And while I’ve learned over the years to handle such challenges like an adult, the despair I recently felt while struggling with the sheet metal screws that hold my engine cowling in place on an otherwise beautiful day was a real challenge for me.

It’s not that the engine cowling is complicated. In fact, it’s simply two very light aluminum shells that are attached to the aircraft with a number of different screws. To remove the cowling, you simply unscrew each of them and each half can then be carefully lifted off the aircraft. To reattach the cowling, the process is reversed. Shouldn’t be a big deal.

However, when there is almost no mechanical skill, things get a little more complicated.

It’s my own fault. Growing up, I focused on the piles of books and magazines that littered my room, and any opportunity to patiently focus on learning basic mechanical skills outside or in the garage was quickly pushed aside in favor of more time to read. FLY or Car and driver magazines.

Accordingly, my mechanical skills were and are somewhat limited.

That day I was trying to reattach the engine cover and those sheet metal screws were resisting every step of the way. Some weren’t long enough for the threads to hold. Others were spinning in place and wouldn’t tighten, as if the threads were worn out. Still others seemed to stop tightening after a few turns and would stubbornly refuse to tighten.

It was annoying and I got to the point where I had to completely give up and beg my mechanic to come and save the situation.

Then I remembered one of the very best things about my aircraft – the friendly, seven-day-a-week support and advice hotline, better known as Dick, the aircraft’s previous owner.

Dick and I keep in touch pretty regularly. He bought the plane from his friend about 40 years ago and has known it for over half a century. When it came time to hang it all up and sell it to me, I could see that it was hard for him to say goodbye to his faithful friend.

To ease the pain, I promised to call him from time to time and keep him updated. Since then, we’ve been talking every few months. Our conversations usually last an hour or more, and the conversation veers between his past experiences with the plane and my learning curve in the present.

Even though he sold it to me, he still has a deep sense of ownership for the 170.

When I once mentioned that the engine had a small oil leak, he reacted with shock and deep insult. He could hardly believe that the engine he had cared for so well had the audacity to behave so badly, and he wanted answers. Fortunately, the leak was easily fixed by replacing a sealing washer, and all was well.

Dick has proven time and again that he is a walking encyclopedia of the 1953 Cessna 170B, serial number 26053.

The right fuel drain is giving me problems? Oh yeah, he remembered, he replaced that in 1985, so that’s probably it. The brake rotors look kind of thin? Well, even though he only used them for steering assistance on the ground, they’ve been there since the Carter administration.

As the swear words died down during the hood-screwing incident in the summer of 2024, I held my breath, wiped the sweat from my brow, and decided to call my lifeline for help. It didn’t take long for Dick’s friendly, easygoing manner to bring me back down to earth.

And as always, he managed to explain things in a way that made me feel smarter than I am.

First he had me lay out all the bolts in a large container. Then he started pointing out a few things. Do you see how there are some bolts that are shorter? These go on the front of the left intake so they can better clear the front left valve cover where there is virtually no play.

Oh yeah. I guess those must have been the ones that didn’t bite or tighten in other places.

Have you noticed that the thread pitch is slightly different on some of them? Back in 1983, he changed the front sheet metal screws and tinnermans to machine screws and floating nut plates. This provides a more secure attachment to the front of the hood.

Oh yes, these threads are actually a little different. That would explain why I couldn’t thread as many of them.

Dick methodically and clearly instructed me on these intricacies of the aircraft, successfully dissuading me from my position of incompetence and helping me to understand another mechanical aspect that had completely escaped me until that point.

We chatted for a while, talked about flying, laughed a bit and told each other the latest events in our lives.

It occurs to me that of all the criteria that one must consider when evaluating different aircraft for purchase, the friendship and support of a previous owner is a factor that is not considered at all.

Classified ads do not indicate the behavior and friendliness of the previous owner. This means that you cannot judge whether the person would be willing to help with information or advice in the future, or even whether they are the type of person you would like to stay in touch with.

Maybe it’s for the best. If such a valuation system existed and was widely used, Dick would have increased the value of my airplane far beyond my financial means – and I would never have been able to afford it in the first place.