Future 170 Caretaker!

[Wxbee]

Hello All,
Thank you for letting me lurk on the site for awhile and do as much research as I can before becoming a member! A special thanks to Miles as well for answering all of my questions.
I did have one listing I'd love to open up for advice...

https://www.barnstormers.com/classified ... atid=17384

Has any one on here looked at this plane? Is it worth the money for a 360 with all the damage history and not flown much.. 180gear but only one side has pponk. Eng was pickled but only 5hrs last year.. (All hypothetical without proper prebuy of course). Still in the beginning phases of looking for a 170. There are some beautiful ones out there and looking forward to picking alot of your brains mid July in the Soo!
Thanks again
Mike

[GAHorn]

I’ve never seen “solid steel axles”.

There are other interesting issues with the ad…but, 70 year old airplanes often have them.

I suggest you look at many airplanes on the market before spending much effort/money looking at any particular specimen. Decide which features are most important to you…then eliminate examples which do not meet those criteria…. You can spend a LOT of your purchasing dollars looking at junk, if you’re not careful.

[cessna170bdriver]

I’ve never seen “solid steel axles”…..

Ski axles.

[n2582d]

-Solid axles are aluminum.

An annual inspection, not just a pre-buy, by an independent A&P/I.A. familiar with 170’s would be money well spent if you’re serious about purchasing this 170. Pponk on one gear leg is a red flag. The plane has a lot of modifications — some may be minor alterations, other major alterations. In any case, they all should be documented. For example, someone not familiar with the 170 may miss that the steps are from a C-180. The aircraft is a 1952 B model. The panel is from a later model 170 or 172. I don’t see the required by TCDS stall warning light/buzzer. Hard to tell from the photos but is the required cabin air outlet vent and required placards for the Javelin aux tank installed? Heated pitot, circuit breakers, Cleveland wheels and brakes, etc. documented? Is all the 180 hp conversion paperwork present? If it’s been based in Albuquerque for much of its life one would hope that corrosion is minimal. Given modified gear and recent ground loop I’d confirm that the wheel alignment is correct.

[GAHorn]

In addition to what Gary posted, note that a prop stike occurred 10/14/04…. with the note to “see proplog”….which causes me to wonder what was done to the engine. If a prop requires removal for repair following a prop-strik…the engine usually should also have it’s Mfr’s prop-strike inspection/repairs performed….so the question is… is the installed engine the one which suffered the prop strike..?? and if so, was the appropriate inspection/repair performed on that engine?

[Wxbee]

Wow! Thanks all, great information. Not just for this bird. But future stuff to look for.

[DaveF]

The eddy current inspection AD on that Hartzell prop hub is a real pain, especially if you don't have a shop nearby that can do it. Before I got rid of my Hartzell I was paying $300 every 100 hours for the inspection.

Looks to me like the stall warn unit is below the pilot side yoke.

[GAHorn]

The eddy current inspection AD on that Hartzell prop hub is a real pain, especially if you don't have a shop nearby that can do it. Before I got rid of my Hartzell I was paying $300 every 100 hours for the inspection.

Looks to me like the stall warn unit is below the pilot side yoke.

That’s where many of the 53/54/55 models had them …below the pilot yoke control-tube….however some were located mounted, hidden behind the panel mounted to the glove-box shell. (The TCDS requires the stall warning on all B-models…but doesn’t specifically require a lamp. Many installed horns are simply placed on the glove box and may not have a lamp on the unit.)

I’d advise Mike not to get too attached to this particular example 170…. until he’s had a good look at a few others as a comparison….and keep in mind….more horsepower and a lot of alterations does not always mean a better airplane.

[Wyoming1]

The eddy current inspection AD on that Hartzell prop hub is a real pain, especially if you don't have a shop nearby that can do it. Before I got rid of my Hartzell I was paying $300 every 100 hours for the inspection.

Looks to me like the stall warn unit is below the pilot side yoke.

Dave, what prop did you end up with, and are you happy with it?

[DaveF]

MT MTV-15-B/210-58 on a Lycoming O-360-A1A.

I love it. Probably the best money I've ever spent on an airplane. It has made every flight better and safer.
- Greatly improved climb, especially at high density altitude. With two aboard I once flew the airplane to FL200.
- No more RPM limitation. I can now cruise low RPM and high MP. Lower fuel flow at the same speed.
- Nickel leading edges are hard. In six years I've never had to dress the leading edges, despite some dirt runway ops.
- No more eddy current inspections, and no more worries about another AD from Hartzell. "Hartzell, Built on Airworthiness Directives."

[ghostflyer]

WOW 20 thousand feet . do you have an internal o2 system. . So what was the handling like at that altitude . How long did it take to get there ? That could be a record for a 170 .

[GAHorn]

I once flew N146YS with its standard O-300 and McCauley fixed Cruise-Pitch prop to 14K+ and was still climbing at almost 700 FPM…and the ol’ O-300 was only IDLING !!

(Of course, I was caught in an updraft, and was diving at 140 mph with idle-power trying to stay down where we could breathe!)

(I posted about this another time….just wanted to provide a laugh today…but it’s a true story. )

[DaveF]

WOW 20 thousand feet . do you have an internal o2 system. . So what was the handling like at that altitude . How long did it take to get there ? That could be a record for a 170 .

I didn't record data so I don't know how long it took to get to 20k, but I know the last 1000 feet took a very long time. We had to hold exactly 65 mph indicated, wings level and ball centered or we wouldn't climb. At 20k, the airplane descended at any speed other than 65. The controls were soft and it felt like we were floating. The visual effect of being so high added to that. We used a SkyOx portable oxygen rig.

It was a fun experiment, but I wouldn't try to cruise above 12000. It takes too long to get up there, and if the weather is bad enough to cruise that high I shouldn't be going. I've been up to 15000 a few times to clear the mountains headed west, but that wasn't cruising, just up and over.

[cessna170bdriver]

I once took off from near sea level (Slidell, LA) and climbed to 14,500 in about 45 minutes; stock O-300, solo, 1/2 tanks. It was in the pre-smart phone era so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

[mmcmillan2]

Y’all are crazy!