Thouhgts on Taylorcraft??

T

Tex_Mike

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Tex_MIKE
Hi Guys- Just kicking around the idea of buying a 1946 Taylorcraft.
I don't see myself making any long flights (80-90 MPH no big deal for me) and I mostly fly over Agg land along the Gulf Coast. I can care less about bells and whistles avionics. I much rather look out the window. The Taylorcraft looks like a good fit. Under $20K and 4.5 Gallons per hour sounds good to me.

Any thoughts? The good, bad, and ugly?
 
You're talking about an old steel tube-and-fabric airplane, and that means you'll want someone familiar with them to look over the plane carefully for corrosion and deterioriation issues before you buy it. These days, not all mechanics are really familiar with airplanes not built primarily of sheet aluminum, so choose your help carefully.

in addition, if you don't have much or even any tailwheel experience, you'll want to get with a well-qualified tailwheel instructor to get comfortable in that plane. The good news is that the T-crate is one of the easier TW planes to fly, so if you have good basic stick-and-rudder skillsm it shouldn't be that hard to get up to speed.

Other than that, go have fun.
 
Have you tried it on for size and spent some time in the cockpit?
 
Wayne is right about the size. I rent space in my hanger to a beautiful TCraft and have flown it a few times. It's a tight fit, and I am not a big guy. I could not sit up straight and never felt comfortable. YRMV, but try it on for awhile.
 
FYI, I am 6'4" and about 250 and once I got in the darned thing, I was fine in my BC12-65.
 
Taylorcrafts are great airplanes! Keeping in mind the comments above.

If you haven't already, go to the 'Taylorcraft Foundation' website. Hundreds of enthusiastic owners there and a wealth of information. Probably someone near your area with the knowledge to give it a good look. Love my '39 T-craft!

h
 
Greg Bockelman said:
FYI, I am 6'4" and about 250 and once I got in the darned thing, I was fine in my BC12-65. As with others, however, getting out sometimes required assistance to help break the suction.
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FTFY:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Lana Kurtzer taught thousands of hours in Taylorcrafts off Lake Union. He was well over 6 feet and wore business clothing and brogue shoes.

Wally Olsen was also pretty tall and had 35,000 hours teaching in Taylorcrafts and Aerocas.

Yes, they are small. But there is an art to getting in and out. Once you have it down it is pretty easy.

Try to get an 85.
 
Even better, get the tandem-seat version. Mine has an 0-200, starter and spoilers.

kgruber said:
Lana Kurtzer taught thousands of hours in Taylorcrafts off Lake Union. He was well over 6 feet and wore business clothing and brogue shoes.

Wally Olsen was also pretty tall and had 35,000 hours teaching in Taylorcrafts and Aerocas.

Yes, they are small. But there is an art to getting in and out. Once you have it down it is pretty easy.

Try to get an 85.
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Finding parts for the C-65/85 are starting to be an issue.

Lots of modifications for those two engines have some one vary familiar with them inspect it carefully.

Remember these are hand prop aircraft. some are no electric's

Many of the Taylorcrafts were recovered by purists and still have dope over cotton or linen. be sure you know what you are buying.
 
I have enjoyed every Taylorcraft I have flown. More bang for your buck pricewise compared to a Cub.

Ryan
 
Tex_Mike said:
Hi Guys- Just kicking around the idea of buying a 1946 Taylorcraft.
I don't see myself making any long flights (80-90 MPH no big deal for me) and I mostly fly over Agg land along the Gulf Coast. I can care less about bells and whistles avionics. I much rather look out the window. The Taylorcraft looks like a good fit. Under $20K and 4.5 Gallons per hour sounds good to me.

Any thoughts? The good, bad, and ugly?
Click to expand...

I have about 60 hours now in the Luscombe. Great fun and really did wonders for my stick and rudder. What is cool about the Luscombe is all-metal and almost 105 mph on that same 65 hp. No electrics, hand prop, etc.
 
I know a lovely person who has a very nice Tcraft for sale .... If you want the contact info, anyone, let me know.
 
