Cessna 170           VP-YIA                  (c/n    unknown)

                                       

                                              So successful was the Cessna 120/140 line that in 1948 Cessna decided to design and produce
                                              a four seat model.   This was known as the Model 170, and the first editions of this craft looked
                                              very much like a slightly larger 140.   In fact, to the uninitiated, they were difficult to tell apart,
                                              except that the 170 was a little bit bigger. This first Cessna 170 had no dorsal fin, had untapered,
                                              fabric covered wings, and vee type wing struts.  Although some 700 of these "straight wing" 170s
                                              were built, photographs of them are comparatively rare. I took this shot in the hangar in Bulawayo,
                                              Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe, now) in 1950.   This very early Cessna 170 was imported for the
                                              Bulawayo Light Plane Club although the hangar was owned by Commercial Air Services who were
                                              Cessna dealers for the whole of Southern Africa.  The 195 behind is ZS-BGA.  The contemporary
                                              shot below shows an Australian example photographed by Phil Vabre at the 2005 Avalon Air Show.
                                              This machine was originally N4239V, and went to Australia in 1964 via Hong Kong (VR-HEI),
                                              Singapore (VR-SCZ), and Malaysia  (9M-ALZ).

                                            Cessna 170   VH-ALZ                    (c/n  18595)