 lb.

About the Cessna 188

The Cessna 188 is a purpose-built agricultural aircraft that dominated American crop-dusting operations from the late 1960s through the 1980s. Introduced in 1966 as the AgWagon, Cessna designed the 188 from the ground up for aerial application work rather than adapting an existing airframe, featuring a rugged steel-tube fuselage, a hopper ahead of the cockpit for chemicals or seed, and a 230 to 300 horsepower Continental engine depending on variant. The cockpit sits high and aft to give the pilot excellent forward visibility over the spray booms and to position the crew as far as possible from chemical loads in the event of a forced landing.

With a maximum takeoff weight of 3,800 pounds and a useful load exceeding 1,400 pounds in later models, the 188 could carry substantial payloads into and out of short, unprepared strips adjacent to fields. Cessna produced the type in several configurations (the AgWagon, AgTruck, AgPickup, and AgCarryall) through 1983, building more than 3,900 airframes and establishing the 188 as one of the most successful agricultural aircraft in general aviation history. Though production ended four decades ago, many 188s remain in service today with aerial application operators and patrol services.

SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators, with the largest observed operator.