The perfect plane would be the 170 with more power. And so the story begins...
A friend of mine since childhood has a wonderful habit of buying planes and old cars and he enjoys rebuilding them. He is a masterful technician who is as comfortable with a rivet gun and sheet metal break as most of us are with a TV remote. His impeccable work quality is recognized by the local FSDO and he has successfully adapted many modern features into old planes by way of field approvals.
The basic starting aircraft
We begin with an undamaged 1955 Cessna 170B. The 'B' model was selected because of the best wing design of the three versions. It has the largest ailerons and big Fowler style flaps that are adjusted quickly and easily with a convenient single lever between the seats. The 'B' also re-routes control cables to the subfloor, making a clean useful load area. And because it was certified under Civil Air Regulations (CAR) part 3, it is much easier to get modifications done and approved (more on the changes to the cabin, wings below).
Fuselage:
The goal is to make this a strong, light weight 4-place plane that can carry over 1000 pounds of fuel, cargo and passengers with ease and comfort. With the advent of active noise canceling headsets, the need for heavy sound insulation is eliminated. The entire interior of this plane was stripped, zinc chromated and painted. No interior trim panels will be used. Skylites were installed as done in the Cessna 120 and 140 models. A baggage door from a Cessna 172 was installed along with the Extended Baggage STC by Selkirk. New control cables, bearings and pulleys were installed throughout. A BAS retractable tail pull handle will make it easy to move around. Because the plane will be operated on skis and the possibility of floats, a float kit from a Cessna 180 was used. This kit uses larger reinforcing doublers spreading any stress over a larger area. A V-Brace by F.Atlee Dodge will strengthen the forward cabin door frame areas. New fuel lines were bent and installed with new AN fittings. Cowl steps and grab handles on each side will make it easy to get up to the fuel tanks or windshield without a ladder. All the windows were replaced with new. The steel side window frames are replaced with aluminum frames from a C180 that saved 12 pounds. The hand pump and hydraulic lines for the skis will be installed between the seats. The old aluminum firewall was replaced with a new stainless steel one. Heavy duty rudder pedals from a C180 replace the originals.
Engine:
The stock engine is a 6-cyl, Continental 300 cubic inch with 145 HP. There are several STC's that provide for the upgrade of the engine to the 4-cyl Lycoming -360 series that makes between 180 and 210HP. We chose Del-Aire STC. The weight difference between the two engines is about the same and the extra power is a real bonus!
We took a Lycoming O-360-A2D with only 65 TTSN, and replaced the 'shower of spark' mags with new Bendix dual impulse coupling mags. This allows for hand starts even with zero battery voltage. The starter motor and alternator was changed to B&C and an MT compact propeller governor installed to save weight. A spin on oil filter adapter was also added along with the Bracket air filter. The intake and exhaust ports were polished to aid in airflow. The exhaust system uses header pipes with no restrictions to the heat muff collector and large diameter outlet.
The engine was dressed up by adding a bit of 'bling'. The paint used is Lycoming Grey with a bit of hardener added for shine. The baffles were painted black before installation. Push rod tubes, rocker covers and intake risers were chrome plated. Copper lines and brass fittings all received a good polish before installation.
Propeller:
A 79" MT Composite 3-blade constant speed propeller from Flight Resource was selected to harness the engine HP and turn it into thrust. The MT prop is lighter than the fixed pitch prop and allows the owner to use the full power of the engine at takeoff and set for low rpm for economy cruise. The composite blades tame and absorb the notoriously strong firing pulses of the -360 series engine and the prop has stainless steel leading edges for unlimited life and durability. It provides the highest static thrust of any prop available for this engine. It was installed via a field approval deviation to the 2-blade MT prop STC sold by my company http://www.Flight-Resource.com.
Seats:
The seats were stripped of the old, heavy springs and wool padding and replaced with Ceconite bases covered with modern aircraft padding and fabrics by Sport Aircraft Seats of Wasilla AK http://www.sportaircraftseats.com. New seat rails and BAS inertial reel seat belt systems were installed.
Landing Gear, Wheels and Brakes:
The stock gear Cessna installed on the 1955 C170B is nearly perfect. It is a bit stiffer than earlier years and has a nice looking shape. A P-Ponk gear box reinforcement kit was installed as well. The plane will be equipped with Federal AWB Hydraulic Wheel Skis, so the stub axles and brackets were fitted at this time. New Cleveland wheels with dual cylinder brakes were installed that allow for the use of tires up to 32" to be stopped with ease. Of course, all brake lines are new and the master brake cylinders were rebuilt as well. It will be fitted with 8.00 tires to begin with. Spats from a 185 spray plane will keep the mud off the wing bottoms.
1-year update
So here we are now about 1 year into the project. The fuselage is at the avionics shop getting all new panel and wiring. The pics below will chronicle the work to date. I will continue to provide updates. We might have it flying this winter.
Baggage door and interior:
Interior now painted with Military Surplus Interior Grey Enamel. We trimmed the extended baggage floor and test fit. Carpet is temporary padding. Rudder Pedals and Firewall installed.
Exterior Paint:
We shot the entire exterior with Imron. Color will be added on top.
Color done on fuselage:
Engine is now mounted using C180 solid (seaplane) bushings. Windshield is trimmed and fitted and V-brace installed. Notice the chrome plated grab handles on the cowling.
I got a fin & tail!! The doors and cowling are temp fitted to allow marking for paint lines.
Now the fuselage gets moved to the Avionics shop. Meanwhile, the wings and control parts are opened up, stripped, cleaned, zinc chromated and painted:
New fuel lines are prepared. New hydraulic lines and the fittings for the hydraulic skis are installed.
Now the panel:
A new panel was cut and only the basic instruments required by the type certificate will be reinstalled. The engine STC adds the need for manifold pressure and fuel pressure gauges. A Garmin 496 in a AirGizmoz mount provides GPS navigation. A Electronic Flight Instrument System from Grand Rapids Technologies provides the means to monitor every aspect of the engine operation, fuel burn and power being produced. The EFIS display also takes GPS data from the Garmin along with pitot and static air data and feeds from a remote magnetometer and built in AHRS to provides a complete full function backup guidance and flight direction system. It even includes AOA functionality.
Wiring: All original wiring was removed and will be replaced with modern Teflon coated wires. Fuses are replaced Klixon breaker-switches. Whelen tip strobes will be installed to help to be seen. Interior cabin lighting will be combination of dim-able self-lit, post lamps and a light strip under an eyebrow we will fabricate and mount to the top of the panel.
Radios: A new 720 channel digital radio and King Mode C transponder will be used. A PS Engineering 4-place stereo intercom with multiple aux (music) inputs makes communication and entertainment in the cabin perfect. The ELT will be changed to the new 460Mhz version with interface to the GPS. Tom Bauer, owner of Top Flight Avionics in Cumberland WI gets huge kudos for his nice work.
This is what it looks like so far:
As of today (December 12, 2012) the wiring is about done and we will be relocating the plane back to the other shop were it will be mated with it's wings. Lots of work yet to do to connect all controls, set angles and tensions, connect engine to panel.... Still hoping to fly it this winter. I will keep posting updates and pics as we move forward.
