The International Cessna^® 170 Association

It's a subjective thing, of course,...but be careful winching those gear-legs/wheels inward/towards the centerline. It places stress upon the gearleg attach/bolts at the gearbox in a direction not intended by designers. (This is the weakness of the gear-attach which is addressed by the P-ponk mod.) VERY CLEVER / demo of ingenuity! (Jamie wondered if that was why a woman was involved?)

The amount to pull the gear legs in past the door opening was probably no more than the normal dimension of the gear hanging in flight. But George your right there's a limit to how much your going to pull them in and it will place undesirable stresses if overdone. Fortunately the aircraft was very light which made handling all the much easier. John's wife Che was, as women often do, overseeing the operation on a beautiful winter day on the lower Vancouver mainland.

I vaguely remember helping haul a high wing Cessna. I can't remember the model, but it was a tail wheel. I was still in high school, making minimum wage, so I was chosen as the grunt to go along. I remember we removed the wheels and axles, and some pre-fabricated steel plates that bolted to the gear legs where the axles were, and extended forward, much like a recent posted picture of something for a 120/140??? which extended the axles forward???? Anyway, I don't remember anything about dimensions, but the axles were bolted to these steel plate pointing INBOARD, and the wheels put back on. This was/is the only aircraft I've helped in to a box trailer. I also can't remember if the steel plates were made to position the aircraft lower, but it would be easy to fab them to bolt on angling forward and upward as much as could be allowed to get the aircraft hieght down.

Oh the stories of retrieving and transporting aircraft.................

wingnut wrote:...Oh the stories of retrieving and transporting aircraft.................

Every time a see an airplane on a trailer going down the freeway (often with some obvious damage ), I wonder what its story is...

Aha! ..Del...!! So, an idea MIGHT be to remove the axles and remount them on the INSIDE of the gearlegs!
Interesting idea.

gahorn wrote:Aha! ..Del...!! So, an idea MIGHT be to remove the axles and remount them on the INSIDE of the gearlegs!
Interesting idea.

But there is not enough clearance for the tire, unless an extention is made to move it forward (if you're talking about simply re-bolting the axles on the inboard side of the leg, it won't work)

My 48 project on the trailer when we brought it home

I used a steel girder across the deck for the wider gear for my xp,. Also cheated as the float fittings and gantry made the lift simple. Lastly don't know why I bought this thing my 170 always makes me smile whether I'm flying or whether I'm up there in my head.

c170b53 wrote:I used a steel girder across the deck for the wider gear for my xp,

DSC01901mod.jpg

. Also cheated as the float fittings and gantry made the lift simple. Lastly don't know why I bought this thing my 170 always makes me smile whether I'm flying or whether I'm up there in my head.

I hope you bought it for the purpose of developing a higher-hp STC for 170's! (Modify that engine mount and get it approved!)