1st time user

[rashvac]

Hi my name is Russell. I am looking for some help. I own a Cessna 195 and just lost a Cessna 140 on Friday in a bad crash.
I am wanting to replace my 140 with a 170 and know very little about this airplane. A friend had a 170 for years and said it is a great plane. My question is when I am looking at a 170 what should I be looking for? corrosion weak points thing that are hard to repair. I am not afraid of old planes that need work but want to know what I am getting into. Anyone has a line on a good 170 let me know.

Russell Shavitz
847-417-6622

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Welcome Russell

As a new user to this forum your are probably overwhelmed with the amount of information here. As an owner of a Cessna 140 and a Cessna 195 you will find you know more about a 170 than you think you do.

Any model of 170 is a great airplane. You will find the '48 ragwing most like your Cessna 140 but with 4 seats and there are members who love them. The A model turns out to be a transition model to the 170B. Of course it's all metal which some see as an improvement over the fabric wings of the '48. There are other improvements as well but the flaps are still like the '48. The biggist single change I think to the 170B is the flaps and this seams to be what most people talk about. There oar other improvements in the B model as the years progress to include better heat and heat distribution. Different landing gear which I personaal don't think is a great improvement but lots of people do.

There are no particular weaknesses of any of these models to look at that you wouldn't in any other airplane. Overall condition and originality if that is important to you.

Two areas that do come to mind to look at is corrosion at the wing attachment and carry through spars on all the models. On the '48 and A models you want to look at the first rib in the elevator were the torque tubes attach. These ribs are more exposed than the B model (which is a completely different elevator) and tend to rot. In later model 170s the tailwheel mount is a newer design which has two fingers, one top and bottom, stretching forward. Many older 170s with the smaller mount have had the later one fitted. This would be a bonus.

Looking at the books, determine what engine has been installed. There are lots with later 0-300s installed instead of the C-145-2 and if it is not an A model engine a basis of approval will be needed. Good news is the Association has that all covered with reasonably prices STCs for any 0-300 in any model. On a '48 you want to make sure it has an engine driven fuel pump. It needs to be there and many have been removed. There are no fuel pumps on the other models.

Because they have more common parts between later model 172s, and L-19s the 170Bs have more airframe parts available than the other models. But owning a Cessna 140 and a 195 you already know about what parts availability is for this era of Cessna.

I'm sure others will make more points to look at for each model, all most all of them have been mentioned on these forums at least 10 times. So happy reading here and good luck in your search.

As you have more specific questions specially as you look at aircraft don't be afraid to ask.

[webmaster]

I also highly recommend "The 170 Book". It's available through the website Store or by calling Headquarters at 307-587-6397.

I used to have a C-140 and now have a C170B. They are both great airplanes, but the 170 has much more utility with reasonable cost of ownership.

Good luck with your search!

Dale

[flyguy]

I am wanting to replace my 140 with a 170 and know very little about this airplane. A friend had a 170 for years and said it is a great plane. My question is when I am looking at a 170 what should I be looking for? corrosion weak points thing that are hard to repair. I am not afraid of old planes that need work but want to know what I am getting into. Anyone has a line on a good 170 let me know.

Russell Shavitz
847-417-6622

Sorry to hear about the loss of youir 140! What happened?

What to look for? ? ? Just a few items - there can be several more found during a complete inspection.

1. Look for corrosion or flaking metal in the rear spar attach points. (All models)
2. Look for corrosion or rust bubbles in the lower ends of the lift struts. (C170 models)
3. Wrinkles around the "gear box" area (All models)
4. Cracks or "bad" rivets in the tail wheel spring attach bracket. (C170s and A models with "old" box bracket)
5. Seat rail replacement (All models - - documented)
6. Fabric integrity (C170)
7. Control cable integrity (All models)
Some of these obvious flaws could be signs that it may be a waste of time to look further or call your A-I or A&P.

