Side Window Questions

[kmisegades]

I wish to replace all four side windows in my '52 C170 N2758D. What material should I use for the new windows, i.e. thickness & good source. If plexiglas, is there anything wrong/illegal with using a sheet of the stuff from Home Depot? Does anyone have templates I can print out and use to cut the new windows? What is the best tool(s) to cut plexiglass? Does anyone have experience with tinted windows, especially as used (I think) in the O-1 Birddog? Thanks in advance. Kent in NC.

[learaviator]

Do a searc h for this subject, their are a lot of threads with good info, I ordered mine from Great Lakes Aero WWW.glapinc.com, slightly tinted and a very reasonable price, the stuff from Home depot is wrong although they may be able to order it, you want it to be extruded not cast.

[kmisegades]

Good to know. I will look at Great Lakes. KM

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

OK I'll bite not being a Plexi expert. Tell me why my Plexi skylite, that's been working perfectly fine for the last 12 years in my Cub, which bought at the local big box place and presumably cast, is not correct. What's the difference between cast and extruded and why do we want extruded Plexi.

[jrenwick]

OK I'll bite not being a Plexi expert. Tell me why my Plexi skylite, that's been working perfectly fine for the last 12 years in my Cub, which bought at the local big box place and presumably cast, is not correct. What's the difference between cast and extruded and why do we want extruded Plexi.

Folks, he's talking about a Cub, with a Vne of 122 MPH. Cellophane would probably work just fine!!!

[GAHorn]

They are both legal, but stretched acrylic is more resilient and durable, and easier to work with.

[kmisegades]

Prices at Great Lakes are good, not sure that I can do this much cheaper when I figure the value of my time and inevitable scrap.
I have a long-term (crazy, I know) project to make my C170 look like an O-1. I have seen O-1's with tinted windows, but not sure if this was typical in Vietnam. Can anyone comment? If tinted, what color? Great Lakes offers both green and gray. Any experience with either tint?

[GAHorn]

Green tint looks "dated" to me. Sort of like a "Herculon" plaid interior. (When I flew commuter, I once flew a leased Air-South Beech-99 with a Paisley interior. PURPLE & GOLD-PAISLEY ! I guess it hid all the beans & weiners and orange-soda vomit that small kids always seemed to contain.)


A 170 with gray doesn't look so strange as one with green. Personal opinion. (Of course, I favor the original clear. If you want the world to look green, gray, or pink you can always buy sunglasses.)

[kmisegades]

Very funny! I think I will stick with clear.. Thanks kent

[blueldr]

With the possible exception of the empennage and the landing gear, I can't immagine how it is going to be possible to make a C-170 look like an
L-19/O-1.

[kmisegades]

Of course it will take a great deal of imagination, and the right paint scheme. I always wanted an L-19/O-1 but they aren't all that practical and I don't want to sell my very practical C-170. I have no desire to turn my C170 into a show plane, return it to original appearance or leave unpainted (I hate polishing!). Plenty of homebuilts are painted in mock military colors, so I thought what the heck, why not make it look (from the outside) like a Vietnam-era liason/FAC airplane? I don't plan to hang rockets under the wings though. I admire those FAC brave pilots a great deal, so this in a small way is a tribute to them. Like I stated, it's a crazy idea, but my C170 is my toy and one of the few things I don't need to justify in life. Who knows, maybe I can join the weekend warbird tour and have someone pay for my fuel at a fly-in one day. If guys flying Navions, Cubs and Stearmans can do it, so can I..... That's my story and I'm stickin' toit!

[flyguy]

Oh, about 20 years or so ago I carried a gent and his bent prop from Noah's Ark airport to a shop in Ottawa Kansas. As this guy, 250#+, was squirming around while trying to extricate himself he pushed too hard on the rear pax side window and out it went. We did the "Duck-Tape" thing to get home. I found (*big red and white box store, John) a supply of 1/8 smoke tinted Lexan, cut it to fit, and put it in. The only subsequent complaint, if you could call it that, is the cloudiness from the runoff of the rear of the wing, down the side of the fuselage. It may have been minor fuel residue or acid rain ? ? or old age, just don't know. As to the Lexan itself, I pushed around on it a few times and it is still strong and still flexible. Cheap too........

[GAHorn]

Oh, about 20 years or so ago I carried a gent and his bent prop from Noah's Ark airport to a shop in Ottawa Kansas. As this guy, 250#+, was squirming around while trying to extricate himself he pushed too hard on the rear pax side window and out it went. We did the "Duck-Tape" thing to get home. I found (*big red and white box store, John) a supply of 1/8 smoke tinted Lexan, cut it to fit, and put it in. The only subsequent complaint, if you could call it that, is the cloudiness from the runoff of the rear of the wing, down the side of the fuselage. It may have been minor fuel residue or acid rain ? ? or old age, just don't know. As to the Lexan itself, I pushed around on it a few times and it is still strong and still flexible. Cheap too........

WAAL... don't thet jest DISGOOST YOU!.... all thet purty paint and spit-polish and a junky old smokey smeared LEXAN pax window!