My brother took the plane (1952 Cessna 170b) out on saturday with a couple of friends and they landed at Heber, UT. Some old guy comes out of one of the hangers and walks up to my brother and says, "I bet I know something about your airplane that you don't know." He braces himself for something like the wings are held on with bailing wire, your pistons are from a 59 chevy, it used to be a 140 that someone just stretched out, etc. Anyway, apparently in '96 they filmed a couple of episodes of Walker Texas Ranger in Utah around the Park City and Heber valleys, and our airplane (before we bought it obviously) was used in an episode as the getaway plane for a couple of bank robbers. They land it on the main street of town, guy runs out of the bank, jumps in and they take off down the main street right at Walker - who shoots at the plane before it takes off never to be seen again, until later in the episode. I found the episode and I'll post a link to it as soon as it uploads. It's pretty cool, although for the show they put a big decal on the side of the nose bowl and looks like they poured mud all over it for effect. Anyway I thought it was cool/funny. I actually watched the whole episode - it has everything - a bank robbery, airplane on main street, murders, bear attacks, cannibals, lightning strikes and round kicks. You just can't beat great writing and acting!

Ok, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUkaSgDD9TM

Pretty spiffy goggles. Better check the left wing for a shotgun blast hole repair.

After seeing this, I am in the market for new flying goggles. Sure, I have a wind screen, but look how cool that guy looks! He's not even afraid of Chuck Norris with those goggles on.

Chuck Norris invented airplanes because he was tired of being the only person that could fly.

Chuck Norris is the only person ever to land on runway 37.

Chuck Norris never "loses" altitude, he simply gets rid of it when he no longer has any use for it.

Chuck Norris doesn't shoot approaches...he kills them.

Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier with his Bell X-1 Jet. Chuck Norris broke the sound barrier with his fist.

Chuck Norris was told to IDENT, the controller was greeted with a fist coming out of his radar screen.

Chuck Norris was once denied a clearance...once.

The weather outlook for the area around Chuck Norris: 100% Chance of Pain.

That's awesome that episode was half the reason i bought a 170 in the first place!!!!!

You need a swan song decal to go with the new goggles!

That is the best back story on a plane, ever.

You could tell it was a C170 by the 4000 ft / 2 minute takeoff roll.

Walker could have saved his ammo if they'd been in a Maule.
YB

Yellowbelly wrote:You could tell it was a C170 by the 4000 ft / 2 minute takeoff roll.

Walker could have saved his ammo if they'd been in a Maule.
YB

You're right, he wouldn't have needed to fire a single shot. The pop rivets would have fallen out of the Maule and it would have crashed all by itself.

The guy who owned this airplane at the time and did the flying for the show wrote it up for the 170 Assn's "170 News". As I recall it was a 180-horse B model. The TV folks took down one set of powerlines, but apparently left a couple others in place so it was a hold-it-down-then-zoom-up show- that might account for a long takeoff roll.
They had to use a 170 because Chuck Norris said if there was gonna be any mauling done on his TV show, he'd be the one doing it.

Eric

Your plane took on an armed Chuck Norris and lived to fly another day? I'd say she's a keeper!

I'll have to ask the 170 association if anyone has that article still. It would be cool to have! It is a 180hp conversion and yes, I am very proud to own a plane that took on Chuck Norris and survived!