This 1956 Cessna 310 is being sold in an eBay auction, so the page will disappear eventually.
Why would this aircraft have side-firing magnesium flares?
I seem to recall that for big over water trips they were required. Also up North, Canada & Alaska??
They were for signalling but my google-fu is weak and so is my memory…
There’s mention of them on other forums. It seems they were used for emergency night landings. You illuminate where you want to land.
Ignorance fought! Thank you.
MPSIMS: That airplane is at WJF in Lancaster, CA – where I lived from 15 to 26, and where I learned to fly. 
I like the different colors for the letters and the numerals on the side. It’s attention to detail like that that really adds value in a sale.
You know what would add value to the sale? Engines. And props. And an interior.
I don’t know, the only way I’d ever feel safe getting into that aircraft is in the no-engine configuration.
Why?
Before you land, you get to bomb the place with incendiaries? That is so cool!
What’s that I see … is it … is it … PRESSURE GAUGES … ???
Yeah, spray painting the registration number on the side … nice touch … I wonder how much it’s worth as scrap aluminum?
Buy an XJ-12 … it’ll be cheaper in the long run …
This reminds me of the old joke:
Q: How do you make a forced landing at night?
A: Descend to a couple hundred feet above the ground. Turn on your landing lights. If you like what you see, land. If you don’t like what you see, turn off the lights.
Because that’s the only way to be completely sure that it would remain safely on the ground.
Is the aluminum and wood tray with four cylinders the flare assembly?
Dennis
Yes. you can see the covers on the outside in another photo.
I have rebuilt aircraft that were in much worse shape. It says that there is no damage history. So I would probably not have to replace the landing gear, the wing spars, nor any of the ribs. The sheet metal looks fairly good from those few pictures. Rebuilding this one would be much cheaper than buying a new one. There would be a lot of inspecting, but little sheet metal work. Worst case scenario, one could use this airframe to rebuild one that has “serious damage history”. With Rebuilt engines & propellers, it can, & probably will fly again.
The spray painted “N” numbers & letters are probably the temporary “N” number issued to that aircraft for the ferry permit to fly it to where it is now. Lets see, do I spend $100.00 or more for stenciled letters & numbers, or do I use up some old spray paint cans that I have laying around at zero cost? Hard choices I know. Believe it or not, those letters & numbers are almost legal size wise.
I have a simple question, Does anyone recognize the flying eagle logo on the tail of this aircraft? It seems familiar to me, as does the airfield.
Post #5 covered the airfield…
What are you talking about? I looked at all the pix and found nothing of the sort. Maybe your eyes are better than mine.
I’m guessing he meant ‘steam gauges’.
Is that the correct term? … my apologies … in the one photo we can see a bit of the dash board … looks like steam gauges instead of advanced computer controlled multitaskable avionics … for the asking price I’m even wondering if the plane has radios …
… and I guess 48Willys is right about rebuilding costs … $325,000 for a 2012 Cessna 172 … but here you can see the better instrumentation … and actual stenciled letters & numbers … woot …