It begins.....wings off

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

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Poncho73
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It begins.....wings off

Post by Poncho73 »

Well last week I started de-fueling, flap, aileron removal. Then cables and electrics on Saturday, finally today in -2c temperatures....in sunny Canada, we popped the wings off. Over the winter, new skins, fuel ines, PPonk and a ton more.....nothing money can't fix. :D. I will upload a picture once I minimize the size
bagarre
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by bagarre »

Ahh, the excitement of opening a fresh can of worms. :wink:
I'm entering the second year of my one year project and I still think I'm a year away from finishing it.
Are you just re-skinning the tops?
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c170b53
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by c170b53 »

Bought my plane from Brampton, did my first take- off in a 170 when I left with it. Have a few co-workers there as well whom are retired now, so I know there's lots of talent in the area. Care to share tHe project/plan? I think David nailed it,
It's may not seem to be a slippery slope to perfection, it's a cliff.
Jim McIntosh..
1953 C170B S/N 25656
02 K1200RS
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

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Hopefully this uploads...I hope it is not a two year project but I'm OK if it is I have other airplanes I can use in the meantime, just none as fun as the 170.
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Wings off 1.jpg
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by Poncho73 »

It will be new Ceconite skins and repaint. While the wings are off, realizing next year will be the birds 70th birthday, I think it is time to do some major inspecting including some AN hardware replacement.

Basic Plan...to be amended daily.... :D : new wing skins, all wing wiring to be replace, and landing light motor overhaul
tailplane removal and inspection, including attachment bolt replacement.
landing gear removal and box inspection, P Ponk mod to be installed after gear leg cleaning and repaint.
Control Yoke remove and inspection and repaint.
Icom- IC-A220 to be installed

Going forward the list will grow I'm sure.
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Wings in trailer.jpg
bagarre
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by bagarre »

Not a bad time to have a good look at the control cables and pulleys.
My 170 only has 1400 hours TT but both rudder cables had lots of broken wires at the rear fairlead. The only way to really check them is to get them out of the fairlead and give them a bend. Had a few seized pulleys too.
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by Poncho73 »

c170b53 wrote:Bought my plane from Brampton, did my first take- off in a 170 when I left with it. Have a few co-workers there as well whom are retired now, so I know there's lots of talent in the area. Care to share tHe project/plan? I think David nailed it,
It's may not seem to be a slippery slope to perfection, it's a cliff.
What year was that you bought the 170 from Brampton? And registration....
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c170b53
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by c170b53 »

C-FIHK; bought it from Earl Smith in 95. It was painted beige, with brown and orange accents, had been kept outside on the grass and was in poor shape to say the least.
We returned CFIHK to Brampton after the convention in 2014, parked a couple of nights by the flying club before flying back to the West coast.
Hope you have a great heater for that hangar so you can keep to your production schedule :D
Jim McIntosh..
1953 C170B S/N 25656
02 K1200RS
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by Poncho73 »

c170b53 wrote:C-FIHK; bought it from Earl Smith in 95. It was painted beige, with brown and orange accents, had been kept outside on the grass and was in poor shape to say the least.
We returned CFIHK to Brampton after the convention in 2014, parked a couple of nights by the flying club before flying back to the West coast.
Hope you have a great heater for that hangar so you can keep to your production schedule :D
OK, Earl is still around and as a matter of fact I had lunch with him a couple of weeks ago. I will let him know IHK is going strong....small world.....I thought the reg was familiar.

I have no heater or door on my hangar :( ......however, I have a friend with a heated hangar and I will likely move the airplane to his hangar next month.
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

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Completed the right side fuel line install late today.----(re-full gravity system A and B model style) .....what a job. I will post some pictures. I had to make a few more holes here and there but happy with the install. Left side has been started but a few more days to go.
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GAHorn
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by GAHorn »

Poncho73 wrote:Completed the right side fuel line install late today.----(re-full gravity system A and B model style) .....what a job. I will post some pictures. I had to make a few more holes here and there but happy with the install. Left side has been started but a few more days to go.
Poncho.... This would make an EXTREMELY interesting and VALUABLE article for the 170 NEWS... PLEASE take more pictures than you think necessary and any notes on how your discovered/solved any problems encountered. YOU are a PIONEER and we need to document this. :P
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by Poncho73 »

gahorn wrote:
Poncho73 wrote:Completed the right side fuel line install late today.----(re-full gravity system A and B model style) .....what a job. I will post some pictures. I had to make a few more holes here and there but happy with the install. Left side has been started but a few more days to go.
Poncho.... This would make an EXTREMELY interesting and VALUABLE article for the 170 NEWS... PLEASE take more pictures than you think necessary and any notes on how your discovered/solved any problems encountered. YOU are a PIONEER and we need to document this. :P
OK George I will fire up the old Kodak Instamatic 44 and snap a few photos..... :D
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

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Fuel lines are now in, very big job. Plenty of metal work as well, including trial installation piping.....pressure/leak check to follow, including debris check. I will need to resize the pictures to post

Also I removed the main gear brake line holder rivets today. This is in order to remove the gear legs for inspection and paint. Really I believe this should have been accomplished years ago, I don’t think they have been off ever. Corrosion is evident once the rivet is removed. Word to all, drill the rivet head with a 1/8 drill only enough to chisel off the rivet head than use a small punch to remove the remaining rivet. This is to ensure you do not damage the gear leg. The rivets were removed cleanly and easily using my method.
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by Poncho73 »

1C6B763F-789A-439D-89D6-EBFC47E0E698.jpeg
The right side fuel line from the selector to mid floor, aft of front seat, was the most challenging. Needed to cut three holes. One large access hole beside the gear leg inspection panel and two in the gear box forward and aft bulkhead. I will utilize machine screws for the gear box panels upon reinstall. Hopefully the pics will help explain things.
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Poncho73
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Re: It begins.....wings off

Post by Poncho73 »

Some gear leg clip pictures. I really think this should have been removed years ago. Again you can see I gingerly removed the rivet head in order to preserve the leg from drill damage.
68DBEBB1-F750-4DB8-BA6B-D843F0C6B311.jpeg
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