The International Cessna 170 Association

Roesbery wrote:... However if anyone should haul something like a auto engine then you should put a piece of plywood or heavy plastic down on the floor to spread out the load and have several 2x4 's to help spread the load.....

GREAT WORDS!

The floor can only support it's designated load when supported over a wide area such as the original seats, attach-points, and seat tracks. If you are going to haul anything with concentrated density (like your anvil-collection) place it on something like PLYWOOD which is cut-to-shape to fit as much as possible the shape of the floor where the item will be stored.

Also, secure it to PREVENT SHIFTING! One of the most dramatic demonstrations of the hazards of shifting-cargo is the recent take-off from Bagram by a B-747.... http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 5273,d.b2U

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_A ... Flight_102

Thought I'd update on how it all worked out... Last Saturday I made an 8 1/2-hour round trip to Lancaster, PA to meet former 170 association member Kenneth Kamp to inspect/purchase the C-145 core. In preparation, I removed my back seat, lined the floor with thick insulation styrofoam (maybe 2.5-3" thick?), and made bulkheads at rear, front, and mid stations out of the same to contain the load.

Everything fit well, though it was a tight squeeze as Ken was nice enough to include several extras that I just couldn't turn down. By loading the heaviest parts in fwd cargo section (essentially, where a passenger would sit), CG wasn't noticeably affected. I had a passenger up front with me and by calculations I was just under MAX gross as loaded and fueled.

The flight each way was severe clear and very smooth. I've attached a couple of pics in the loaded condition, though it's tough to get a good impression of exactly how full it was back there by the images. With everything stacked in, you can't see that I had a divider that split the area across at about the same position as where the rear seat back usually resides.