RAM now has an STC for an 0-200 retrofit.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
FYI, I am 6'4" and about 250 and once I got in the darned thing, I was fine in my BC12-65.
Click to expand...

Wow really.. I am also 6'4 and 225lbs and hope to buy a taildragger once I finish my PPL. I want something low and slow and hear many good things about the Tcart.. I saw one on a ramp one day walked beside it and said..."No way will I fit in there.." Which leads me to Tandem such as a Champ or Cub... If I could find an L2 with spoilers that would definatley be my first choice.

Marc
 
A friend of mine bought a Taylorcraft and had a ball for about 120 hours until he ground-looped it. Be careful.
 
Ka-ching! Freshly (professionally) rebuilt, repainted, re-glassed and recovered and sporting a RAM STC O-200 with starter?

Addicted2climbing said:
Wow really.. I am also 6'4 and 225lbs and hope to buy a taildragger once I finish my PPL. I want something low and slow and hear many good things about the Tcart.. I saw one on a ramp one day walked beside it and said..."No way will I fit in there.." Which leads me to Tandem such as a Champ or Cub... If I could find an L2 with spoilers that would definatley be my first choice.

Marc
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Old Geek said:
A friend of mine bought a Taylorcraft and had a ball for about 120 hours until he ground-looped it. Be careful.
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Uh-oh am I 40 hours overdue?

(I don't drive a Taylorcraft - I decided to buy an E-AB for maintenance convenience.)
 
There are lots of sweet little airplanes from that '40s era...T-crafts, Luscombes, Champs, Cessna 120 and 140s, Short-wing Pipers to name a few. Generations of pilots learned to fly in these durable, and for the most part forgiving machines. If you can fly one of them well, you can probably fly any of them. That they even have survived some 60-70 years is a remarkable testament to their sturdy maintainability. But, behind the scenes, there is usually some group of enthusiastic owners who educate one another about parts availability, problem areas and restoration. If I were looking at one of the classics, I would first investigate the owners club. As, has been mentioned, their spartan accomodations may not be suitable for big people...and none of the 65hp models will carry two folks and gas for much more than an hour, in addition, they must be hand-propped which is a PITA. My favorite is the Luscombe.
 
wabower said:
Ka-ching! Freshly (professionally) rebuilt, repainted, re-glassed and recovered and sporting a RAM STC O-200 with starter?
Click to expand...

Wayne,

Did you intend to post a link to one for sale?

Marc
 
IIRC a friend bought one an ran into a problem with wooden wing spars delaminating. Been a long time ago. Not sure if I remember correctly
 
Marc,

If I had posted a link at the time I thought the job would be finished, the ink from the dot-matrix printer would have disappeared by now. I'm sure we'll get around to the ad when they finally hand us the keys and floor mats.

Wayne

Addicted2climbing said:
Wayne,

Did you intend to post a link to one for sale?

Marc
Click to expand...
 
Here's a picture that Phil Mackanna shot prior to the restoration for possible use in one of the Ghost calendars. It didn't make the cut, and we don't plan to replace the road-runner nose art.

L-2 Calendar.jpg
 
Graueradler said:
IIRC a friend bought one an ran into a problem with wooden wing spars delaminating. Been a long time ago. Not sure if I remember correctly
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I have seen the plywood doublers come loose in one of them.

I have flight time in a Model 19. C-85, electric start. Nice airplane. Looking out to the side is a bit restricted; the average dude's eye level tends to be a bit above the top of the side window. The control wheel makes it easier to get into than some equivalent airplanes with sticks.

I owned an Auster MK VI, a British derivative of the Taylorcraft. During WWII, the Brits took the T-Cart and increased its empty weight from 800 or so to over 1400 and hung a 145-hp Gipsy Major on it and added Junkers flaps. It could take off in 300 feet and land in less. The Brits tossed the control wheel and installed a stick, mounting it to a similar frame under the panel so that getting in and out was still easy.

I miss it.

