The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Does anyone know where to get yoke coating or where to have it done? My yokes werebadly chipped and I removed the coatings.

FWIW...I had mine powdercoated by a small firm in Southern California which I found in the yellow pages when I lived in that area. I think the cost was about $70.00. Looked great. If you are near a large city, you should be able to locate a similar service.
Regards,
chuck

I have a set that was given by a member and the heavy coating is missing on the one corner. Powder coating isn't for this and I'm not sure if an epoxy would do the trick . I had thought of using a forming epoxy. What are some thoughts on how to repair these?

John

I had mine powder coated here locally and they look great but they did them three times before they turned out. You might suggest to the powder coater put them through a few cycles of the oven before they coat them. The cast aluminum tends to emit gas which causes small bubbles in the finish. The other problem is that there is no standard color that matches the original color and to make a custom batch was going to be over $500 Bill K

I too, had mine powder coated, and they look great. It also took my guy three times to get it right. There are a few bubbles but they aren't noticeable. There is a thread on this subject, if I remember right some were recommending just painting them.
David

dacker wrote:I too, had mine powder coated, and they look great. It also took my guy three times to get it right. There are a few bubbles but they aren't noticeable. There is a thread on this subject, if I remember right some were recommending just painting them.
David

Yep, chisel/scrape off the old junk and use a high build epoxy primer and polyurethane topcoat. It takes a spray gun though and the paint isn't cheap. Holds up very well. I've done a lot of them.

I called a shop that said they could powder coat my yokes. They estimated $15.00 each. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks for all your input.

I stood my yokes up in a pan of MEK overnight and the old plasticoat was completely dissolved and clean-up was easy. Then sprayed them with epoxy primer and two coats of polyurethane. Look great.

I had a FAA guy at the Evergreen tell me its illegal being it will hid cracks??

If your sold n doing this there is a guy in t
Trade A Plane that does it. I think its big $$$$$$

derf62 wrote:I had a FAA guy at the Evergreen tell me its illegal being it will hid cracks??

If your sold n doing this there is a guy in t
Trade A Plane that does it. I think its big $$$$$$

There's probably no better way to hide cracks than the original plastic coating.

Miles

cessna170bdriver wrote:

derf62 wrote:I had a FAA guy at the Evergreen tell me its illegal being it will hid cracks??

If your sold n doing this there is a guy in t
Trade A Plane that does it. I think its big $$$$$$

There's probably no better way to hide cracks than the original plastic coating.

Miles

It sounds as if a beaurocrat has found a way for a lifetime job. It'll take him a lifetime travelling all over the country placing "condition" tags on every 170 in the U.S. (Well ... maybe not all of 'em. A few of em are painted...with plastic paint! (Polyurethane)

When I last looked into having mine officially "plasticoated", it was nearly $1,000.00 each. Too rich for me.
If a FAA inspector doesn't like paint on them, what does he do when he sees paint anywhere on an aircraft. My experience is that cracks in paint is what initially catches my eye when true cracks are located.
Steve

steve grewing wrote:When I last looked into having mine officially "plasticoated", it was nearly $1,000.00 each. Too rich for me.

Assuming a reasonable color could be found, how would the stuff you dip plier handles in work?

steve grewing wrote:...If a FAA inspector doesn't like paint on them, what does he do when he sees paint anywhere on an aircraft. My experience is that cracks in paint is what initially catches my eye when true cracks are located.
Steve

I assumed that derf62 was referring to powder coating being what his fed didn't like, the fed not knowing that the yokes were originally coated with a much thicker, resilient plastic coating that could probably hide a BROKEN yoke, not to mention one that was merely cracked.

BTW, anyone ever heard of a failure in a 170 yoke?

Miles

I have seen several diferent makes of aicraft with the yokes covered in stitched leather. There is an outfit in So. Cal . that advertises leatehr yoke coverings. Any experience with this sort of yoke covering - works great in the car why not in the aircraft?

Robert Eilers wrote:I have seen several diferent makes of aicraft with the yokes covered in stitched leather. There is an outfit in So. Cal . that advertises leatehr yoke coverings. Any experience with this sort of yoke covering - works great in the car why not in the aircraft?

Robert, it does work great in an airplane, however the yoke crack policeman would have a field day with it. My story is that the leather will hold the yoke together if it cracks and I am sticking with it.