The International Cessna 170 Association

robw56 wrote:

Aryana wrote:Wow, no doubt now that it's real! Pretty cool. I wonder how it flies with all that drag hanging off the wings...

With 300hp.... Probably still faster than a 170

That plane carrying the bikes is RED! No PENALTY for exterior loads!

I have two folding bikes that with the removal of the rear seat back can be belted in with the seat belts. I have done this when I don't want to walk 5 mile after landing.

John

n3833v wrote:I have two folding bikes that with the removal of the rear seat back can be belted in with the seat belts. I have done this when I don't want to walk 5 mile after landing.

John

We have folding bikes as well and they work great for that type of riding.

This effort is more to fit two honest to goodness mountain bikes in the plane for that type of riding.

I remember putting two full-sized bikes in the back of my first 170, a '55 B-model. I covered the rear seat with a sheet, removed all four wheels, put the frames on the rear seat and the wheels on top of them. I may have used quilts to keep things apart. We flew to Rushford, MN (55Y) and had a nice bike ride on the Root River trail.

Years ago (in a 170 News article) I recall a Member who had slightly modified a street-legal Honda Trail 90 (or 70 etc) and managed to fit it where the rear seat was removed. It involved cutting the bike frame just aft of the steering-fork and re-connecting the wires using a cannon-type plug. (Maybe the connector already existed..?? I've slept since I read the article.) The frame was quickly bolted back together and could carry two small adults.

It was a neat idea, and except for the issue of gasoline fumes in the cabin, I'd consider that a great idea.

Quite a number of years ago, at the annual Reklaw flyin, there was a B model 170 (with a Continental IO-360 engine and cs prop) that the owner carried a small trail bike in the aft cabin (with the rear seat removed). I saw him remove the pilot door and load/unload the bike. As George mentioned, I have slept since then, but I believe he had some attachment under the left wing to assist in the effort. Some members may remember who owned this plane. It was blue & white and had been in Alaska for a while.

gahorn wrote:Years ago (in a 170 News article) I recall a Member who had slightly modified a street-legal Honda Trail 90 (or 70 etc) and managed to fit it where the rear seat was removed. It involved cutting the bike frame just aft of the steering-fork and re-connecting the wires using a cannon-type plug. (Maybe the connector already existed..?? I've slept since I read the article.) The frame was quickly bolted back together and could carry two small adults.

It was a neat idea, and except for the issue of gasoline fumes in the cabin, I'd consider that a great idea.

I regularly fly a Honda CT-70 Mini Trail 70 in the 170. All that is required is to remove the rear seat and hat rack (already done in my plane) then fold down the handlebars. Open the door, slide the seats forward, load the rear wheel first, then pick up the front forks and roll it into the cabin. Then work it back to the rear cabin and secure with ratchet straps that attach to eyebolts in the existing rear seat attach locations. The whole operation takes about 10 minutes. The Honda weighs 145lb so it is well secured with the existing seat attach points.

I drain the 1/2gal gas tank before loading and fill it back up from the wing drains when I get to the destination.

This is the mountain bike I put in the back of my airplane when the rear seat is removed for camping expeditions.
http://www.montaguebikes.com/paratroope ... -bike.html

Richard,... you've GOT to write an article and post some pics of that!

Mit (the owner of the 185) is a customer of mine. He bought a pod from me last year. Like most of the southern hemisphere customers I've had, he was truly a first class guy to deal with.

Arash, I asked a local FAA guy who also owns a 170 and he said if I removed the rear seat to recalculate the W&B and make a logbook entry. Simple as that.

...and if you look carefully, true to scale with the big brother there will be no back seat or right seat in the 27% model. They will have been removed to accommodate the 7.3% scale model inside the 27% version. Strong magnifying glasses will be provided at the show to read the perfect labeling on that instrument panel... Now over here under the microscope is the really small 1.9% scale...

Aryana wrote:Ok, so we know the under wing bike rack is real...now someone help me understand what I'm looking at in this photo please.

Are these hay bales being dumped out of wing mounted cages?

Source: http://www.skywagons.net/page6/page6.html

image.jpg

That's a cool Photo. In the helicopter industry there is a operation called Hay Bail bombing. It's done to rehab areas after a wildfire has burned through. In the helicopter the hay is placed in cargo nets suspended on a 100ft line. While flying a at 60 knots the cargo hook is opened allowing the net to empty. One corner of the net is fixed to the 100ft line so it is not dropped along with the hay. I have never seen it done from an airplane.

Pretty amazing when one considers the weight those hay-bales place in the negative upon the wing-structure during loading, and the abuse which must occur on unimproved runway takeoffs. Wing struts were not intended to support much compression load, and a square bale of most grasses will weigh 50-90 lbs... alfalfa can weigh 100-125 in a 3-string bale. It appears in the photo that 3-4 bales is being released from each wing, so 500 lbs.. .. EACH WING... ....

I can't imagne the drag.