The International Cessna 170 Association

A loose steering chain has NO capability to influence tailwheel steering. If you want your airplane to veer-off-course a while before you have sufficient input from steering chains...with the subsequent result of a panic-stricken over-correction in the opposite direction... then be certain to have ...

Despite George's perhaps assertion that a B.A.S. harness install is a minor modification, I disagree. To install the BAS kit, you have to remove two rivets and drill the former rivet holes larger. This serves as the anchor point for the inertia reel, with machine screws that go thru the external ski...

Available from Aircraft Spruce, "Greze Off" does an exceptionally fine job. So does "Scrubbin Bubbles" but I'd follow it with water, altho I've never had any staining or corrosion issues and I've used it for 20+ years on painted fabric, fiberglas and metal. But Greze Off does suc...

Wish I could agree with you on this one, George, but I can't. I converted my Scott 3200 to a 3200A--the one with the much stronger and broader steering arm. It still bent, and this steering arm was manufactured by Scott in the late 1960's. Don't know when Tyco took over, but I bet it was after that....

The best price on the correct spring for a Scott 3200, together with the connectors and chains, is from Air Repair, Inc. I just bought one and it was about $35.00. Probably for an L-19, but it's the same spring kit. Even comes with install instructions that finally put to rest how to tension the cha...

I don't understand how one spring could ever fight against the other because at the same time one spring is pulled on the other is given that much slack. It seems intuitive that this would be correct. Perhaps the next time you have occasion to jack your tailwheel up for some other purpose, turn the...

The portion of this thread discussing tailwheel rigging was informative. Once George settled down he raised cogent points. So after watching the video several times, and rereading all the posts, here's where I come out: I believe the video makes a good point about chain rigging so as to not put tens...

Very interesting dialog. Thanks to both Bruce and George. I posted not to be argumentative but rather to learn. Both of you helped with that. A final question (I'm sure you must hope): With a tailwheel that doesn't have a tendency to shimmy, why would compression springs ever be appropriate? Bushwhe...

What I've never understood is why all tailwheel chains aren't installed about the same. I believe the compression springs are intended as a means to control shimmy in lousy tailwheels such as the Maule, but for those using a Scott 3200/A or the Alaskan Bushwheel 3200/3224A units that aren't shimmy-p...

On the Maule forum, there's a video of how to rig the tailwheel chains correctly so that the arms don't bend. It's at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtokU8mIDQk The video shows the rigging procedure with weight off the tailwheel. It seems to me they got it right in the video, except one should conf...

There's a wonderful walk down memory lane on youtube.com, using a C-170B for flight instruction. Also good shots of the original paint scheme, and a lot of other GA airplanes from the '50's. The URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFFRS8AOrpQ, or just go to youtube and search for "learning to...

Did your A & P borescope the cylinders? Did he calibrate his compression tester with a master orifice tool? What makes him think the cylinders need to come off? As you probably know, TCM has a Service Bulletin that describes how to test compression and what to do if compression is low. Basically...

I just made up the rudder gust lock as George Horn suggested. It works like a charm and took only about 15 minutes to prepare, after I made the neoprene "saddle" that goes over the tail light. My question is: what sort of elevator gust lock works with this set-up? With the rudder lock in p...

As others suggested, first be sure the rocker box covers are flat. Second, there can be no oil on the rocker box or the covers. They'll not seal and for sure will leak if not dry before installing. Finally, if you decide to go with the "old style" gaskets, try using HondaBond or YamaBond (...

Corey, That happened because you were rich of peak in cruise. As you let down, the mixture got leaner and the percent of power increased--the result was you were likely running your engine at the worst possible place: not lean enough to have cool cylinder temperatures and not rich enough to do the s...