Wichita State University digital archives

[n2582d]

There are some very interesting manuscripts within WSU’s archives. See especially Wallace Cessna Aircraft Company Collection. They have production cards for several different models but, unfortunately, not for the C-170.

Actually, I've found one card for a C-170. It's filed with the C-180 cards. Like George's plane, this one went to Central America. But what's weird is that it is s/n 24000. According to Cessna there is a gap in production serial numbers in 1952. This gap would be serial numbers 21000 through 24999. This plane, s/n 24000, was delivered to El Salvador in 1956.

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The following aircraft, s/n 24001, was a Cessna 325. What the heck is a 325 you ask? According to Thompson,

An agricultural version of the L-19 called the Model 325 was first flown by R.L. "Bob" Crawshaw on January 31, 1955. It featured a tank for dust or spray materials in place of the rear seat, a 230 HP engine, constant-speed propeller, and larger tires and brakes. Only four units were produced for evaluation by a selected agplane operator in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Since the market was judged to be inadequate, the project was dropped in 1956. (Cessna: Wings for the World, pg.179)

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In our Directory there is at least one additional C-170 that falls within the s/n 21000-24999 range: N1896C is s/n 24061 and is listed as a 1952 C-170B.

[n2582d]

Do you know how hard it is to find an historical photo of the top wing surface of a 1948 C-170? Lately I’ve been doing some rummaging around Wichita State University’s digital archives. I would love to spend a week there studying the 33 linear feet of documents they have in their Duane Wallace Collection. It’s indexed online but not scanned. For example, Box 14, Folder 23 is described as “Reports/Specifications: Model 170, misc.” Box 33 apparently has a “film of 170 rocket launches.” I presume in preparation/development of the L-19. Box 15, folder 7 makes mention of “twin 195”. Anybody heard of that project before?

Kansas Aviation Museum has another motherlode of documents and photos that I wish we could scan and archive in our Mx Library. Many of the photos in EAA’s March/April 2023 edition of Vintage Airplane commemorating the 75th anniversary of the C-170 come from Bob Pickett’s collection at the Kansas Aviation Museum. They also have some 170 production cards from the Cessna factory. In an email from Ed Phillips, author of Cessna: A Master’s Expression, he writes, “You may be shocked to learn that in the 1960s-1970s the Cessna company threw away tons of historical records that Bob Pickett retrieved by “dumpster-diving” many times before the trash trucks arrived!!! Without his efforts we would know a lot less about Cessna history. KAM is tasked with preserving his collection.“

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Interesting Gary that Cessna threw away many records and documents in the 60s and 70s, but not shocking to me. You see, Piper did the same thing after the '72 Lock Haven flood when they decided to shut down that facility and move PA-18 production to Florida. The world would not have a single record of any aircraft Piper built at Lock Haven had it not been for Clyde Smith known as "The Cub Doctor" who was tasked as the last Piper employee at Lock Haven to clean out and dispose of all the records and tooling. Clyde asked and was told by Piper management, they didn't care what happened to it all so long as it was gone. Most of it, Clyde still owns today. Want a build sheet for you J3 or PA-17, Piper doesn't have it, Clyde does.

[n2582d]

Looks like Wichita State University’s digital archives could give you a start on a scratch-built C-34, C-37, C-38, C-145 or C-165 … or make a cool poster for your man-cave!

Rudder Pedal, note sturrup, Click to Enlarge

C-34, Click to Enlarge

[GAHorn]

While researching the ‘48 fuel pump issue I had a discussion with the “Single Engine Fuel-Systems” Engineer at Textron/Cessna… who told me that Cessna, when being acquired by Textron, was instructed to “destroy all engineering-records which pre-date 1986”. He thought it was a dleberate act intended to reduce Cessna/Textron of potential liabilities of pre-86 mfr’d airframes.

[n2582d]

I bought Cessna drawings for the Koppers Aeromatic propeller installation in 2013, a year before Textron acquired Cessna. I thought the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 was supposed to put a stop to litigation on aircraft and aircraft parts over 18 years old. Apparently not.