[Leica] IMG: A Puzzler for Cessna Buffs

[Sonny Carter]

The article I referenced said that the early 172 was a derivative of the 170, the main difference being the straight tail. I don't think there was a conversion involved.  The second iteration of the 172 was built as a tricycle rather than conventional gear.  

from my iPad

Sonny Carter

> On Sep 13, 2015, at 4:23 PM, Adam Bridge <abridge at mac.com> wrote:
> 
> Looks like a Cessna 140 to me, a taildragger from the get-go. I’ve never seen nor heard of a conversion to being a conventional landing-gear from tricycle. I’m thinking the fuselage wouldn’t have the stiffness required.
> 
> At first I was confused by it having only a single strut, but I think that later iterations had only a single strut and didn’t have wheel fairings.
> 
> I’ve never heard of an aircraft designed as a tricycle gear configuration being converted to conventional landing gear. There would be issues with the stiffness of the fuselage at the least.
> 
> Plus that just doesn’t look like any 172 I’ve ever known.
> 
> Adam
> 
>> On Sep 13, 2015, at 12:52 PM, Sonny Carter <sonc.hegr at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I can't tell you how much I've flown in 172's and and 182's.  I liked them
>> because you can use a Phillips screwdriver and unlatch the window brace.
>> Then when you are aloft, you open the window, and it sits up by the wing,
>> so you have a pretty good shot out the window.  We even took the right seat
>> out one time, when I needed to use a bigger camera rig, and I knelt there
>> shooting.  I had plenty of leg room that day!
>> 
>> I also used to fly in a 182 float plane, when the shots were of stuff down
>> in the Gulf.  Once the Gulf was so calm around a rig fire that we landed,
>> and taxied around it with me standing on the float to get my shot.
>> 
>>> On Sun, Sep 13, 2015 at 2:43 PM, Sonny Carter <sonc.hegr at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I seem to recall one at a fly-in here, and I was surprised that it wasn't
>>> a tricycle.
>>> 
>>> This article seems to bear it out, and solve your N6888A mystery.  (love
>>> the number, I wonder who he had to kill to get it!)
>>> 
>>> https://www.americanflyers.net/airplanes/cessna_172.htm
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Sep 13, 2015 at 2:33 PM, Jim Nichols <jhnichols at lighttube.net>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I've never seen that, Sonny.  After I checked this one out, I looked up
>>>> the Wiki history of the 172, and it reported what I recalled, that Cessna
>>>> saw the customer demand for tricycle gear coming, and knew that the 170
>>>> sales would drop.  So, they made the change to tricycle gear.
>>>> 
>>>> I have only flown one 172, a 1957 model, and it was definitely tricycle
>>>> gear.  I had to rent it from my FAA Examiner in order to demonstrate VOR
>>>> radio navigation, because all of my training had been in a J-3 Cub with no
>>>> electrical system, so that's what I used for my check ride.
>>>> 
>>>> Jim Nichols
>>>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>>>> 
>>>>> On 9/13/2015 2:18 PM, Sonny Carter wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Somehow, and I don't know how I know, that the early 172's were draggers
>>>>> like the 170.
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Sun, Sep 13, 2015 at 2:03 PM, Jim Nichols <jhnichols at lighttube.net>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> I spoke with the pilot of this pretty Cessna yesterday, because we have a
>>>>>> mutual friend.  But I didn't really look closely at the airplane until
>>>>>> he
>>>>>> was taxiing away to go home.  I snapped a photo to get the registration
>>>>>> number, thinking all along that it was a Cessna 180.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Lo and behold, when I ran the registration, I found it to be a 1956
>>>>>> Cessna
>>>>>> 172.  Apparently, at some point in its life, it was converted to
>>>>>> conventional gear.  It makes a very pretty configuration, quite
>>>>>> different
>>>>>> from the conventional Cessna 170 with its rounded rudder.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/1956+Cessna.tif.html
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> X-E1 with 27mm
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Any comments would be appreciated.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Jim Nichols
>>>>>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Leica Users Group.
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>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Regards,
>>> 
>>> Sonny
>>> http://sonc.com/look/
>>> Natchitoches, Louisiana
>>> 1714
>>> Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase
>>> 
>>> USA
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Sonny
>> http://sonc.com/look/
>> Natchitoches, Louisiana
>> 1714
>> Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase
>> 
>> USA
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> 
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