The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I am getting my wings recovered and was wondering if from the factory did it come with N numbers painted on wings?

Probably did.

Through 1948 aircraft were required to display an “R” (restricted), “X” (experimental), “L” (limited) or “C” (standard) after the initial “N”. So yours would have had NC4225V out of the factory on the bottom of the left wing, top of the right wing, and at the bottom of the vertical fin. Registration markings on the wings were required through 1960. I read on one website that the wing registration marks were painted black originally rather than the fuselage trim color. Anyone know if that’s true?

Here’s the applicable FAR and Advisory Circular 45-2E.
The shadow from the original numbers on my 1952 C-170B wing are 20" tall. Don't know if that was the standard size used by Cessna in 1948 though. Here's a couple of screen shots from the '63-'74 C-172 IPC. Probably easier and cheaper to get stencils from a sign shop rather than individual letter stencils from Cessna.

Great info, Thanks!!

My last entry prompted an email from a friend who is, in my opinion, the most knowledgeable guy out there on the '48 C-170. He politely told me that what I wrote about the having the second letter a "C", "R", "X", or "L" is not correct. So I've been doing a deep dive into this to prove him wrong! I thought the facts were on my side.

These are the documents I had used to determine that a "C" should be included in the registration markings on a 1948 aircraft.

Aircraft N-Number History Here Ned Preston, a former FAA historian, writes,

A second letter indicating the aircraft's airworthiness category followed the N and preceded the identification numbers. These airworthiness indicators were; "C" for standard, "R" for restricted, "X" for experimental, and later an "L" for limited, (for example, NC1234). This was standard until December 31, 1948, when aircraft registered for the first time were required to display identification marks consisting of only the Roman capital letter "N" followed by the registration number. Existing aircraft operated solely within the United States could continue to display an airworthiness symbol until the first time such aircraft were recovered or refinished to an extent necessitating the reapplication of the identification marks. After December 31, 1950, all aircraft of United States registry operated outside of the United States were required to display identification marks consisting of the Roman capital letter "N" followed by the registration number.

Amendment 45 to CAR 1 has an effective date of July 15, 1940. It's the closest date for a regulation I could find on this subject which predates 1948. On page 16 it states, "A certificated aircraft ... shall display the Roman capital letters NC followed by the registration number."

CAR 1.101 has an effective date of January 1, 1951. Here the rules no longer require the C/R/X/L but say if it's on the plane it can stay there until the plane is recovered or repainted.

The original bill of sale and registration paperwork can't reliably be used to determine whether the "C" should be present. I examined the paperwork for a couple of the C-140's pictured on the factory floor in my earlier post. While they have the "C" on their wing and tail, their paperwork from Cessna does not reflect that.

So, to prove beyond a doubt that the facts were on my side -- that there should be a "C" on 1948 C-170 registration markings -- I looked for historic photos. This is were I found that I was wrong. The best source for these pictures come from the Kansas Aviation Museum. Some are reprinted in the March/April 2023 issue of the EAA's Vintage Airplane magazine. Here you see, on page 10, NC2549V, (s/n 18053) with the "C" and, on page 16, N4001V, (s/n 18320) without the "C". (The registration number is unclear but the second digit/letter is definitely not a "C". I'd be interested in seeing the vertical fin on N4039V (s/n 18358) in the 1948 Cessna 170 photo documentation. Bruce, can you confirm that there is no "C" there? In conclusion, based on your s/n being higher than the s/n 18320 of N4001V, I suggest you not include the "C" in your registration N-number.

Regarding the font size for the registration numbers on the wing, take a look my first link above to CAR 1. There they talk about the letters being 4/5ths of the mean chord or at least 30" tall. The lettering on the vertical too was a different size by looking at the historic photos. 2" tall letters there were not the standard in 1948.

As to the color of the registration markings on the wings, my friend writes, "The wing numbers were black as the N numbers, wings, and fuselages were joined late in the process, therefore the colors weren't coordinated."

The earliest of 48 170s had the NC designation but my 48 s/n 18277 did not. I know this because I striped the paint off my plane in 2001 and found very clear shadows of all the original paint. There was definitely no "C" in the tail number. I also had the chance to ask one of the original Cessna test pilots about the color of the wing numbers and he told me that all were black. Bill K