The highest numbered hour 170

[ghostflyer]

Presently I am sitting up at Big bear in Calfornia (R & R ) and been talking to some other owners here about high hours on some aircraft and what there effects are. My aircraft is a 170a has 10500 hrs on it but it is in good shape . This basically due to my business in the aviation industry but these aircraft are getting older. I am very concerned . I have been using Cessna SIDS program of maintenance on it for the last 2 years but does it cover everything ????. So my question is who has the highest hours on their airframe and what extra maintenance and rectification do you do ? What growing problems that are starting to show . One area that cessna doesn't address is the corrosion pitting on the bottom of the fuel tanks . I will be x-raying the strut attract points on the main spar area.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

I'm afraid you might be blazing the trail for the rest of us at 10500 hours. My well used 170A only has about 4700 hours by comparison.

BTW the highest time airfame I've flown was a helicopter with about 12000 hours and over 40000 landings.

[ron74887]

ghostflyer, during the convention in Fairbanks 1988 Bud Helmricks, who was the featured speaker, had a 1952 model he bought new and flew it from Wichita to Fairbanks that year. If I remember right, he had at that time over 20K on that plane and had 16 engines. You would have to find out from someone in Alaska where the plane is and what they are doing. You might contact Schikora in Fairbanks as they were buddies. He could possibly know the whereabouts of the plane. Ron

[pdb]

I know Bud's sons and will ask about the 170. The last time I saw it, a few years ago, it was in parts in Palmer awaiting restoration.

[ron74887]

Pet, that malke complete sense with that much time it probably needed to be looked over extremely close! kinda like me!!!! Ron

[ghostflyer]

When I was rebuilding my old girl ( I purchased as a heap of parts around a hangar wall and some parts in another hangar ) and the number of hangar rats ( 2 legged ones ) that came in for a sticky beak said " I flew that in SE Asia or New Guinea or some were else in the world . It had the rego of "KEN " . It's been changed now . Unfortunately the logs do not represent what the hours that it had done . I can only trace only about 5 engines . I know the aircraft flew in the USA for about 200 hrs before moving to the SE Asia area and being used by the USA Goverment for what ???? it was then sold to " 4 Square Missionary Fellowship " it flew around New Guinea until the middle seventies . The principal of the Missionary was killed in a separate aviation accident and the 170a sat on the airfield in New Guinean for a number of years while the relatives fought over it . Some of the relatives then came from Australia and disassembled and sent it in pieces to Adelaide (Australia) where it sat in a back yard for about 7years until it was sold to a glider club committee where they began to pull part to "fix" it. It was then sold to a couple of the members of the committee who still continued to fight over the aircraft . That's when a friend of mine introduced me to the "old girl" . I can't tell you the cost as my wife could read this but there was many blood sweat and tears spilled . It took about 2years and some body was working nearly full time in some capacity on the aircraft . Well the test flight came and this is wher it gets very interesting to the point of being Scary . The aircraft flew with a slight heavy wing. But that's no big deal.


We did the test flight and then this man came over to the aircraft and started walking around the aircraft and asking a heap of questions . Real personal questions about the aircraft . Mmmmm the alarm bells started to ring . Who is this guy ?
During our conversation ,I glimed that this guy knew a few facts that only ME knew ( eg. Bullet holes in the ribs and the fuse large )
He then explained he was the brother of the owner of a 170a when it was in New Guinea . He was travelling around Australia with his wife and was passing the airport and saw the aircraft from the road and curiosity got the better of him.
This was that aircraft . Well we took him for a fly and he was emotional wreck when we landed .
So what's the odds of us doing that test flight on that particular day and he driving past ,and being the brother of the decease owner . It still raises goose bumps with me . Hope I haven't bored you guys

[cessna170bdriver]

Compared to 10,500 hours, mine is still in diapers at somewhere right around 3,000, with a couple of overhauls on the same engine Cessna hung on her at the factory...

A friend of mine in Florida rebuilt a relatively early model 172 about 15 years ago that was in the high teens X 1000 hours, most of them as a trainer.

[pdb]

I spoke to Jeff H. today and he reports that his dad's 170b has about 18,000 hours on it and remains under restoration.

[DaveF]

Hope I haven't bored you guys

Bored? Not a chance! That story is just more of the magic of aviation.

[ron74887]

well I said, I think--I'll go back and look at the 170 news from that convention and see if there are any records of what Bud actually said maybe it was 16000 hours and 20 engines?? I agree with Miles mine is in diapers too. Then at the Blakesburg convention, some guy flew in and his had 700 plus a few total time. That is on the other end of the spectrum. As this group goes, we looked like vultures on a kill inspecting his aircraft. Ron