New member here!

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hilltop170
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Re: New member here!

Post by hilltop170 »

Sorry for hijacking this thread further, but that 195 had sat derelict with no cowl at Merrill Field in Anchorage for over 20 years. It was then flown down to Kenai WITHOUT A COWL for a few more years, annualed, a cowl cobbled together, and that guy bought it and flew it to Indiana or Illinois, can’t remember which. Hope he made it.

That sure says a LOT about how well Cessna made these old planes to be able to mistreat them that bad and still fly them across the continent with minimal prep.
Richard Pulley
2014-2016 TIC170A Past President
1951 170A, N1715D, s/n 20158, O-300D
Owned from 1973 to 1984.
Bought again in 2006 after 22 years.
It's not for sale!
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c170b53
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Re: New member here!

Post by c170b53 »

We also have a north south weekend get together every late Sept in Columbia CA. It’s generally a small gathering organized by member Daune Shockey. He’s another great contact, having hosted 2 annual conventions, he’s in tune with the association.
Jim McIntosh..
1953 C170B S/N 25656
02 K1200RS
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bgiesbrecht
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Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:51 pm

Re: New member here!

Post by bgiesbrecht »

All great info here, thanks! I actually grew up flying in Canada and did most of my training there. It's the border crossing aspect that I've never experienced. Doesn't sound terrible. And since my family is still there I go there a couple times a year...I'm very familiar with the customs agents on both sides. In my experience the Canadian ones were the worst, to be honest. Maybe because I'm a naturalized US citizen but they see birthplace of Canada on my US passport and give me an extra hard time. :)

That 195... 8O :o
Last edited by bgiesbrecht on Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Former owner of:
1953 170B
N1977C
s/n 26122
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bgiesbrecht
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Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:51 pm

Re: New member here!

Post by bgiesbrecht »

c170b53 wrote:We also have a north south weekend get together every late Sept in Columbia CA. It’s generally a small gathering organized by member Daune Shockey. He’s another great contact, having hosted 2 annual conventions, he’s in tune with the association.
Thanks! I'd love to join that. Hoping to make the Father's Day trip as well.
Former owner of:
1953 170B
N1977C
s/n 26122
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bgiesbrecht
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Re: New member here!

Post by bgiesbrecht »

UPDATE

For those that don't know already, earlier this year I bought N1977C from Rob, another TIC member. Richard graciously ferried it out from New Orleans area to its new home here at KSNA. I'm a 180 hr PPL with minimal tw time (and all of that in light tw such as decathlons/cubs) so I had some learning to do and was very much looking forward to it. Insurance required 10 dual and 5 solo prior to px.

My tw CFI, local to KSNA, earned his own ticket years ago in a 170, owns a 140, and has tons of warbird/170 specific time. Learning to handle the 170 was a total blast and absolutely humbling at first. Having since been signed off, I frequently will just go knock some out in the pattern after work just for fun. I never tire of taking off/landing this thing and experiment with all sorts of configurations.

A few items have also been addressed since taking ownership:

-rebuilt fuel selector
-new 8-6.00 tires
-BAS harnesses (best decision ever)

-about to convert from fuses to breakers, putting in a GTX327 with a GDL82 for ADS-B
-BAS tailpull handle is here but needs to be installed
-towards the end of the year I will put in an engine monitor

Anyone have any comments on VGs? I've flown 172 with them and they were amazing. I'd love to put them on 77C but...add it to the list of everything else I want to do. 8O
Former owner of:
1953 170B
N1977C
s/n 26122
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ghostflyer
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Re: New member here!

Post by ghostflyer »

VG,s mmmm, well have only done 120 hours in a 170b fitted with VG,s and initially thought they were great but after a while got to thinking that hey I can do that in my 170A. When I returned home and started flying my 170A , I realized that with a little practice I could do everything that I was doing with the 170b withVG,s . It’s all about familiarity with your aircraft . Would I buy VG,s ? N0.
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Bruce Fenstermacher
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Re: New member here!

Post by Bruce Fenstermacher »

I would buy VGs so that I felt more comfortable while I flew as slow as I already could. As you already know from your experiance, they make control more positive at slow speed..
CAUTION - My forum posts may be worth what you paid for them!

Bruce Fenstermacher, Past President, TIC170A
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GAHorn
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Re: New member here!

