The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Hi guys,

I've been doing some thinking and digging, and I was curious to know the identity and location of the milestone 170s- the first one built (18003) and the last one built.

The first 170 has been pretty clearly documented, though a serial number search with Transport Canada doesn't yield anything. I presume given the attitude of the owner at the time, it's sitting somewhere rotting away. Does anyone know the location (and condition) of the airplane at this present time?

The "last" 170 produced seems to be quite muddy. There is a final serial number of 27169, which is listed as being a 1956 airplane but the 170 book further states that 36 were delivered in 1957. Are the 36 that were delivered in 1957 from the pool of serial numbers listed for 1956? I know there shouldn't be pomp and circumstance for everything, but I'm a bit surprised that there is no mention of it anywhere. Does anyone know where the last 170 ever built is, or is that something that will never really be known?

Just curious rambling on a Sunday night.

Have a great week ahead, everyone!

A s/n search of the FAA database on landings.com did not turn up anything.

I had not thought to try Landings, but FAA, airport-data, and Transport Canada don't have anything. I know 18003 was exported to Canada and groundlooped it, but wanted more for the airplane as a wreck/project than people thought it was worth because of the significance of it having been the first C170 sold to the public.

I wish I had been around to ask this question 20 years ago, I'm sure some of the real old timers like Mr. Bickford would know. I'm sure the information is floating around somewhere, waiting for the question to be asked.

There are a lot of inconsistencies when one looks at the various sources. Concerning the the first one the TCDS starts with s/n 18000, the Cessna 170 book says nothing about s/n 18000, only that 18001 and 18002 were scrapped. This Service News Letter contradicts the final serial numbers given in the 170 book and the TCDS: 27992 vs. 27169. 823 more aircraft? Has to be a misprint. The last one in the Membership Directory is s/n 27119. Interesting too that there were two other C-170B's listed in the TCDS; s/n 609 and 19401. Prototypes?

Our new member from Italy (Skyprop) has serial 27167. This is the newest I've heard of personally. I seem to recall 18004 or 05 as he earliest number known to exist but I don't recall where I might have seen it.

Every other year in conjunction with production the directory, I do a pretty good study of all the registration data available from the US and Canada and over the years a few other countries. All of the serial numbers have been consistent with the production numbers I've published the last two directories which has some corrections and additional info from that published in the 170 Book.

I believe serial 609 and 19401 where transition aircraft pulled off the line. 609 obviously not assigned a sequential serial number but 19401 was. From memory is correct serial 19401 was a B model test bed.

I bet the s/n range for the 1954-1956 was what Cessna reserved for production if they had been built, not what was actually used. The title is "Assigned Serial Numbers" so it looks like it.

So, could that indicate the last one was actually built in 1954 and they just called them 1955 and 1956 (and maybe one 1957?) because that was when they sold them?

I don't know for sure but Mort Brown told me in 2007 that Cessna did that, he also stated Cessna did not ever want to have last year's model in inventory so they were what ever year model they sold.

As discussed before, there are several variations of dates versus serial numbers for these aircraft, for different reasons and purposes. Mort addressed this subject at the Branson convention.

FAA records assign the year of mfr to a particular serial number dependent upon the date the airworthiness was issued. (In fact, this gets so perverted as to indicate that some aircraft which never rec'd FAA certificates appear to have been mfr'd in the 1970's...when in fact, they merely rec'd their first FAA Airworthiness Certs when they were re-imported at that time.)

Cessna production issued serial ranges to aircraft dependent upon model feature which were introduced in particular year-model groups. (I.E., the '52 year model B aircraft, had the early clamshell/Model-T-Ford cowl and airbox while the '53 model had the pressure cowl and ventilation improvements. The actual serial numbers had a sub-set of features such as gear leg changes.) The 1956 year was peculiar in that until the relative success/public-acceptance of the newly introduced tri-cycle-gear 172 was an unknown, therefore a range of serials was designated for the '56 170-B models which became a discontinued model, and therefore all serials were not utilized. Those aircraft were converted over to 172 production and are commonly equipped with TWO gearboxes...one at the fwd doorposts (conventional gear option) and one at the rear doorpost (tri-cycle gear 172 option.)

Cessna marketing issued year-model designations when the aircraft were moved out of inventory, which often coincided with the tax-year. (However, savvy buyers soon realized the differences based upon serial production numbers...and that is what has prevailed among the public.)

The out-of-sequence serial 609 was indeed a pre-production prototype created from C-140 parts inventory of that vintage.