Empty Weight

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

Moderators: GAHorn, Karl Towle, Bruce Fenstermacher

User avatar
lcranton
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu May 30, 2002 3:43 am

Empty Weight

Post by lcranton »

Andrew, My Franklin (CS Hartzell) converted 1952 C170B weights in at 1533 Lbs with unusable fuel and full oil. The aircraft is modified with center stack panel, all new instruments and radios (2 ea Attitude gyros, DG, PS audio panel, UPS SL30, GX60, GTX327, JPI EDM700, FS450 FF) 172 articulating seats, later heater system, leather/cloth interior, BAS shoulder harnesses, BAS pull handles, Whelen 3 tip strobes, beacon, baggage door, wheel pants and 35AH RG battery. Kinda heavy but fly’s great! Moved battery to aft of fuselage (just forward of horizontal) to move CG back. Trues out 132 Kts at 8K, 10.6 GPH.

Larry
User avatar
blueldr
Posts: 4442
Joined: Thu May 02, 2002 3:16 am

Post by blueldr »

Larry,

Your airplaneis pretty heavy, but apparently you're happy with it and that is what counts.
How do you access the battery when it is way back there?

Dick
BL
User avatar
ak2711c
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2002 6:29 am

Post by ak2711c »

Dick and John how about posting the weights of your IO-360 170's. I should have mine in the air by the end of the month. I'll weigh it then and post it.
Shawn
User avatar
johneeb
Posts: 1520
Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2003 2:44 am

Post by johneeb »

ak2711c wrote:Dick and John how about posting the weights of your IO-360 170's. I should have mine in the air by the end of the month. I'll weigh it then and post it.
Shawn
Shawn,
Great to hear you will be flying your 170 soon. As for the weight of mine I am to embarrassed :oops: to tell you but I think it would be second in the heaviest 170 contest behind the "Best equipped 170 in the world" listed for sale on Trade-a-Plane. Heavy as it is the performance gives me a :D every time I fly it!
John E. Barrett
aka. Johneb

Sent from my "Cray Super Computer"
User avatar
blueldr
Posts: 4442
Joined: Thu May 02, 2002 3:16 am

Post by blueldr »

I can't remember what my airplane weighed when the conversion was completed, but Continental lists the engine as weighing about seventy five pounds more than the O-300. The CS prop will go about thirty five to forty pounds more than a FP prop and about five pounds for the governor. There may be five to ten pounds of additional add ons such as a boost pump and header tank etc.

The next time I'm up at my hangar I'll see if I can find the weight and balance data.
BL
User avatar
ak2711c
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2002 6:29 am

Post by ak2711c »

I understand John :lol: . I fear mine will be pretty heavy also because I have a pretty heavy airframe to start with. I was right at 1400 before this conversion. All the little things add up you know. Sportsman STOL, 180 gear, double puck brakes, 31" Bushwheel tires, Bushwheel fat tail wheel, extended baggage, extra engine gagets, windshield v-brace, refueling steps, ect... When I first bought my STC from XP Tom told me he would have approval for a 150 lb GW increase any day and it would be retroactive to all under that STC. But since then I heard he gave up on it the Feds made it not cost effective. That would of been nice to have, because of course we Alaskans never fly over gross you know. 8)
Shawn
Dave Clark
Posts: 894
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2002 6:25 pm

Re: Empty Weight

Post by Dave Clark »

lcranton wrote:Andrew, My Franklin (CS Hartzell) converted 1952 C170B weights in at 1533 Lbs with unusable fuel and full oil. The aircraft is modified with center stack panel, all new instruments and radios (2 ea Attitude gyros, DG, PS audio panel, UPS SL30, GX60, GTX327, JPI EDM700, FS450 FF) 172 articulating seats, later heater system, leather/cloth interior, BAS shoulder harnesses, BAS pull handles, Whelen 3 tip strobes, beacon, baggage door, wheel pants and 35AH RG battery. Kinda heavy but fly’s great! Moved battery to aft of fuselage (just forward of horizontal) to move CG back. Trues out 132 Kts at 8K, 10.6 GPH.

Larry
92CP weighs 1685 but 2550 gross. That gives me 200 lbs more useful than you. Some of that will go for gas to get the same range in hours. I never thought much about the benefits of staying more legal with the 180 as far as useful load goes but kinda knew I'd see better performance with the same load I usually had with the 180hp 170. Which was Heavy. Not to incriminate myself :wink:
Dave
N92CP ("Clark's Plane")
1953 C-180
User avatar
lcranton
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu May 30, 2002 3:43 am

Empty Weight

Post by lcranton »

Hi Dick, Well the battery is a ways back but I lay down some 4 inch thick foam and shimmy down the starboard side of the empennage moving the battery one bay at a time. The higher empty weight and the battery install was enough incentive for me to lose 25lbs. Still trying to lose more! When I get older maybe I can get the grandkids to replace the battery. I may look into putting a large access panel forward of the horizontal like some of the C185s. If I made the panel a little larger I think the battery would fit.

What fuel consumption and cruise speeds do you get with the IO360?
Larry
User avatar
dunlaps3
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri May 28, 2004 3:12 am

Post by dunlaps3 »

Hi Larry,
your franklin 170 weighs about the same as mine . I never thought of mine as a " heavy" plane , it has all the " get-up-and-go " I could ever ask for . Have you had yours long ? I've had mine about 7 years , the franklin mod was done back in 1975.
Andrew
User avatar
lcranton
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu May 30, 2002 3:43 am

Empty Weight

Post by lcranton »

I have had my C170 flying with the stock engine since 1989 but with the Franklin only since 11/06. I have about 40 hours on a PZL engine. The performance is great! We fly out of an airport at 6600' MSL. It no longer struggles to get out of there. This summer should be the acid test. Last Nov I departed there with 2 people, baggage and 33 gals, the takeoff roll was a little less than 800'.
User avatar
dunlaps3
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri May 28, 2004 3:12 am

Post by dunlaps3 »

hi Larry , 800 ft sounds kinda long to me , but I guess being over a mile above sea level takes its tole . Here in Minn at 1200 ft MSL on a winter day of 15 degrees F , wind at my nose at about 10 kts , 1/2 fuel , my 12 yr old son & I , about 40 ft is all I need . Andrew
User avatar
n2582d
Posts: 2818
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 4:58 am

Re: Empty Weight

Post by n2582d »

1300# empty weight and 38.7" for empty CG when it left the factory. Here's my original Equipment List and Weight & Balance data. It appears that the plane was not weighed at the factory. The equipment list includes 26 lbs. for "Cessna Combination #3" which, according to page 61 of the Owner's Manual, included "Lear VHF Transmitter, VHF Receiver, Omniscope, Low Frequency Range and Broadcast Receiver and Marker Beacon -- Includes Microphone, Headphone, and 121.5, 122.1 and 122.5 crystals." All the bells and whistles! :lol:
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
Gary
User avatar
redacted
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2022 4:31 am

Re: Empty Weight

Post by redacted »

1430# on 8.50x6 and 1443# on 29's
Nathaniel Perlman
1952 170B
N2282D S/N 20434
Vertical
Posts: 151
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:41 am

Re: Empty Weight

Post by Vertical »

1,317 #'s at 39.07 weighed. 1955 170B
0-300A
6qts oil
30 #'s unusable fuel
29" Bushwheels
Double puck ABI alum wheels/brakes
Lady legs
8042 prop
Atlee jump seat
Bubble windows
One piece windscreen
Sportsmans Stol
BBW tail
Selkirk extended baggage
Plus a handful of other mods...
Post Reply