The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:

c170b53 wrote:the precious last 170 coffee cup scam foisted on the gentleman from Hawaii (an airline Capt) had to be the worst, sucked me in a bit, him hook, line and sinker.

The believe first "Last Coffee Cup" scam, was pulled at Branson, MO. I'll bet George still chooses the set farthest from Naomi Goodlett when they sit down at a Texas fly-in.

Actually, I introduced the Coffee Cup auction item at Galveston in 2007 and re-played it at Branson in 2008.
Naomi “won” the Galveston coffee cups (set of two) and the Assoc’n “benefitted” by $60. She took it in good-style, however, and... much to those “in the know’s” amusement.... the most energetic barker/auctioneer at the subsequent Branson coffee-cup auction, cheering bidders on....was.... Naomi Goodlett!

(The idea was not my own. I plagiarized it from a well-known aviator’s fraternity who auctioned off “the only commemorative cup available for sale” at the fraternity’s 50th Anniversary party. I’d never before seen so many adult male faces streaming tears of laughter.)

Another good Assoc’n Auction scenario I’ll never forget is the Wilmington De auction, where founding Member John D. Benham continually and vigorously and with increasing angst bid on an item until the price was sky-high.... (a rare thing to witness, as those who knew John D’s frugality).... and after he WON the item ... he BEAMED with PRIDE... until he realized the little ol’ lady sitting unnoticed in the crowd he had been bidding against was DOROTHY Benham!

Since we're talking about hardware stores, I can remember as kid going into the Western Auto at the corner of Hwy 71 and Main Street. They had the worn smooth wood floor George speaks of. They also had this impressive (to me, as a kid) ceiling fan arrangement. There must have been 6 or 8 big fans, all ran by a single motor and a belt/pulley system. Always wondered what would happen if the belt broke and slapped Mrs. Castleberry on the arse while Mr. Castleberry was fondling a new gun. They were an everything store, complete with deadpecker benches inside and out. It's where people went every Saturday, just to be there. It burned down in 1978. In fact, a lot of Main Street businesses burned down shortly after Wal-Mart came to town in 1975.

We still have Coast to Coast, which used to be OTASCO, on Main Street. Still under the same ownership since the early '50s. Jim still sells anything, and if it's not on his shelves then it may be in the back room yet to be unpacked, or it's in the attic, or the shed out back (he used to sell live fishing bait out of the shed). If he can't find it, he'll order it for you. Just a few years ago, I went in to buy some wheel and pedal crank bearings for an old bicycle I found for my grandson. Nobody in town sells bicycle parts anymore.
As we were looking for the bearings in the attic, I noticed some pegboards leaning against a far wall. Covered in dust, I noticed dozens of old wooden fishing lures. I said "Jim, do you know what these are worth?" He shrugged his shoulders and said "Nothing, that's why they're up here". Jim can't let customers upstairs because of the steep narrow stairwell and no engineering established load limit for the floor........."those insurance people won't let customers up here, but you ain't a customer. You're a pimple on my arse, so you gotta follow"

Turns out, he had moved that old inventory upstairs when the "new type" lures came along...........back in the '80s, he said. I got him hooked up with a friend who's really good at selling stuff on eBay. Jim ended up making several thousand on just the old fishing tackle, and worked out a deal with my friend to help clean out the attic. Jim's wife, Juanita, died about 4 years ago, and I expect Jim will retire soon. I just hope whomever buys or family members take over, will operate like Jim has.

When I lived in Aledo and Fort Worth, TX I would visit the Carter-Ivy Mercantile/Hardware store on north main st in Weatherford, TX. It was a true, old time store like those mentioned here. If they didn’t have it, you didn’t need it! Began in 1907 and I think it went out of business in 2007 when the last Carter family member passed away.
We have two such hardware stores here in Murfreesboro, TN. Farrer Brothers and Holden. Enjoy going there.

Look up FM filter adapter on the internet. I just stumbled on to 7 pages of instructions to install and check for leaks. This is dated Oct 2019.
To torque the adapter, install a wood block between the adapter and the engine block to prevent turning when torquing. They now want you to safety wire the adapter to prevent rotating. I printed 1 for me and 1 for my mechanic.

I'm in the middle of my annual and just competed the modification outlined in the service bulletin. So. Much. Safety wire. Of course, I only had about 10 hours since my last oil change, so dumping 7 quarts down the drain was a ton of fun. Thankfully, gas and oil is "cheap," or so they tell me