The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Where do you get door key blanks? Mine looks older than the plane, and I want to make a couple spares.

Doesn't matter. Any old Cessna key will do. A friend of mine has a C-310 - his key opens my door. Go figure.

The locks are standard lock hardware. Any locksmith will have blanks. It's true, most Cessna keys fit most Cessna's. So much for Homeland Security................
jc

The original Cessna key blank is distinctive from what you will get at a locksmith shop, unless they have some Cessna key blanks. I was fortunate a few years ago to buy a package of them on ebay that was from an old locksmith business closing shop - the bag was an original bag from Cessna in the 50's. I split that find with a fellow member who wanted them as much as I did, and I have given all of them away to fellow aircraft owners in my area or I would send you one. One of the gentlemen that I gave one to was not near as excited as me and everybody else about getting one. Curiousity got the best of me and when I inquired about it, he said that his locksmith there in Cleburne has a ton of them. I have seen individual Cessna key blanks on ebay for about $5. It is very fun for me to have the original key in my pocket, I like looking at it ( it has the Cessna logo on it ) and it probably makes the plane go a little faster.

Hmmmm, I'll just rumage around the local sources then. I looked at the hardware store and they didn't have any blanks that matched, so I just assumed that it was something special I should probably know better by now.

That just reminded me there are two little instrument lights on either side of the front door pillar up by the cabin vents, very fifties looking with a beam adjuster on the back of the hood. The bulbs match some I found at the same hardware store, and somebody in the past just painted them red for night vision. I guess I'll just do the same, but it seems like there would be a more elegant way to put a red lens on there. Anybody have any suggestions?

Jr.CubBuilder wrote:Hmmmm, I'll just rumage around the local sources then. I looked at the hardware store and they didn't have any blanks that matched, so I just assumed that it was something special I should probably know better by now.

That just reminded me there are two little instrument lights on either side of the front door pillar up by the cabin vents, very fifties looking with a beam adjuster on the back of the hood. The bulbs match some I found at the same hardware store, and somebody in the past just painted them red for night vision. I guess I'll just do the same, but it seems like there would be a more elegant way to put a red lens on there. Anybody have any suggestions?

You might ask George, he goes to a red light district south of Austin. You will have to wait a while though, it's kind of a special red light district. The ladies there are in their seventies, maybe their eighties and George can't keep up with them so it takes some time. He does use pre-heat there though.

Red is good. (And the Grimes "torpedo" lights originally had red lenses in them, rather than painted bulbs. The correct replacement bulb is a common GE -67 or 89 (interchangeably).
I actually may still have an extra red lense around. I'll look if you email me. gahorn146ys (at) hotmail (dot) com

Jr.CubBuilder wrote:Hmmmm, I'll just rumage around the local sources then. I looked at the hardware store and they didn't have any blanks that matched, so I just assumed that it was something special I should probably know better by now.

they fit desk drawers too. Have a desk I wanted to lock so I rummaged thru my cessna (bendix) keys till I found one that worked. then took it down to hardware store and had a copy made.

I found a locksmith in Austin that had a line on an entire case of Cessna key blanks. (He said they are out of production, but found a locksmith in Florida going out of business, so he'd buy his entire stock and sell me the 10 spares I wanted.)
About a week later he called me and said they were in. He wanted $1 apiece for them. I drove the 45 miles to Austin to pick them up. The idiot had over-struck/stamped them all with "APEX"....the name of his business!
I asked him why he did this, and he replied that he does this to all his keys so he can warranty his life-time guarantee to his customers. (He could identify keys he'd actually sold as opposed to keys customers might acquire elsewhere.)
I told him "Good Luck" getting rid of the 1,000 key blanks or so he'd just ruined and walked out.
As luck would have it, about a month later a local locksmith out here in the country had a couple dozen which he sold me 10 of for the astronomical price of .....25 cents apice!

Half the snowmachines in the world use the same key blanks. If you need some, go north.

Mike V

I've got a good friend who is a retired Cessna Factory rep., and whose son still works for the factory in sales. He told me that there were only 17 different keys cut for all Cessna aircraft up to and including the Citation. If you can find 17 differently cut Cessna keys then you have the complete access to the entire fleet, according to him. (Assuming of course that no owners have changed their locksets.)
I once showed up at work having driven my wife's car instead of my own, and realized I'd left the Citation key in my Jeep. But passengers were showing up and as a last resort I used my 170 key and ...Voila!
Of course,...this msg has "morphed" into something not intended by the Jr.CubBuilder. This thread is about Genuine CESSNA key blanks with CESSNA LOGO on them.....presumeably for originality purposes. I still have a set of blanks around here somewhere if Jr.CubBuilder will contact me. (Should I make him promise to change his username first?)

Won't do it, I'm still having crack fantasies about finishing the cub in another 35 years or so.

Actually the "origional" key came with the plane it just doesn't fit the locks. I haven't had the time to go on a key hunt around town yet, but since they aren't that unique there probably is something that will fit at one of the farm stores.

George I sent you an email about the map (torpedo) lights. I think I know where I can get some inside c-clips that should fit and I'm keeping an eye out for some nice red glass lenses to put in there. Now that I have good bulbs in them though, I'm not overwhelmed with the amount of light they produce. I'll have to try them at night but I don't think they are going to be enough for the instruments.

Jr.CubBuilder wrote:Actually the "origional" key came with the plane it just doesn't fit the locks. I haven't had the time to go on a key hunt around town yet, but since they aren't that unique there probably is something that will fit at one of the farm stores.

I think a new blank key will still have to be cut to fit your lock. If you don't have a key that works you could try:
Borrowing a key that works from other Cessna Owners and having it copied.
Having a locksmith come to the airport and cut a key to fit your lock.
Removing the lock and taking it to the locksmith and have him make a key.
Replacing the whole lock. It is a standard lock that a locksmith should have.
jc

No it's not that I don't have a key at all, I just decided that I should have more than one in case..........

So along with the vintage one that doesn't work I have this nasty old copper key that looks like it's been rode hard and put up rusty which does fit the door and mag switch. Interestingly enough the day that I forgot my key my instructor pulled three cessna keys out of his pocket and one of them worked in the door, but none worked in the mag switch.