170 Accessory Price List

bsdunek · Post by **bsdunek** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:04 am

Came across something in Dad's files the other day - An original 1050 170 Factory Accessory Price List. Thought I would share it.
It's interesting - even though a 1050 170A was only $5500-$6000, the accessory prices are still pretty high. They look low by todays prices!
Note on page 4, the cost of a painted plane os only $275. I don't know how many people had their new 170 painted, but the price was right. I know many think that no 170's left the factory painted - I don't know, I never saw one back in the early 50's.
Enjoy!

johneeb · Post by **johneeb** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:33 am

Bruce,
That information is a great read, thanks for posting it. The most interesting item that I found was wheel pants $50.00 plain or painted, that corrisponds well with a recent string here that has the value of original wheel pants upwards of $1500.00.

Post by **GAHorn** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:40 am

The "painted plane" was a stripe painted on natural (not polished) aluminum. (I'd certainly like to get a new McCauley prop/exchange for only $225. And an entire spinner for $2.25!)

But in a reversal-of-fortune....(even considering the design-differences) look at the price of an instrument hood. $70!

3958v · Post by **3958v** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:47 am

I purchased a 1948 parts catalog with a 1949 price list online. In there the McCauley prop is $225 out right. The fuse skin I paid $450 for in 2000 lists for $8.90 and an instrument Bezel that cost $100 lists for .40 With inflation rates like that old 58V should be worth over a million dollars!!! I bought the parts catalog an I was pleasantly surprised to find the price list attached to the back of the catalog when it arrived. Bill K

Post by **GAHorn** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:01 am

3958v wrote:...With inflation rates like that old 58V should be worth over a million dollars!!! ...Bill K

As posted previously, it's certainly worth as much as the tri-cycles currently offered. IHMO

A good, clean, C-170 will outperform and carry more payload with less fuel burned than the current product.
http://cessna170.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.p ... ight=value

Post by **Bruce Fenstermacher** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:42 am

George I know we've discussed this before and you are pretty adamite that no 170s where painted from Cessna. I've certainly not personally seen any evidence to the contrary to this time. But I have heard that there is some evidence but can't remember who has it or what it was at this time.

In any case I think there is a good possibility that somewhere in the 170 run, Cessna painted one for a customer. The wording in parenthesis seems a little odd, "Cessna color combinations", for a plane that would only have one color, that being a stripe what color combination would they be describing.

What you seem to be saying George, that all 170s came in natural aluminum and a stripe, is that according to this price list, every 170 delivered had an additional $275 tacked on to the price. I find that hard to believe. This price list if you are correct, would also seem to indicate then that Cessna delivered 170s with no stripe (or paint) which I've never heard either.

I can't recall George if you've ever disclosed you ever disclosed what your source is that Cessna never painted a 170. What might that be?

hilltop170 · Post by **hilltop170** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:16 am

Wouldn't you love to have a set of those optional plastic seat covers to sit on on a hot day? I can still remember the ones my dad put in every car we had in the '50s and with no air conditioning, what a miserable way to travel but we didn't know any better!

Corrosion proofing cost more than paint.

Post by **GAHorn** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:28 am

The earliest information I have about the paint schemes is from our past historian, Cleo Bickford. His info is collaborated by Cessna "Commercial Aircraft Specifications" sheet which I have a copy of for certain years. (It came with my airplane from the previous owner.)
Cessna actually did paint a very few airplanes completely for at least one corporate purchaser.... Humble Oil and Refining (previously known as Standard Oil, nee ESSO, nee Enco, nee Exxon, nee Exxon-Mobil) for use as pipe-line patrol aircraft. Those were 140 models that had 170-A wings/fuel-tanks on them (and a few other minor mods), and known as 140-A "Patroller" models. I personally flew one of those airplanes for a subsequent owner. They also reportedly painted a few 170-A aircraft similarly for the same customer. They were painted with Insignia red stripes/lettering over gull-grey. (Standard Cessna colors.) It is believed those airplanes were not painted at the factory, but by the selling distributor (per Humble specifications) prior to delivery. Humble probably felt that corrosion would be better delayed by full paint. (Pipeline operations frequent sea-coast areas.)
Otherwise, it's generally accepted that Cessna never produced a fully painted Cessna 170 for the public market. (The "Cessna color combinations" comment refers to the standard exterior/interior combinations. No variations were allowed on interior colors from the standard.)

Post by **Bruce Fenstermacher** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:10 pm

I guess I leave a little room in my mind that Cessna, despite the historical info that we (TIC170A) have, may have painted a few airplanes.

As I have seen other wording anomalies from Cessna, you are probably correct in that the word "combinations" refers to interior/exterior.

I find it curious that the paint stripe and interior paint was an extra which seems to indicate that you could get an unstripped 170.

Another possibility is that the basic stripe and interior paint was standard and Cessna would have painted the whole plane for the listed $275 but no one ever took them up on it.

Hmmmm.

iowa · Post by **iowa** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:27 pm

thanks for the list
it is greast
i'll print a copy off
and put it in my c170 notebook
dave

bsdunek · Post by **bsdunek** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:04 pm

I do find this paint issue interesting, but have no proof in either direction. I do seem to remember Dad saying that you could get a painted 170, but as I have said, I never saw one. Additionally, I never saw a unpainted one back in 1949-1955. Of course, any of us only saw a small number of 170's at that time.
Dad finally got tired of trying to keep the 170 polished and in 1953 he painted it. We had a local guy that worked at a travel trailer company paint it with duPont Dulux. Dad and I did all the prep., masking, clean-up, etc. It was a lot of work. We did remove all the inspection plates and panels, but pretty much everything else was painted over. I suppose it wouldn't be a very good job today, but it lasted until I stripped it in 1987.
I need to find the original bill of sale to see if it listed paint, which would be the trim just out of curiosity.

trake · Post by **trake** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:47 pm

I have an old Air Facts magazine that has a black and white picture of a new 170A with overall paint job. The base color might be gray, the stripes appear to be edged in white. Id be willing to mail the magazine to George or Bruce or whoever in the interest of historical accuracy. I think I read an old thread in which Russ Ferris said he had a picture as well.

trake · Post by **trake** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:58 pm

Thats an interesting list. Any body out there running a solid rubber tailwheel or a wood prop?

4stripes · Post by **4stripes** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:00 pm

Thanks for posting this data!

"muff covers"?
What are they, and do they work?

Thanks Eric

4583C · Post by **4583C** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:05 pm

I think the most striking thing in this price sheet is (considering inflation) how cheap radio equipment is today. A comparable airplane is at least 25 times the money and a com radio which is infinently more capable can be had for twice the 1950 price!