Dave, is that Bob (or Bill?) who used to own Aerocenter at Thun? I talked with him once about his 180-horse Sedan. My cousin had a Sedan on floats in Alaska back in the early fifties, and thought it was quite an airplane. His had the stock 145 Continental like our 170's. The only thing he didn't lik...
A nice nav radio for an application like this would be a Narco 12 or 112, this is a stand-alone VOR reciever all self-contained in the 3-1/8" indicator. Some versions even have a marker-beacon receiver & lights built into them. The Val INS 422 is similar but all digital, with blinky lights ...
Regardiing flying low: an ag pilot made a comment on the backcountry pilot forums that in foothill/mountain/canyon country you should fly at 5 feet or at 500 feet AGL-- anything in between is just asking for powerline/cable strikes. Kinda makes a good point.
aul, when you said "catalogs" what immediately came to mind was (free or almost free) catalogs from the parts/supply outfits. What you also should have: 170B Illustrated Parts Catalog (IPC)-- about $40 C-145/O-300 parts catalog-- about $65 C-145/O-300 overhaul manual-- about $85 This total...
1) Velvet at Assn HQ no doubt can send you a copy of the operating limitations for the 55 B model. Officially known as the "approved flight manual". Different from the owners manual, and required to be onboard per the FAR's. It all fits on a double-sided 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper. 2) Aircraf...
You will almost always bounce/fly off doing a wheeler if: 1) you do not have a very low descent rate, or 2) you have back pressure on the stick when the mains touch. There is a good article all about wheel landings on the skywagons.org site, written by Bill White, about the landing techniques as tau...
Pokey, if your plugs are not too eroded (football-shaped center electrode) and the plane starts & runs OK, I wouldn't sweat replacing them. That 500 hour figure from Champion is a suggestion, just like engine TBO, it's not written in stone. Even if the electrodes look good, if you develop some s...
Wayne, you'd be well advised to get competent at both wheelers & three-pointers. I wheel land a lot-- but NOT on soft surfaces. That's kinda asking for trouble IMHO. I generally 3-point on non-pavement, and split between 3 pointers & wheelers on pavement, and usually wheel land in crosswinds...
I second George's comment re: regular lubrication of the t/w assembly- if it don't spit grease at ya when ya walk by the tail, it's time to lube it. I believe Alaska Bush Wheel is now the source for the 3200, at least the latest Chief catalog lists the "ABW ABI 3224A" now as opposed to the...
Alan, the 3214T (upturned) arm assembly is a worthwhile upgrade. While it is not the cure-all for lazy t/w steering that some folks claim it to be (the steering geometry improves some, but not that much!), it is a lot beefier than the standard part, so your arm-bending days will be over. Your origin...
For all-around use (including grass/short strips) I really like my 76-51. I believe any more pitch would compromise takeoff and climb performance. I can still attain 120-ish cruise speed -- I turn it up around 2550 I want to get somewhere, it seems to like it.
170's use a different gascolator bowl than 120/140's. 170's are cylindrical shaped and 120/40's are closed on one end. I'm not a Deere dealer but...... I had a "very good friend" that had a John Deere bowl on his 120 8) . They are an exact match. As I recall from looking at them, the 120/...
Just a side note on log book entries. An annual inspection need only be signed off in the airframe log book. It is the aircraft being annualed not the engine. But it has been done that way for so long that owners expect it now. Along with a new AD list and an entry in the prop log. Lance The IA I'v...