Dan
 
I did all my primary in an L2 and owned a BC12-65 after I soloed. Did all the secondary and check ride in an F19 with an O-200. I've flown some post war BC12D's with 65 and 85HP and even one of the few F22's built with flaps and a 115HP O-235. They were all great planes and fun to fly but the BC12-65 was the most fun and really did well for its meager 65HP. It was light and thats important. The F22 was neat with lots of bells and whistles but it was heavy and flew that way. Keep that in mind when you go looking. Last thing is to pay attention to what the others said. Try one on for size before you buy. I'm 5'6" and at the time I owned my toy I weighed about 135#. I had friends who were taller and heavier fly with me occasionally but I wouldn't take 2 200lb 6ft guys in one. On the other hand the seat is a sling seat and by moving or removing the cushion you can make room for a pretty big guy.
Comparing the BC12 to an L2, a Chief, Champ or Cub I believe its more responsive to controls and flys nicer. The L2 was a heavy pig with all wood wings and a fairly nasty stall. The Chief is ok but seems piggier than the Tcart. The Champ is hard to say as I've only got an hour or two in one. The Cub isn't really comparable as its much slower and different. My BC12-65 cruised about 95mph in real life and was faster than my friends chief by enough to notice.
All in all they're great planes when they're light and useable when heavier with enough HP. You might also check out the Cessna 120/140 but many of the issues are the same on room and capacity.

Hope that helps

Frank
 
Okay guys, So I flew a Taylorcraft today and think I fell in love with the darn thing. It was great! I come in at 6ft 250lb and the guy flying was about 5:10 230. We were pretty darn maxed out so not much fuel on board. Just took a trip around the pattern. After reading some of the comments on here I was surprised at the room the two of us had in the cockpit. I felt totally comfortable and the visibility out the side window was no issue at all. I could tell that if I were a few inches taller I would have an issue with the sight line being above the window.

We were climbing out on the runway heading for what seemed like a long time. I checked the altimeter and saw we were just hitting 500ft. It took for ever to get there! I had flown a warrior earlier int he day and man did that seem like a rocket compared to the Taylorcraft.

I kept hearing a squeaking sound after we landed. I think it was my wallet beginning to open up.
 
Shop owner in Sherman has one for sale in his hangar, owned by his father.

Tex_Mike said:
Okay guys, So I flew a Taylorcraft today and think I fell in love with the darn thing. It was great! I come in at 6ft 250lb and the guy flying was about 5:10 230. We were pretty darn maxed out so not much fuel on board. Just took a trip around the pattern. After reading some of the comments on here I was surprised at the room the two of us had in the cockpit. I felt totally comfortable and the visibility out the side window was no issue at all. I could tell that if I were a few inches taller I would have an issue with the sight line being above the window.

We were climbing out on the runway heading for what seemed like a long time. I checked the altimeter and saw we were just hitting 500ft. It took for ever to get there! I had flown a warrior earlier int he day and man did that seem like a rocket compared to the Taylorcraft.

I kept hearing a squeaking sound after we landed. I think it was my wallet beginning to open up.
Click to expand...
 
It's the blue and white DCO 65, belongs to John's dad.
SteveR said:
Is that the brown L2 (Mike's). That is the one I learned to fly taildraggers in. How much is he asking?
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I had a chance to sit in one today. I am 5'11" and about 200 pounds. I'm pretty sure I looked like a drunken monkey trying to get in and out. And once inside, I did not find it comfortable at all. My head was scraping on the headliner, and leg room was minimal. If you're a couple inches shorter and a few pounds lighter than me, it might be ok.
 
Small planes as all of that genre and era but as long as you haven't joined the Supersize Me crowd big enough. I got to fly Duane Cole's old one years ago with clip wings and it was a seriously fun plane.
 
I'd love to fly a TCraft some day.

This beauty made her way to Augusta a few weeks back. The horrid camera on my blackberry doesn't do it justice.

utf-8BdGF5bG9yY3JhZnQuanBn.jpg
 
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