houstondan wrote:

in my ongoing process of falling in love with various aircraft which i
cannot afford (yet!) i come to the cessna 170.

looks like 35-40k$ for a fair example. i think i prefer the no
nosewheel configuration and i'm endorsed to drag so that's ok. i'm
curious about the 6 cylinder 145hp motor. seems like it would be
smooth.

It is smooth. I flew one in a C-172 this weekend and I was really
impressed with how smooth it was.

does the ac feel underpowered?

The one I flew didn't feel like it. We took off right at gross twice,
three guys and full tanks, once at a 200' airport and once at a 2000'
airport. Climb was good out of the 200' field, but it was a bit
leisurely out of the 2000' airport, and the last 500 feet of our climb
to 7500 seemed to take forever. On a hot day, I think that would have
been a no-go, we would not have been able to top the tanks before
leaving or maybe only two of us could have gone. However in fairness
since it was not my plane I may not have been on the exactly correct Vy
speed (I climbed at 80mph, and the owner flew the leg out of the 200'
airport, when the climb seemed fine).

The plane had a fuel totalizer and we burned 7.5 gph in cruise and about
11 in climb.

it looks to me like a utility
172 analog with a little less power for maybe 20-grand less.

opinions/editorials?

Even though it was a C-172 and not a 170, I was very impressed with the
one I flew in.

My only concern about owning one would be that I assume a six cylinder
would be more expensive to overhaul and maintain than a four, but I
don't know how much more.