The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Hi All,

My '53 came with a set of rams horn style control yokes. Where they came from, I have no clue. I'm sure some guys would really like them (the prior owner obviously did), but I sure don't. I would really like to go back to the original style yokes.

So I bought a set on ebay pretty cheap. They aren't pretty, but I figured I could clean them up, fill in the knicks and chips, and probably leather wrap them. (I know you purists are howling out there, but it gets darn cold in WI in the winter, and my favorite warm fleece gloves have a tendency to slip on slick painted surfaces.) The problem is the yokes I bought are plastic. I didn't think much of it at the time, but then I started reading a few other forum posts and it seems like most everyone else has metal yokes. Furthermore, there were comments about yoke failures. Suddenly 60 year old bakelite isn't very confidence inspiring.

Should I be worrying about my plastic yokes? Should I be shopping for a set a metal ones? Or am I just overthinking this one?

Thanks,
DEM

flyboy122 wrote:...

Should I be worrying about my plastic yokes? Should I be shopping for a set a metal ones? Or am I just overthinking this one?

Thanks,
DEM

Yes. Yes. and No.

Are the yokes you bought from a 170? If so were any of the original 170 yokes made of plastic?

johneeb wrote:Are the yokes you bought from a 170? If so were any of the original 170 yokes made of plastic?

Several year-models of early 172/182 aircraft were produced with the failure-prone plastic yokes. The reason many of them appear on the "market" is because they are not wanted in their original aircraft. The plastic control yokes can crack and fail at inopportune times.

gahorn wrote:

johneeb wrote:Are the yokes you bought from a 170? If so were any of the original 170 yokes made of plastic?

Several year-models of early 172/182 aircraft were produced with the failure-prone plastic yokes. The reason many of them appear on the "market" is because they are not wanted in their original aircraft. The plastic control yokes can crack and fail at inopportune times.

The ones I got on Ebay are 170 style yokes. Whether or not they are actually out of a 170, can't say, but I thought the 172's, etc... had a different shape?

Regardless, anybody know where I can get a set of metal 170 yokes?

Thanks,
DEM

You might want to check closer but the original metal ones were covered with plastic. Are you sure those are solid plastic or could they be plastic coated metal?

DEM,
Sent you a PM. I am looking to replace my original 1955 C170B controls with a ram style due to the location of the throttle during my rebuild. Please contact me...we might be able to swap.
Thanks,
John Nielsen
e-mail: nielsen(at)Bloomer.net

hilltop170 wrote:You might want to check closer but the original metal ones were covered with plastic. Are you sure those are solid plastic or could they be plastic coated metal?

Richard,

After further review, you were spot on. Thanks! I cleaned up a chipped area a bit and underneath was metal (I'm assuming aluminum as it wasn't magnetic).

DEM

DEM-
That's great news, I have never seen original style plastic ones. I remember the powder coat guys complaining how hard it was to clean off the old plastic when i had mine redone. If they are pitted and ugly there is a hammer finish powder coat that will make them disappear but it won't look original. Good luck!

When I refinished my original yokes I scraped the plastic coating off carefully with a chisel.Then I used paint stripper to take off the remnants. It worked great, then I spent $40 to have them powder-coated black. I added a small Cessna decal and now they look as good as new.

Edit: I started off with a chisel then moved to a razor blade and it worked a lot better.

Mine had a plastic coating as well.
Same scraping technique plus a little media blasting to finish them off.
I opted for Rustoleum Epoxy appliance paint. Very durable...except for where I thwaked it with a wrench while installing them

DEM,
Here is a pic of mine...I would like to trade for Ram style. See your PM for details.

John

My airplane also came with the ram's horn style control wheels. I found a pair of 170 wheels on e-Bay for $40 then got them powder-coated and the Cessna logo laser-etched. Turned out fine.

Very nice!

What kind of firm did the laser etching and in what format did you supply the graphics? These look really cool.