Jeff Marken's 1951 Cessna 170A with 220HP Franklin Engine and 78" McCauley C-201 Constant Speed PropThis page is under construction. I plan to embellish here as I get time. I will add actual performance statistics too. Feel free to email me with specific questions you may have and I'll answer them as soon as I can.
OverviewI put a brand-new 220HP PZL-Franklin Engine in my 1951 Cessna 170A. I went with a constant speed propeller too. I flew it for the fist time Saturday, November 13th, 1999. It is beyond impressive. It flat out gets up and goes like you wouldn't believe. This engine is amazingly smooth too. I thought my old C-145 was pretty smooth compared to four-cylinder engines. I can now see that I didn't know what smooth was before. The engine, STC, and everything else you need is available from Franklin Aircraft Engines, Inc., in Fort Collins, Colorado. Their phone number is 970 224-4404. Their email address is franklin@ezlink.com. John Askeland is the owner and president of the company. He is a very nice man, working very hard to get this business off the ground, and his hard work is paying off now. If I had any complaints it would have been that he was working so hard he seemed really bad at returning phone calls and delivering things on time. In my case, I was waiting for the FAA to add the A model to the STC, so I had to bite the bullet on that one. John has since increased his staff and made great improvements in customer service. I usually get a person when I call now, rather than his answering machine. I fully reccommend these guys to anyone interested in putting this new Franklin engine in their Cessna 170A or 170B. The workmanship and quality of parts are top-notch. Everyone that has seen my installation notices and comments on this. As you look at the installation, you notice how things like every bracket are very high quality. Everything looks better than what you're used to seeing. They do not appear to use minimum quality parts anywhere. Everything seems to be the good stuff. Everything is very neatly bundled and routed too. This is all new firewall-forward, but your original cowling goes right back on with virtually no modifcations (see my picture above). You keep the original grill too. You do not have to replace it with a fiberglass bowl or put blisters in the cowling for spark plug clearance. PerformanceI'm seeing a solid 152 MPH cruise speed at 7,500, burning about 9 GPH. Below is a table showing some actual climb figures I've noted.
I'll get a lot more performance data and a lot more detailed, accurate numbers here as soon as I can. CostsMy total, overall cost was just barely over $30,000, including the STC, engine, all new accessories, installation, and a zero-time, yellow-tag McCauley C-201 constant-speed propeller. I got every option too, like an oil cooler. I'll include exact costs soon. InstallationDanny Doty at the Aurora Airpark (01V) in the Denver, Colorado, area installed my engine. Danny is a top-notch mechanic, well respected in the area. His rates are the most reasonable in the area. I would strongly recommend Danny to anyone needing a mechanic to do the installation. He has already done one now, and the Franklin engine dealer would deliver the engine to Danny at the Aurora Airpark. The total installation takes a little over a week. I would guess you could set everything up and when it's all ready to go, take your airplane out there, have it done, and plan go get it a couple weeks later. PicturesHere are some pictures nearing the completion of the installation. Many more pictures will certainly follow. 
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