Instead of a so called "Pre-Buy" inspection, insist on a complete "annual Inspection" before purchase. George has said it before, and many of us feel the same - "Require a complete Annual Inspection, and an agreement / contract to fix all tagged items prior to purchasing the airplane". And, if possible, this should be done by an AP/AI who is familiar with the 170 (but who has no previous ties with the owner or plane you are considering). If you do this, most likely you will avoid problems in your ownership. Good Luck!

Here is one nice C170 recently listed in our "Trade Mart" at what seems like a good price.

http://www.cessna170.org/forums/viewtop ... f=7&t=5612

[GAHorn]

Beware of ANY airplane that the owner has spent an inordinate amount of time having his wife make an entirely new interior and which he has polished and painted "Tahoe" blue-green, however.

[n3833v]

George, you should have loaned him your compressor.

John

[flat country pilot]

George,

A picture is worth a 1000 words.

I don't remember where I first saw that picture, but I do remember what I thought about it.

Didn't know if I should laugh, be pissed or cry.

Maybe it was just staged. I don't know why some people go through half the effort to get a bad result. Better off with the old paint job.

Bill

[GAHorn]

OK... just so everybody knows the deal on that picture....
....
.... IT IS A PICTURE OF OUR VERY OWN "OL' GAR" (flyguy, Gary Hansen) ... Painting his own '52 170-B , in a last-minute effort to get it to the Galveston convention. He is shown spraying paint in his own open-shade-hangar... (he lost his lease on the shade-tree....). It is a concrete/and/dirt floor, and although it's not obvious in the picture... it's RAINING!

He subsequently POLISHED that airplane after he got the Chevy-Tahoe Blue/Green stripes put on it (the color he chose matches his new SUV). Sweet Deana worked like a slave getting a beautiful new interior manufactured/installed.... and the finished product is reported to be absolutely GORGEOUS.
The humor of it all is.... Ol' Gar hasn't flown that thing in the clear memory of anyone living. He hasn't started it in the history of the Louisiana Purchase, (the last time I look under the cowl it had a set of rusty VISE-GRIPS being used to hold the battery cables to a LAWN TRACTOR battery).... and yet he actually intended to have it at the convention, and chickened out of flying it at the last minute and DROVE to Galveston for the convention! (His airfield runway ends at the shorline of Lake Toledo Bend! If anything goes wrong with that first takeoff-of-the-century.... it's gonna take Dr. Robert Ballard and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Titanic-team to locate the wreckage.... so he didn't get it to the convention to be judged.)

RESULT: Ol' Gar and Deana, in recognition of the Gargantuan Task of bringing Ol' N2693D back from the edge of antiquity, and in appreciation and recognition of their ANTICIPATION that SOMEDAY it MAY actually FLY AGAIN...... were awarded the Official Galveston 2007 "MOST POTENTIAL AWARD" for Aircraft.

[Haydon]

Sounds like Ol' Gar needs to put it on floats.....or start a high fiber diet a week before the first flight....

[flyguy]

Sounds like Ol' Gar needs to put it on floats.....or start a high fiber diet a week before the first flight....

WAL IM SO FULL O THAT HIFIBRE STUFF I CUD FLOT THE BOTE TOO. SIDES I AINT GOT ENUF HORSY POWER TO PULL FLOTES OUT O THU WATER !

JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW THE PAINTING WASN'T THE MOST OF THE WORK. POLISHING AN RUBBING TILL I GOTS BLISTERS AND WITHOUT THE HELPERS IN THAT OTHER PIC IT WOULDN'T LOOK LIKE THIS -

-

AND THESE PICS OF THE INTERIOR ARE THE REALLY GREAT WORK BY MY BEST HALF - DEANA. THE STYLE IS JUST LIKE THE ORIGINALS AND IN FACT THE ZIPPERS AND THE POCKETS, SEWN INTO THE BACKS OF THE FRONT SEATS, IS STILL THE 1952 MATERIAL AND THE NEW COVERS REALLY LOOK BETTER THAN THE PICS I TOOK.

[hilltop170]

Looks like a really nice job, I guess that means you're out of the "rat class" in the next judging.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Yes the interior looks pretty nice. And I do see a bit of a shine on the side of the fuselage. Richard I agree this is definitely out of the "rat class", should it ever make it any where near a judge.