The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Well, Bruce... should you pursue this modification ...and presuming you can get it added to the Engine STC.... I give permission for you to use the testing I've completed with regard to the incidence-of-failure ...based upon the leaf-spring failure I experienced landing at night in Bogalusa, La* during an FAA Safety Seminar being conducted at the airport. I'm surprised no one noticed the trail-of-sparks following me down the runway as I dragged it on-into the ramp in front of the hangar ramp. (I suppose the large audience was enthralled with the film being shown by the two FAA Inspectors, and I was blessed by the fact they'd placed the projector-screen at the opposite end of the hangar.)
That rudder was hand-beaten back to "shape" and further flown on to the Dickinson, TX home field by my employer, having learned of my ferry-flight from it's previous wreckage in a field near Citronelle, Al by a new-hire who had flipped it out-of-gas. (S&S PIpeline Patrol was a tightly-run and well-regulated company.) When Mr. Stevens (the owner) was told of my having returned the airplane upright and flown it from Alabama to Louisiana and landed during a safety-seminar.... he decided that the right wing being bent downward outboard of the strut, the caved-in left leading edge, the straightened prop, and the Exxon motor oil, missing battery and carb air-box was no reason it couldn't make it all the way home to Texas as long as a new tailspring was installed before flight!
(I think he was embarrassed to not continue what he'd encouraged me to do as his employee.) It's amazing what some, young unnamed idio.... err, ... pilots will do for flight time when building time for the airlines.)

I have also thoroughly tested that single bolt attaching the tailwheel casting to the leaf spring, and that can also be supported by the crew and pax of the Trans-Texas Airways Convair that had to go-around as I blocked the both runways intersection at Lufkin, Tx.*

The STC we acquire should also contain approval for the common black-iron bolt found at the Lufkin hardware store which stayed on that airplane, as far as I know, for the remainder of my pipeline patrol experience. (Although admittedly, that was on a lesser gross wt C-140.)

The airplane was green, if that means anything.

* (1972-73, hoping for statute of limitations)

If I ever host a convention, I'm setting up an MMA octagon during the maintenance forum and during open bar times and running a side pot. Red/green discussions will be expressly forbidden from being settled in the octagon, but P Ponk brackets, double tailwheel leaf springs, strapless windscreens, and MMO will be valid topics, among others to be decided at a later date.

Boy George, you are a lucky guy that that C-140 was green. Had it been your color it likely wouldn't have made it all the way to TX

Ryan Smith wrote:If I ever host a convention, I'm setting up an MMA octagon during the maintenance forum and during open bar times and running a side pot. Red/green discussions will be expressly forbidden from being settled in the octagon, but P Ponk brackets, double tailwheel leaf springs, strapless windscreens, and MMO will be valid topics, among others to be decided at a later date.

I've found wetting the PPonk bolts with MMO increases tensile strength.

I've found wetting the PPonk bolts with MMO increases tensile strength.

If MMO was green and not red then the modulus of elasticity would be greatly reduced!

170C wrote:Boy George, you are a lucky guy that that C-140 was green. Had it been your color it likely wouldn't have made it all the way to TX

The Lufkin, TX airplane was green.

The Citronelle, AL airplane was... mixed.... Ahhhh.... to be 24 again... NOT!