[Leica] IMG: A Puzzler for Cessna Buffs

[Jim Nichols]

Adam,

Do a Google search for "Texas Taildragger" and take a look at the 
results.  That will show Cessna conversions.  The Piper Tripacer has 
also been returned to tail wheel configuration to satisfy back country 
pilots who want to get into grass airports.

In both cases, these airframes were originally designed as 
conventional-geared airplanes, so the structure was essentially 
unchanged, except for the gear placement, when they were built with 
tricycle gear.

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA

On 9/13/2015 4:23 PM, Adam Bridge 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.
>>>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Leica Users Group.
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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.
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