The International Cessna 170 Association

Those of you on the Facebook 170 site may have already seen, but I just thought I'd share here that after 6 long months, my 170 is finally back in the air with a newly overhauled engine!

Recall that I had a piston failure that sent metal flakes through all the bearings back in late July. I ended up choosing a local shop to perform the overhaul, which wasn't all bad because I was able to save money by doing most of the disassembly and parts cleaning myself, and check on progress (or lackthereof) in person as often as required. On the downside, it clearly wasn't the quickest option. My timing was terrible as the shop was in the midst of relocating to another airport in the neighboring county. Also, new cylinders (Milleniums) went on national back-order just when I needed them so there was a 2-month delay for those as well.

That's all behind me though

We fired the engine on the airframe for the first time last weekend, and I made my first 170 flight of 2016 just yesterday. It's great to be back!

I understand the time factor. About 4 years ago my O300 was in for overhaul. It had 40 years and 2000 hours on it still running OK so I guess it was more for peace of mind than anything. It took a year, it seems that whatever could go wrong did. A/P getting sick a couple of times, backorder on parts, etc. I was so HAPPY getting back into the air! Got about 400 hours on it now and no problems. Enjoy your new engine I know how you feel now.

Congratulations! It's always great to get your plane back in the air knowing it has a new lease on life. Enjoy!