There's a gaping hole in the Knowledge Base for our beloved 170, so I made a stub:

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge- ... cessna-170

As much as I would love to take a few hours and write down all I know about the 170, I have some other fish to fry here.

Do any of you enthusiastic 170 owners feel like taking a stab? It can be a group effort. We have a TON of info from our forum to poach and curate (use Google search.) The stub I outlined is just how I think the information is best presented, but I am open to suggestions.

For the Skywagon, we've been posting scans of 337 field approvals when they are sent in to me. I have 2 binders of 337s from @wannabe from his old 170B (very nice 180hp) that could be utilized in the KB.

It doesn't have to be on any one person's shoulders if we each pick a chunk and work on that.

I'd be happy to pick at this while watching Netflix in the evening.
Whats the best way to approach it? Do we need edit privileges to the page?

Bagarre wrote:I'd be happy to pick at this while watching Netflix in the evening.
Whats the best way to approach it? Do we need edit privileges to the page?

Not needed. You just need to be able to edit a text file and email it to me. I use, for the most part, a super simple formatting language called Markdown. If you open the Cessna 170 stub from the link in the first post, you'll see a link in the first paragraph to the markdown template. You can copy/paste its contents into a text editor, or get fancy with a Markdown editing app like Byword, which is nice but not necessary.

I don't want to scare anyone away. Contributors need not worry AT ALL about coding or what it looks like. This isn't coding. It's just using some symbols and paragraphs to make plain text show up like a nicely formatted article.

And you only have to do that if you want to. I can easy convert just a regular email of plain text into Markdown.

What we need are:

*Summary
*Specs
*Photos
*Notable issues
*Modifications: Favorite backcountry-ish mods, STCs, 337 field approvals, etc.

See here: https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge- ... ample-stub

Click the tabs to see the different sections: Summary, Modifications, References, Discussion, and Change Log.

If you have a PDF file or something, you can upload it in the comments of the knowledge base page for the 170.

Thanks.

Sounds good. Markdown is easy enough.
I'll get you something in the next day or so to get it started.

Bagarre wrote:Sounds good. Markdown is easy enough.
I'll get you something in the next day or so to get it started.

Sweet! If anyone else wants to chip in, communicate what section you'd like to tackle so you can coordinate with Bagarre rather than trying to each do the whole thing.

I have a sense the timing is ripe for the 170 forum. I'll try to contribute when I have useful information etc.

Mapleflt

For transparency: I'm taking a bit of a shotgun approach to the document right now and filling in data off the top of my head and what I can quickly pull from archives on my computer.
I think it would be easier (at least for me) to fill in as much as I can over the next few days so we can get it stood up and then break off sections for people to claim after that.
I'd love to pass the document around to make sure it's correct and complete before getting it to Zane.

Zane, is the markdown document dropped into a location and simply rendered or do you have to parse it into another format for the website? IE Will I break things if I deviate from the template by adding other sections?

Great idea.

Happy to do an Atllee Dodge seat install/report. I also have a Sportsman cuff waiting to go on.

The guy who has done the best write ups is Greg Hren who has a wealth of information on his site, very well presented. I think he has inspired a lot of builds.

Rob built a nice one also. Funny that some of the people with the most 170 knowledge now drive 180s. A lot of this stuff is really Cessna 100 series compatible.

Bagarre wrote:Zane, is the markdown document dropped into a location and simply rendered or do you have to parse it into another format for the website? IE Will I break things if I deviate from the template by adding other sections?

If you stick to the conventions you find in the template, I pretty much drop it in and it renders how you see it in the other examples.

You can add sections if you like. If it's a serious write-up of a particular mod, I will break it out to a separate article like we did with Jered's nosewheel fork article.

My neighbour in the hangar has a 170A with the smaller flaps and little dihedral in the wings. It looks very clean and hopefully will get a ride in it. It is on its original -300 engine.

I realise the 170B with the Cessna fowler flaps (never sure if they are just semi fowler) has more of a following, but a real life comparison between the A and B would be interesting.

Once this page is up, I’ll see if there is anything valuable I can add!

I was comparing my template to what I used to have at cessna170.backcountrypilot.org, and it seems there are some good examples of data organization there too. Stuff like breaking the aircraft down into its major components, then mods, as well as reference docs.

If anyone has any feedback on the schema, do chime in.

Years ago, Wannabe gave me these binders of 337s. I'm not sure how many are actually field approvals. They might all just be STCs. But if anyone wants me to look up something and post it in the 170 knowledge base, let me know.

Nice to see that stuff getting some use.

May have some more info that could be used-
but it would be mostly in the form of comments from experience-

There should be at least one Field Approval in there
for putting VGs on the vertical fin-
Same kit as for 180s- Layout measurements were all the same-
except that three were not used.
One on top or bottom- and two on the other end

Probablly the last Field Approval for Harry Delicker and Fresno FSDO

Z-Boss can give you my g-mail #
since e-mail is the easiest way to contact me.

Might make a nice break from my research and writing.

Just not any form of Coder-
Analog To The END


Chris C

Some love for the 170 I'll bet there are some very useful 337s in that binder! I've had my '52 B model since 2008. Let me know if I can help out anywhere. Does anyone have an idea of how many 170 owners are on this board? IF Michael from SZP sees this, chime in! I know yours has a few mods and it's been up and down between SoCal and AK....great write-ups in those experiences!!

I can try to offer a Canadian perspective for any 170 brethren.

Mapleflt

170 Ops in Canada would be great fun!

I will help with any info I have from the ground up build of my 1955 Super 170B. This can be like a Wiki project.
John Nielsen

john54724 wrote:I will help with any info I have from the ground up build of my 1955 Super 170B. This can be like a Wiki project.
John Nielsen

Awesome, thanks John. See my first two posts in this thread. There are several places where you can jump in and fill in some information. Just claim it, write it, email it.

Up until now, these aircraft pages have been geared toward indexing modifications, but I'm thinking of expanding the scope.

For each, we can include a page of useful documents for download, like the TC, IPCs, etc.

Links to forum discussions are also helpful to index.

Here's a schema I used in the old Cessna170Guide. It may have some usefulness in how to structure information. Maybe not.

1 Aircraft Documentation
1.1 Airframe
1.2 Engine
1.3 Propeller
1.4 Landing Gear
1.5 Fuel System
1.6 Electrical System
1.7 Avionics and Instrumentation

2 Specifications
2.1 Type Certificate Data Sheet
2.2 Model Distinction

3 Airworthiness
3.1 Certification
3.2 Airworthiness Directives
3.3 Service Bulletins

4 Operation and Performance

5 Modifications
5.1 Recommended Modifications
5.2 Supplemental Type Certificates
5.3 Field Approvals

6 History

Bagarre wrote:__

I've posted the original stub that Bagarre created. It is far from complete but it's a start. Thanks, David.

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowledge- ... cessna-170

Remember that, per this website, the purpose is to document and archive best mods for backcountry flying with the 170. It would be really helpful to have some detailed or installation-time photos of some of those things, like:

- V-brace
- BAS tail pull handles
- BAS harnesses
- PPonk gear beef-up
- ??


Z