Is it possible to put 170B wings on a 170A?

[josephgugel]

I have an A model that has had some slight ground to wing modification , and I also know of a set of B model wings. I was wondering about the possibilities of putting the B wings on the A. Any one done this before, and what all did it take?

[mit]

Time and money. But no best bet to fix what you have.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Yes it has been done. At least my aircraft records indicated it had. I owned an A model with B model wings.

It is NOT a 'bolt on" swap. The B model has larger flaps. The entire flap mechanism from the cables, pulleys, handle and even the rear carry through spar will have to be replaced. My best count was about 257 different parts.

The B model wings have a different washout than the A model wings and they had dihedral which is set by longer B model struts. You would probably want to match the flight characteristics of the B model with this change so you would also need the struts. But you of course still won't have a B model because you won't have a balanced elevator, which is just more parts.

Then there is the approval process.

Though it may not seem like it, The simplest and maybe even cheapest route is to have your A wings repaired. Of course finding a good replacement A wing might be the easiest and cheapest IF you can. They are out there but lots of them need repair as well.

[GAHorn]

And...don't even think about installing B-wings without installing B-tailfeathers. The reason the elevator was changed was due to stall/spin characteristics-changes created by the downwash of the B-model flaps.