Q 4 AME re Cessna 170 that has been idle for 15 years.

Gurundu the Rat · Post by **Gurundu the Rat** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:03 pm

Hello

I would greatly appreciate any advice from an AME or anyone in the know. I am currently looking at buying a Cessna 170B but it has not flown since 1989 and has last been annualed in 1986. I would think that the engine would need some work. Are there any other surprises associated with long term storage? this aircraft has been sitting outside. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

GTR

hz2p · Post by **hz2p** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:08 pm

Engine needs overhaul.

Prop needs inspection (yes, fixed pitch)

Paint cracked/peeling?

Plexiglas crazed?

Interior cracked/faded?

Radios - probably junk by now, need to be looked at.

Corrosion in airframe and flight controls? Bird's nests and mice?

Tires and tubes will need replacing. Brakes probably seized - replace discs and pads?

New battery, obviously.

AD's?

You're going to have quite the repair bill when you're done.

P.S. It's funny that the last annual was good for 3 years

Gurundu the Rat · Post by **Gurundu the Rat** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:18 pm

paint and interior need work but I am looking for a good solid airframe. I will do the esthetic stuff later. It has no avionics. And yeah, I noticed that about the annual...its in the USA, do they have the same rules?
And how do you detect corrosion on aluminum? or is it all the other little parts?

hz2p · Post by **hz2p** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:28 pm

Lightly corroded (unpainted surface) aluminum will appear to have white dust or spots on it. This is easily treated with Corrosion-X. More serious corrosion will show up as dark pits or erosion. The problem is often stuff you can't see - like the insides of trailing edges of flight controls. They can look fine outside, but you open them up and it's pretty scary inside. Under the paint, you can see it bubbling just like on a car.

Keep an eye out for galvanic corrosion as well - dissimilar metals.

Also, on all older aircraft look for signs of old damage, which wasn't repaired correctly, if at all. Wrinkes, popped rivets, etc. On a tailwheel aircraft look carefully for signs of groundlooping - gear damage, wing tip repair, unexplained prop replacement.

Gurundu the Rat · Post by **Gurundu the Rat** » Tue May 24, 2005 1:41 pm

Thanks! About that corrosion, the guy said the flap LE was blistered and that he repaired it and was about to paint it. You think it could be a whole lot worse inside the flaps?

Big Pistons Forever · Post by **Big Pistons Forever** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:06 pm

FYI

Cont 0 300 engine overhaul is aprox $25000

An engine sitting that long probably has terminal internal corrosion and is toast.

There is no such thing as good deal on a fixer upper. The trick is to find an airplane where somebody else took the bath on repairs

CL-Skadoo! · Post by **CL-Skadoo!** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:17 pm

They shoot horses in better shape than your plane

Inverted2 · Post by **Inverted2** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:36 pm

Try http://www.cessna170.org They might have a pre-purchase list of things to watch out for when inspecting and might be able to answer some questions. Best of luck!

hz2p · Post by **hz2p** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:47 pm

If the core is shot, it might be worthwhile to look at an engine swap.

There are lots of engines STC'd for the 172 - the ever-popular 180hp Lyc O-360, and more exotic Franklin come to mind - but I'm not sure what paper is available for the C170.

I flew a C-170 on floats decades ago, it had a weird engine, I think it was 170hp (?).

If there's an STC, the 180hp parallel-valve Lycoming would be a great engine for the 170 airframe.

MadDog · Post by **MadDog** » Tue May 24, 2005 9:49 pm

hz2p wrote:I flew a C-170 on floats decades ago, it had a weird engine, I think it was 170hp (?)

What engine's in a C-175? ... it's got reduction gear, that's all I remember... otherwise it's just like a 170 isn't it?

jamesel · Post by **jamesel** » Tue May 24, 2005 10:30 pm

Mitch,
The C-175 was a geared engine version of the 172, fastback & square or swept tail, tricycle gear of course, and used the Continental G0-300, which turned at 3400 rpm to give 175 hp. The 170 was the older, round tailed, tailwheel predecessor, with the 145 hp direct drive 0-300, or rarely the Franklinstein

H2ZP,
You could get the 170 from the factory with the 165 hp Franklin, although it wasn't very popular at all. I think the first Doyn conversion was a Lycoming 0-340(yes, there really was such a thing!) of 170 hp for the C-170. I think the only aircraft that flew with those engines were conversions of the 170s, the Apache's and the Twin Navions.

.

Trivia Switch:OFF

Gurundu the Rat · Post by **Gurundu the Rat** » Wed May 25, 2005 6:17 am

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess I need to let go of the thought that I could change a few jugs and ferry her home. I heard of a guy in minnesota that installs 215HP Continental engines in these things. Apparently it performs like a 185 on floats. The airframe only has 1800 hrs on it so it may still be worth it.

MadDog · Post by **MadDog** » Wed May 25, 2005 7:18 am

Thanks jamesel.

hz2p · Post by **hz2p** » Wed May 25, 2005 7:23 am

I think you may be referring to the 172 "hawk xp" which if memory serves, in the late 70's had a de-rated 210hp six-cylinder Teledyne Continental IO-360 engine: 195hp, which was a convenient number for the USA, and a constant-speed prop. I've seen them on floats. If you tweak the governor, you can get the original 2800 rpm & 210 hp. The XP's were priced almost as much as a 182, cruised almost the same speed, but I'm not sure they sold a whole lot of them.

The Lycoming 180hp four-cylinder O-360 w/fixed pitch prop is probably a whole lot cheaper conversion.

aero-singidunum · Post by **aero-singidunum** » Wed May 25, 2005 12:16 pm

Try to get some good AME, talk to few of them, see how much money you can spend, and then make plan of attack