Post by GAHorn »

Why do you want to fly at such slow speeds that VGs become useful?

The airplane will already land in places too short to get back out of and VGs will not change that. They will, however, add unnecessary airworthiness issues to mx concerns such as if some fall off, or when washing the airplane. If we were discussing a multi-engine airplane I’d be more in favor of them for single-engine controllability issues but don’t see any reason to tickle the tail of a dragon by flying around at the edge of the envelope simply because I had spent money on a gadget that enabled such a useless exercise. Save the money for something more useful instead of altering a classic airplane for such useless endeavor. IMO.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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Bruce Fenstermacher
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Re: New member here!

Post by Bruce Fenstermacher »

George, you just won't get it. When you need to fly your approach at 50 mph, on short final so you don't over run the end of the runway, or on the other hand if you are departing at 50 mph trying to clear the trees and house at the end of the runway, it is nice to have the absolutely rock solid aileron response VGs give you at that point. Do you NEED to have that warm and fuzzy feeling, no. And I proved it by operating for 5 years with all sorts of limitations under the above conditions at my base airport. And darn near every operation, I thought about buying a set of VG's. But I did something better. I moved the plane off that airport which actually cost me way more than a set of Vg's in as the tie down fee was 4 times as much.

If you never operate on less that a 2000 ft field with open ends, you don't need VGs, though pretending to land or take off short and slow is fun with them even then. And isn't flying suppose to be fun.

You must loose 5 VGs before your aircraft is unairworthy. You get extra in the kit. You can literally glue them back on in 5 minutes should you knock any off. I never had more the 2 off at any one time. Usually the two I just never replaced after knocking them off with a fuel hose.
CAUTION - My forum posts may be worth what you paid for them!

Bruce Fenstermacher, Past President, TIC170A
Email: brucefenster at gmail.com
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bgiesbrecht
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Re: New member here!

Post by bgiesbrecht »

In my experience with them, the VG's aren't about slower speeds but better handling at such slow speeds. The aileron control in slow flight is night and day. But yes - it's not high on the priority list, certainly not above the engine monitor I want to add. 8)
Former owner of:
1953 170B
N1977C
s/n 26122
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GAHorn
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Re: New member here!

Post by GAHorn »

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:George, you just won't get it. When you need to fly your approach at 50 mph, on short final so you don't over run the end of the runway, or on the other hand if you are departing at 50 mph trying to clear the trees and house at the end of the runway, it is nice to have the absolutely rock solid aileron response VGs give you at that point. Do you NEED to have that warm and fuzzy feeling, no. And I proved it by operating for 5 years with all sorts of limitations under the above conditions at my base airport. And darn near every operation, I thought about buying a set of VG's. But I did something better. I moved the plane off that airport which actually cost me way more than a set of Vg's in as the tie down fee was 4 times as much.

If you never operate on less that a 2000 ft field with open ends, you don't need VGs, though pretending to land or take off short and slow is fun with them even then. And isn't flying suppose to be fun.

You must loose 5 VGs before your aircraft is unairworthy. You get extra in the kit. You can literally glue them back on in 5 minutes should you knock any off. I never had more the 2 off at any one time. Usually the two I just never replaced after knocking them off with a fuel hose.
Just for the fun of debate only....:

Bruce, WHY would I need to take off ( I suspect you meant “climb”) at 50 mph when the best angle of climb is 67 mph ?
And WHY would I need to approach at 50 if the field length meets the published requirements of the airplane.??
Answer: One doesn’t. And the VG sellers won’t produce approved data to allow that type operation either.
And, (a minor inconvenience I’m sure) but... I hope an A&P is convenient to sign off the repair for the owner wishing to repair the STC’d product when those 5 fall off.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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ghostflyer
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Re: New member here!

Post by ghostflyer »

I am with George with this one . Without VG,s I was using about 4 to 6 ft more of runway for take off and landing was about the same length. Both aircraft that I was flying had a 180 hp up the front. Density altitude was about the same . Most of my approaches are done at 1300 rpm and idle just before touch down.
My take off,s were full power and lift the tail off before moving and at 50 kts slightly pull back and your airborne . In ground effect for the next 80 ft and climb out and accelerating to 60+ kts. The tree line is only there to keep the heart pumping and some where for birds to sit in.
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