Why did you buy your 170?????

[N1478D]

Thanks George!

[3958v]

I grew up flying with my dad in his Cessna 140. Back in 1968 I thought that plane was older than dirt!!! Just ten days after I turned 16 dad died in a car crash and mom sold the plane the next day. So my hope of getting my license got put on the back burner since mom did not like planes and my grandparents who lived next door hated them. But in my mid 30"s a buddy of mine took me to the model field and I became hooked on RC flying over night. Well it does not take long to spend almost as much flying large scale RC before full scale flying starts to look cheap. Took one introductory flight lesson and I was hooked there too. After about five lessons I wanted my own plane. Kind of liked the old 140 from my youth so I started looking at them. The wife found out that I was looking at 2 place planes and quickly informed me that I better buy a 4 place plane or forget the idea. Found one that sounded nice in TAP with an 800 number so I called and found out it was too far away but asked for a picture anyway. It looked so much better than anything I looked at locally I had to go take a look. So with a very poor Prebuy exam (ont recomended) I bouught N3958V . I finishe out my flight training in it and promptly took off for the Kalispell convention 2500 miles away with my 5 year old son. I havew flown from Pa to the Rockies 6 times and have put over 1000 hours on the plane in the last 12 years. Been the most fun of my life. You just cant beat these old 170's You get a classic airplane and yet you get a plane you can really use. Life doesn't get any better in my book. Bill K

[170C]

It's true that those 170's have a lot of positive things about them. As Joe said, these stories are really interesting. I hope others will add their stories too. Joe's story is an especially good one because we both know that guy you referred to, don't we Joe

[N171TD]

Have really enjoyed this thread. It has made me realize the enjoyment I have gotten from flying for more than 35 years. BUT WHAT IS EVEN GREATER ARE THE PEOPLE YOU MEET AT AIRPORTS AND THOSE WHO SHARE THE FREEDOM OF FLYING. Joe and Frank are 2 such people and the reason I am building a taildragging "57" 172. Have owned a "48" 170 and a 170A but do like the square tail like a 180 so opted for a 172TD.
Hope to meet more and more pilots that love to feel flying in their seat and not treat flying like a video game.
The old and much less bold pilot
JB

[GAHorn]

Or maybe it's a One-Seventy-Too!

[cfiatzph]

I love the 170. It was the first airplane my dad and I co-owned. I was 17 had 85 hours he had about 450 or so. We actually owned our first aircraft overseas in central america. Talk about poor maitenance but we were none the wiser. We ended up owning the aircraft for like 15 hours before we had a engine failure (rocker arm installed improperly, exhaust on intake etc) at 700 feet and put it into a rice paddy (100 foot tall trees, river or sugar cane field that was growing, very tall, so we figured the rice paddy) and rolled it over.
Stuck valve on a hot rocker arm = broken rocker arm = you got about 30 seconds of power before the baby quits. (and lots of noise and vibration, trust me) You would'nt believe the noise when that rocker arm snapped. It was'nt very cool.

I have a rather significant scar on my head from taking the overhead speaker off. (with my head) The 170 was the first tailwheel airplane I have ever flown and I loved it, I love the visibility, the way its quirky on the ground. Of course now I have a different 170 project and a few parts from the original aircraft. The 170 taught me a lesson or two from that engine failure, and I always swore I'd take control of it back. It actually was a good landing but when the mud goes above the gear, what can you do? Everybody else on the airport thinks that its a pain in the *ss compared to a Stinson, cub etc. I just think it flys great. The laugh at me because I think the stinson is too sensitive. How many airplanes can you find without airframe ADs? Or the amount of STC and conversions you can put on it to make it a really nice airplane. My dream and this will irrate the fanaticals is to have a FAA approved turbine engine on the 170 with a autopilot and a glass cockpit or a good set of instruments. (but then again I'm young, so us youngsters love that stuff) All the reliability of the airframe with the troublefree avionics and engine. Its really as close to a classic (mines a "B") and a modern airplane (172 PA-28 etc) as your going to get without losing all the nastalgia. I love lifting off and just seeing all that visibility its almost to me compared to other aircraft that your looking from the prop.

[AR Dave]

I've found happiness again! It never dawned on me that all these duck hunters would need flying services, here in the duck capital of the world. This week, I've flown all over the bottoms around Petit Jean and the Arkanasas river. It didn't take long, after flying my banker, for word to get around that Dave has a plane that can fly 50 MPH, with bubble windows, and etc., and lands on the dirt roads. Spotting for Duck, Deer, & Turkey, this week has given me that little Alaskan feeling back. These folks put millions (literally) into managing these duck hunting leases. I'll have a lot of new places to show off at The Petit Jean 170 in May.

[Paul-WI]

I thought I would post here as this seemed the appropriate thread.

I purchased N3458D November of 2005 from a very good friend of mine that was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In June 2005 we had gone on a motorcycle trip to New York and at that time I was still working on my private pilots certificate. He told me on this trip that I was buying his airplane - no room for discussion. He absolutely loved to fly and hated giving it up and wanted his plane to go to someone he trusted and knew would take good care of it. William Van Auken was a very private person and I waited to post this story on how I came to acquire 58D. He was also a member of this fine organization and had recommended to me to join when I picked up 58D.


On Thursday morning January 3rd, after 3 years of battling cancer, he passed away and is finally at peace. Master Van Auken was also the founder and president of the North Central Instructors Black Belt Federation and was a true warrior in every sense of the word. He will be missed by many and probably has no idea on the lived he had touched.

I will miss you my friend - travel safe.


Paul