The International Cessna 170 Association

Couldn't agree more Bruce. When documenting paint lines it would be helpful to include a piece of graph paper or a ruler in the picture. Measuring lines in relation to rivets, skin seams, etc. would aid in reproducing historically authentic detail.

n2582d wrote:Glad to help. Are you planning on an original color?

The color won't be original but I hope to get the lines as close as possible to the way it left the factory. Base color will be silver and the trim blue. They are the colors my grandfather picked out before he passed away. I found his paint samples in his shop.

Document document document. We do not as a collective document enough.

After working with the folks at AeroGraphics for the past couple days, I was able to finalize a set of paint masks for my 170. I cannot verify 100% accuracy but this is what I am going with on my plane. I also printed off a full size set of the Cessna drawings (18x40) and gave them to my painter.

Mike,

If you're going to have a "bird" on the left side, are you going to turn it around and have it flying into the wind?

The 52 had the logo above. Was it turned "into the wind" on the other side?

I don't know about the '52, Mike. You might contact Charlie Beyer in Fayetteville, TN, as he still has his father's '52, which had the original paint on it until just a few years ago, and still has the original scheme over white. I'm pretty sure that '55s had the bird into the wind on both sides, at least that's how I had the original scheme done on mine in 1984. Paul Wood has some photo's of '53s with the bird pointing upwind on one side and downwind on the other. I'm sure someone here will know what is original, if that is what you're shooting for. My OCD wouldn't let me have a bird on my airplane flying tail first. If I ever put US flags on my airplane, the ones on the right would have to have the star field in the upper right corner...

Miles,
According to the old photos of Dad's 52 and the current paint job the "logo bird" points toward the "a" in Cessna. Also, I recall Dad making that stencil when he repainted the trim in 1982 and he used the left side original as the pattern. Maybe the right side had been polished off or the left was just closer to his drafting table. Just more evidence, in my mind, that Nippaero has it correct. Maybe that explains why I have to hold a little right rudder when cruising at 2350 rpm.

Kindest regards,
Charlie

The original owner's manual for the '52 has a picture of the left side that shows the same logo on the left side of the tail as on the other side. In other words, the bird is flying backwards on the left side. The picture is on the inside of the front cover. I noticed that when I bought the manual a few years ago. A copy is in the MX library.