The International Cessna 170 Association

Look up Richard Pulley (though he's in Fredericksburg, he comes to Dallas in the warm weather months once a week). Also, Jim McLain is a renowned 195 instructor based at 52F. I'm sure he could teach you how to pedal a 170 okay. Gene Hattaway bought a '52 and bases it at 52F, and when I was in Dallas for work last year, he had a friend of his (Matthew Hood, I believe) to give him some dual. Matthew is/was a Luscombe driver with 170 experience. There's also an instructor based at 52F that has a 170B that he teaches out of. His hangar is behind the pilot shop out there and has a sign with a 170 silhouette on it.

You're in a target rich environment.

We flew N1438D today. First time she has been airborne in about 35 years. She hasn't flown since the late 70's to early 80's.
Today was a shake out day. Couple of things to address. Pretty bad oil leak on generator seal. Also the old boat anchor nav/comm was very weak and scratchy.

But she flew great. Rigging feels spot on. Stalls were very gentle with only a nose drop. No wing drop at all.

The gear is crazy springy. It's going to take some getting used to. And I need to get much slower on landing. I'm used to crossing the fence about 125kts or faster.

Tried to upload video. But won't let me.

Congratulations Jim! Pretty neat having two 170 s on the field.

That gen seal has an o-ring behind it you don't want to forget. Also, don't cut the gen gasket...keep it intact....which means you must pull the tach drive housing. If that has been in place very long, consider changing the tach drive seal also.

Figured it was time for an update.

Got my tailwheel endorsement sign off in 3.9 hours. I since have been practicing and have the three points and two wheel landing down reasonably well.
My son has started flying lessons and solo'd this past Sunday.
Once I got the oil leaks slowed down immensely the plane has been behaving very well. We're only a couple hours short of a 25 hour oil change. I plan to send off another sample for oil analysis.

I was reading some old posts about short field performance and Richard Pulley posted how he went out and did all kinds of flap setting for take off and landing. Also different procedures with tail up tail down neutral control etc. I was inspired by what Richard did and decided to do the same. For me it would also be a great learning experience in flying the plane in different configurations that my quick tw endorsement didn't exposed me to.

It was great fun and I learned so much about my plane and what it will do.

Several of the local tw guys go out camping fishing etc on the red river. Sounds like a lot of fun. I was talking with a couple of them who thought performance wise I would be ok. But that I would need bigger tires. Currently on 600 6 mains and original small tire Scott 3200. The landing places are a combination of dry and damp sand. I'm wondering if 8.50-6's would be enough tire for the mains.
Thinking of the wide fork 3200 something like the Alaska Tundra Tires tw kit.

Truth be told I'll be on more hard surface than soft. But want to be able to make a river week end when I want.

Any opinions on tires needed.

Hi Jim-
In regards to tires, 8.50-6 tires will probably be all you need for damp or dry sand. And the Bushwheels tailwheel will be more than enough. You could probably get by with your current tailwheel although it will most likely dig into soft sand up to the axle bolt or more.

If you want to take all the anxiety out of soft field landings, check out the Bushwheels 10" wheels with 8.50-10 tires. I have a different version of 8.50-10 wheels/tires and big tailwheel on my C-180 in Alaska and they are all I ever need for beaches, soft sand, or smooth tundra.

You can even put 29-11x10 tires on the 10" wheels but I would not recommend it for a stock C-170. They will slow you down 5-8mph over 8.50-6 tires. The speed with 8.50-10s will not be noticeably different from 8.50-6 tires and they are good insurance for any off-field landing.

You should have a lot of fun up on the Red River, I have looked closely at sand bars along there many times but not having had a good reason to land, never have with my 6.00-6 tires. No matter what tires you use on soft sand, just remember to NOT apply heavy braking, the tires will dig in and try to flip you over.

Thank you Richard for the quick reply. I was hoping you would chime in.

Is there a "better" tw tire to use in the standard 3200 fork for what I'm wanting to do.

Jim-
Without installing a larger fork, you are pretty much stuck with your current tailwheel tire.

This link is to the large tailwheel conversion I have had on the C-180 since 1986 which was field approved here in Alaska. It is the cheapest way to go if your 3200 head is in good condition.

http://www.alaskatundratires.com/tailwheel.html

Another option for larger main tires that work good on the existing C-170 6" wheels is the Goodyear Blimp tire. It is a 6-ply 26/10.5-6 smooth tread. Spendy but not as much as Bushwheels

Wow, that is truly impressive work. Gorgeous result! I'm at the opposite corner of the metro, hoping to base at RBD. Perhaps we could arrange an area 170 barbecue run sometime.

Dallas170 thanks for the kind words.

There is a Texas 170 fly in Sept 30 at Hilltop Lakes 0TE4
And another October 21 at Cypress TS07
Lastly another Nov 11th at my home field Bridgeport KXBP.
So there are several options.


OTHERS I am planning to replace main tailwheel spring. From what I have read online I think that I have an L-19 spring because it appears much thicker than the other 3 springs. Please look at this pic and lend some guidance please. The top piece in the picture is not a spring its for the tail hook.

G280driver wrote:Dallas170 thanks for the kind words.

There is a Texas 170 fly in Sept 30 at Hilltop Lakes 0TE4
And another October 21 at Cypress TS07
Lastly another Nov 11th at my home field Bridgeport KXBP.
So there are several options.


OTHERS I am planning to replace main tailwheel spring. From what I have read online I think that I have an L-19 spring because it appears much thicker than the other 3 springs. Please look at this pic and lend some guidance please. The top piece in the picture is not a spring its for the tail hook.

Your spring stack doesn't have the same bend...your main leaf spring seems to have a shallower bend than the rest of the stack resulting in a void. Any issues with premature wear with that setup?

It would be nice to see another photo taken from about 4 more feet back, of the spring assy.

Your main spring would be considered by many to be an L-19 spring. That does not mean that it is.

Ill get another picture tomorrow.

As far as longevity, not sure. Thats the reason to change. I can see and feel a "lip" on the main spring where the next spring ends.

Im wanting to replace with simular thickness spring so likley will orde an L-19 spring.