The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I have just purchased a 170B. I had never flown one before, and I'm completely in love with the airplane, even after having spent 14 hours flying it back from Indianapolis to Montana. 2 questions:

1. The airplane came with the seat locks to prevent the seat from sliding backwards. They are little red pieces that fit on the tracks. When I push the lever into the "lock" position, I can still push my seat back fairly easily. Is there some type of adjustment on those locks?
2. Can somebody recommend a rudder lock for the airplane?

Thanks,
Marshall Friedman

Welcome aboard, good call on the plane, and I envy your location.(Where in Montana?). Flying to our convention this past year, I crossed your state for the first time and from what I could see it looked like a light aircraft paradise. Lots of info on this site just use the search features of this site and be prepared to do some reading. Don't be shy give it a try, I recommend that you become a member and come to our next convention in Duluth. During our last convention, a member made up an integral part of a rudder gust lock and gave copies out to just about everybody. So you never know what you'll find and aside from meeting a good bunch of people, there's bound to be a few with a different prop twist just to keep things lively.(Their accents and writing style are a dead giveaway).

Check out the following discussion:
http://www.cessna170.org/forums/viewtop ... ock#p49326

Oh, George that is really simple and SWEET.....Altow a good wind could cost you a lens

Marshall,
I do not believe there is any wat to adjust the seat rail locks you mentioned.
Perhaps your seat rails are very old and worn too thin for the locks to properly grip the rail.
Another avenue to persue is to check with your Cessna dealer about the seat restraint that Cessna has recently been installing free.

marshall wrote:I
1. The airplane came with the seat locks to prevent the seat from sliding backwards. They are little red pieces that fit on the tracks. When I push the lever into the "lock" position, I can still push my seat back fairly easily. Is there some type of adjustment on those locks?
Thanks,
Marshall Friedman

Marshall take a look at this WEB site, if this is the type of seat track lock you have bare in mind that the Aerostop comes in two sizes: size one for the original Cessna seat track and size two for the heavier after market size seat track. http://www.aerostop.com/

Marshall,

So there is no confusion with your question about the seat locks lets forget about the red aftermarket seat lock for a moment and assume this is adjusted all the way to the rear of the seat track.

Now are you saying that when you have the your set adjusted and locked with the seat lock that you can easily slip the seat back? If so you have a very dangerous situation which is addressed by an AD. Either your seat track is worn or the pin at the seat leg is worn or a combination of both. This is what BL was talking about.

Your seat and the original locking system must work all by itself or your aircraft must not be in compliance with the AD.

The after market red locking mechanism that you can slide up the seat rail and lock in place to block the seat from moving aft is an additional safety device.

Brad Brady wrote:Oh, George that is really simple and SWEET.....Altow a good wind could cost you a lens

Brad, the picture George posted shows the rope harness around the glass lens. I believe for this photo it may have been a little lax and ordinarily would be a bit tighter placing it more around the lens and light base where it attaches to the rudder. I have been using this system every day outside in eastern PA for about 3 years. Granted there may be places that see higher winds and perhaps more often but the system has survived winds and gusts in excess of 60 mph. I believe if there is a wind that will break the lens with this system, you will have other damage to your plane as well.

Don't get me wrong, Bruce, I love it....

Hard to believe none of you have heard of YORK gust locks. I have been used one on my C-180 for 5 years, a C-150 for 3 years, C-182 for 5 years and C-170B for 3 years. They work by locking the the control surfaces- ailerons, rudder and elevator- perfectly. Here's the site: http://www.gustlock.com/

Cheers,

N2782C wrote:Hard to believe none of you have heard of YORK gust locks. ...

That's an incorrect assumption. Lots of us have heard of them, and they are an OK product.... if you want to carry a metal contraption along with you that mars the yokes. (And their claim to place the elevators in a down positon for drainage does not apply to the 170 because it won't keep the rudders from banging around, due to the rudders not being interconnected.)

The nice thing about the rudder gustlock that Steve Jacbson gave out during our last convention is that if you use bungee cords and forget to remove it it doesn't real affect your ability to fly. And don't ask me how I know

George,

Maybe there's something I missed in your reply to me on gust locks. The elevator is held in the full aft position, or up, and water will drain off it very easily. Secondly, with the gust lock in place, two of us tried it today, the rudders, while not held locked in postion, are held tighter and it takes more pressure to move them either right or left than it does with the rudder pedals not locked. Now that makes sense since the rudder springs are probably doing most of the work when the rudder pedals are held locked in position. I would venture to guess that it would take quite a hefty gust to move them to a position of damage. I think I might be in some trouble if the gusts reached 60 kts. Depending on how it's tied down, at that wind speed the rudder might just be the least of your worries. As to marring the wheel, I have never seen one marred on the 4 airplanes that I have used them on since 1987. And as far as 'hauling' it around it measures just 12"x 24"x3", roughly, folded up. In any event, it sure beats the old "hole" and "pin" in the control wheel that the later Cessna's had with literally no rudder lock at all. Your rudder lock looks a lot more secure and I'm sure it is. Whatever we're comfortable with is what we should use.

George et all,
Can anyone provide evidence (ie. pictures or damage log) of a rudder that was secured by a large foam and wood disc with a bolt going through the vertical stab and rudder gap? The reason why I ask is I have heard don't do it, don't do it, but I am not one that mimics anscestor worship. If a properly attached disc that is large enough will hold the rudder from banging around, then the need for this lanyard around the tail light is not needed. I am not saying it is a bad idea but I just dont agree that you will damage your rudder rib by the use of such device as I have described. I do want someone to prove me wrong though. I am in a very windy area and I do not want to replace my rudder bellcrank again. Thanks, Doug

My word on this isn't good enough? Fine. Disregard it. (I don't have a handy pic for everything I've seen and know.)

To be accurate, I've not seen anyone secure a 170 rudder in exactly the same manner as in that particular installation, however. In high winds, I'd expect THAT particular installation to damage the rudder fwd spar, and I already get so many requests for rudder spars that I'm virtually out of resources. (That installation illustrated will stress not only the rudder spar, but also the rudder hinges. Have you tried locating any hinges and bearings lately?)

If you secure your rudder as suggested using a lanyard/bungee/etc., then you will protect your rudder bellcrank AND not damage your rudder.