any pireps, missing my 185 but prices have gone out the roof on them and any decent 180's. ANyone got any time and pireps on the 170 series?

Did my TW rating in a 170B and flew a later model 180 a bunch.
The 170 flew like an early 172, light and fluffy.
Dramatic difference in general feel from the 180/185 which feel like a Suburban vs the 170 that is more of a Prius feeling.

A big engine 170 might be ok, something C/S.

I did my private and first ~500 hours in a 170B with 180 HP and CS prop.

It was wonderful. Probably the plane that made me the happiest I have owned.

Took off in 300 ft, landed in same, if done right.

Not long range, not fast, but a joy to fly.

All the fun of a 185 at much less cost, and higher style points for the rounded tail.

Mike C.

One of my instructors had a 145hp 170. Every time week took off in the 185, he said “my airplane is a pig.” Everyone loves the 180hp ones, but on the rare occasions when one is on the market, the asking price would get you a nice 180.

BUT, they’re lovely to look at. I’ve long thought a 170 might be my retirement airplane.

I've been looking for a 170 for a few months and their hard to find and expensive now. I talked to an owner who thought he'd like $35K for it and then he talked to a broker who said he should ask $55. He listed it at that then sold within a couple weeks. And it wasn't even a cream puff by any means.

A 170 with a 360 Lyc is a great 2 person airplane.

Let's see how much the RV15 resembles one.

Don't get me started on the prices of 70 year old airplanes.

Not a B but a 1950 170A. Love it! No, it's not fast or long range but it is a joy to fly. Only 50 hours in it so far so it's still teaching me what the rudder pedals are for. Last cross country was 2.3 hours, 205 miles, and 7 gallons per hour. I just wasn't in a hurry to get there. It is a really good two place plus dog. It's kind of a pain to get things into the baggage area behind the rear seat. I thought that the classic panel would be difficult to get used to, but it turned out to be no problem at all.

The venturi-driven gyro instruments don't spool up until climbing out, so I'm replacing them with a couple of GI 275s. Getting rid of the venturi should be good for at least 10 more knots . Plan for an extra half hour at the pump or FBO for chatting with the folks coming by to look.

I have owned a 170A for 49 years. Bought in 1972. Good honest plane. Great two place w lots of space for stuff. But also traveled with wife and all three kids a number of times. Many one day trips fr kgtu to kosh (900k miles), you have to do 3.5 hr legs and keep after it. 100k plane and plan 8 gph w the c145. My son Brian has been keeping it the last two yrs as I have other stuff to fly. Never got to fly a B, but you can slip the A like crazy so no need for the big flaps. Lots of time flying out of grass/dirt strips, mostly at 1000 to 3000 ft elevation so not at high DA. Flying out of Denver centennial in late summer at gross not much fun.

The 170 is very much like the late '40's and early '50s GMC half-ton pickups. They were the backbone of any operation that needed reliable, utilitarian transportation to and from the work sites. Arguably, along with Caterpillar, they provided a solid foundation for the extraordinary post-war American success story.

Here is our brand-new 1954 170 B, just out of the dealer back in the day. It replaced our 1946 65 Hp Luscombe for our cattle operations, and I still remember my dad and his brothers' amazement at the performance with 145 horses. (The revolver was on the minimum equipment list).

But better, the smell of saddle rawhide, 80-octane, and hot Aeroshell that fascinated a very young, impressionable mind, firmly encroaching the needle of aviation deep in my soul.

I've been an addict ever since.

TN

Dang it now I need one.

I've had a 170B with an O-360 for about 12 years. The longer I own it the more I like it. It's light on the controls and really fun to fly. Good short field performer. It's easy to see why it's one of those airplanes that people say they wish they'd never sold.

It has simple systems and is easy to maintain. There's great visibility from all seats and a surprisingly large amount of legroom in the back. I get good takeoff and landing performance even at gross from 5000 msl.

The downsides are 100 knot cruise and 40 gallon fuel capacity. So it's no 180 or 185, but I don't need or want something that big.

Looking at Barnstormers today, I’m going to retract this.

Maybe this could go under Babble, but it has to do with 170's, so I hope you all can appreciate:

Shortly after the above picture of the 170B was taken at our ranch, (with my uncles hanging on the propeller), the day's work of roping, heeling, branding, castrating, dehorning, vaccinating, and cuttin'ears started. There were some 300 calves penned, and the headers were led by my uncle Louis, the guy in the picture with the gun; a helluva roper if ever I've seen one.

My job was to run around with a can full of hot creosote, which I daubed on the castrated calve's open wounds with a rag tied to a stick. That sort of cauterized the bleeding, was supposed to prevent infections, and may have had something to do with my eventual interest in medicine.

About mid-afternoon, Uncle Louis lassoed a huge black calf, and, in dallying the rope around the horn of his saddle, managed to get his thumb caught in the loops, quickly ripping it off from his hand....

One would think that he would cry; one would think that he would fall in pain and shock.
But no, the man brought his steed to a halt, slowly dismounted, wrapped a handkerchief around his hand, and went to find his thumb. For a second I thought it would be a good idea to daub some hot creosote where his thumb had been, but just one look at his face made me quickly reconsider; mostly out of self-preservation.

He found the ill-fated thumb amidst the dirt and dung of the corral. After swishing it against his khakis, he blew the crap off it, and placed it in his shirt pocket. Seeing the stupefied look of the cowboys staring at him, he chewed them roundly out, and with cusswords that could make the rankest desperado cringe, got the business at hand back in order. From a commanding position on one of the chutes, he made sure that every one of those remaining calves were done right.

Late in the evening, the 170 was summoned. Uncle Louis, still holding the kerchief to his hand, was helped aboard. The airplane, flown by my dad, began its takeoff roll from the high end of the airstrip. Its homeward journey was heralded by the glorious sound of its engine and propeller echoing off the canyon walls. I stared after it until I could no longer see the tail light, lost in the myriad stars of the Sierra Madre skies.

Good El Paso doctor Postlewaithe came to uncle's house near midnight. The thumb, now in an alcohol-filled tumbler, was declared not worthy of reattachment, and the wound was throughly cleansed and debrided. A shot of Penicillin and thirty dollars rounded out the housecall.

A week later, the 170, loaded with boxes of dynamite for the bulldozing, strychnine for the wolves, and an energetic uncle Louis, returned him to what he best loved to do: Raising the finest Hereford cattle in all of Northern Mexico.

TN

I flew my 170 for fun.

I don't rope cattle.

I still have all my fingers.

I don't know Mexican cuss words, either.

Mike C.

During the time that my 180 was at Del Lehman's shop getting its "going through", Del was working on complete rebuilds of two 170's. One had been damaged and one not. Both were taken apart, placed in jigs and all repairs made to better than new. Then, put back together with customer specified engines and mods. When Del told me the total cost of the projects, I was shocked. Essentially new 170's for half the cost of a new 172.

The human mind is a strange instrument, driven mostly by impressions and emotions. That would, in most people's mind make a "new" 170 seem like a bad deal at $200,000 or so compared to a ragged out 70 year old, bare airframe, at $60,000.

If I wanted a 170 for a keeper, that is exactly what I'd do. Buy the 60k version and take it to Del for a complete rebuild.

By the way, go to his web site, Mountain Airframe and read the article on one of the 170's he worked on twelve years ago.

Jg