The International Cessna 170 Association

I am a new member of TIC170A , and today searched through the extensive forum posts before posting my question. I have a 55 170B and I'm in the process of having the Horizontal Stabilizer skinned to remove a couple of underside patches. I took this opportunity to remove the fish mouth tail spring bracket as it had a crack starting at the aft 90 degree cut out. I have a replacement bracket from Air Repair with the cut out machined, and would like to use rivets however a couple of rivet holes are elongated in the stringer. My mechanic is researching with Cessna whether the use of bolts, or preferably structural screws with a round Phillips head, is permissible? I have had some feedback from other 170 owners who have suggested Rivets are the way to go maintain the original look and aircraft value. It seems to me that the bracket design with the 90 degree cut out is susceptible to cracking and if in the future I need to change it out again, structural screws would be much quicker. Does anyone know of any Tech info allowing this method of mounting the bracket? Thanks in advance for any information.

I would like to thank Jim McIntosh for asking on my behalf in a previous post for information prior to my becoming a member. I did review the information in the replies. Thanks Again.

Thanks for becoming a member, and supporting the club. I'm sure other members would like see pics of your plane as I believe it's all original and the exterior turquoise paint is my fav!

On the elongated rivet hole; there are oversize solid rivets (not talking about the next size up). They have the same head size, but larger shank size, as the nominal counterpart. So they look they same size after installation. They are part number NAS1242AD( )-( )
If your holes are really elongated, you may have to go to the next 1/32" nominal size, or its oversize, or replace the stringer which is not complicated.

Thank You Del, I have passed the information on to my AME. I will try to attach a pic of my 55 later as I have to re-size. I started polishing and hadn't done it all at time of picture taking. Mike

Hello Again, I have the Tail spring bracket installed, majority are rivets only had to use a six structural screws. I know I would have preferred to stay with rivets however I want to get up flying and this was the most expeditious way, and aesthetically pleasing. I have attached a pic of my 55 FJX. Mike

Welcome to the association! Your plane looks very nice. Reminds me of Rusty Morris's in Fort Worth, TX. Same color, etc.

Frank

Thanks Frank, I did speak to R. Morris last year when I was looking to have my seats re-done as close to original as I could get. He was excellent in sending me pics of his interior for reference. As I found out there is no 1955 fabric "Autumn Rust" to be had in the major aviation upholstery market. I did get close though. A person either likes the color combination , or you hate it. I love it, makes me feel like I'm in an episode of "Mad Men" .
Mike

Great looking plane Mike.

I noticed you have the old style lap belts that don't have the metal-to-metal latch. I too have some in my stash. Mine are manufactured by Rusco Aero Products. "Rusco" an abbreviation for Russell Manufacturing Company. Anybody know if these are original to the 170? Although I love the original look of the belts I'd recommend, in order to keep your face original , that you replace the belts with ones with shoulder harnesses. Search these forums -- you'll find a lot written about installing shoulder harnesses. FAR 91.205 (b) (13) requires metal to metal latches. See also Cessna Newsletter NL81-6.

Seat belts are an item that can easily "slip under the radar" when doing an AD search. Here's a list of some applicable ones but it's a good idea to run a search using your seat belt manufacturer's name on the FAA's AD search window.
Air Associates 50-18-03
Aircraft Belt & Trim 54-20-01
Aircraft Belts, Inc. 98-25-10 R1
Am-Safe, Inc. 87-17-06
Anjou Aeronautique 2003-26-06
Auto Crat Manufacturing 61-20-01
Auto Crat Manufacturing 62-23-01
Aviatech Inc. 91-08-04
Brown-Line Corp. 59-24-03
Davis Aircraft Products 57-14-02
Davis Aircraft Products 64-10-03
Davis Aircraft Products 89-09-02
Eon Corporation 80-05-04
Eon Corporation 87-04-19
Hamill Manufacturing 80-05-02
Indiana Mills 79-16-02
Mareco 62-24-05
Pacific Scientific Co. 80-01-05 R1
Pacific Scientific Co. 83-11-03
Pacific Scientific Co. 87-20-05
Pacific Scientific Co. 94-21-06
Raytheon Aircraft Co. 55-08-01
Rupert Parachute Co. 61-08-02
Russell Manufacturing 56-21-04
Russell Manufacturing 61-20-03
Secur Aiglon 85-26-01

Sask170b wrote: A person either likes the color combination , or you hate it.

Put me in the "love" category. Looks great, including the brown and gold instrument panel.

This color combo might be my favorite. Just green enough to go fast. Somewhat unusual and not often seen in the mostly red and green world of the 170.

Thank You , Gary , Dave and Bruce for the feedback. I will be ordering the shoulder harness.

I too think of all the colors Cessna offered on the 170 over the years this turquoise is the best looking. It's stunning, especially when done in the original scheme like yours. All you need now is a matching '57 Chevy Bel Air to drive to the airport.

I apologize for hijacking this thread when I brought up seat belts/shoulder harnesses. It's rather personal for me though because years ago I encouraged my father in law to install shoulder harnesses on his club's beautiful 172. Unfortunately, another club member ended up crashing it in the Sierras before they got around to installing them. He survived but required some facial plastic surgery that could have been avoided if the plane had shoulder harnesses.

Out of curiosity what brand of belts do you have?

Hello Gary, I appreciate your input on the Shoulder Harness. I went with BAS with the Utility Buckle in Medium Saddle. I think it will go well with the Autumn Rust and Trooper Tan color scheme. 2-3 week lead time ..not a problem as we are doing some work structurally. I had a Horizontal Stab re-skinned by Airframe Components by Williams and it is better then new in my opinion due to it being epoxy primed inside. I'll post some pics when it's all together. Mike

Mike, I wasn't clear in my question. I was curious about the manufacturer of your old, non-metal to metal belts.