Big Bird

Big Bird is a 1952 Cessna 170B. It is powered by a Continental O-300A six-cylinder air cooled opposed engine that makes 145 horsepower. It has a 38 foot wingspan and weighs around 1325 pounds empty. Maximum gross takeoff weight is 2,200 pounds, so it has a decent useful load. It can seat 4 people, but I usually fly it without the backseat to save weight and to have more cargo room. You can really load this old airplane with crap if you only have two people in it.

I bought it in October of 2002. I flew out to Chicago on American Airlines and flew home on Oakes Airlines. Over 1,000 miles, the longest distance I have flown an airplane in my "tenure" as a pilot. I had my friend Joe Gauthier (I call him Joeda) with me to keep this low-time pilot from getting lost or bending the airplane.

It needed some work when I first got it so I spent 300-400 hours fixing what was wrong in an unheated hanger during the coldest winter on record! There were days when I worked 12 hours in a hanger that never got warmer than 18°F.

I followed that by hand-polishing the entire airplane. I would equate that to polishing 4-5 average automobiles! Keep in mind that you have to clean and polish the underside of an aircraft too! The wing is HUGE!!! I also stripped and polished the propeller. It is gorgeous!!!

It is a wonderful airplane. It will cruise at 120 mph burning 7.3 gph of 100LL aviation gas-o-line. Solo short field takeoff over a 50 foot obstacle is under 700 feet with just my skinny ass aboard which is pretty amazing considering the power to weight ratio and the fact that it is a four-seater (wide body). It is wonderfully docile in the air and an absolute tiger on the ground so it requires a skilled pilot from 50 feet above the ground on down and any time it is on the ground. In the air, anyone could fly it.

I have done all of the maintenance on it with the oversight of my friend Joe (Joeda) Gauthier, Ace Repairman and Pilot. Without Joe's help, I could not afford to own* this wonderful old machine! I consider myself to be very lucky to own and fly such a wonderful antique.

* Julie is the 50% owner. Without her financial backing, owning this machine would not be possible.

(the origin of the name should be obvious. This is one Big Bird - in the eyes of a light aircraft pilot)

Cheers!

Sam