Weight (list archive)

[tcraft]

Hi Tribe. Well, guess it's about time I weigh in (Weigh In, get it!) on the problem of heavy Taylorcrafts. The Model A started out at 570#, and typical of all planes, Cubs, Aeroncas, etc, they added weight when they could buy more horsepower. The Taylorcraft folks didn't do too bad on the early Model B, it weighed 632 with single ignition and a tail skid. I restored an early Model B in the mid-1990's and came out 660# with a tail wlheel and twin ignition O-145. But , as with all my restorations, I WATCHED THE WEIGHT EVERYWHERE. The biggest saving is to use 104 Ceconite which is legal, plenty strong and requires half as much dope. I used a 4-piece 1-1/16" windshield instead of the 1/8+" blown kind. Very light wood prop. Lightest tires I could get, etc. The reason these planes are heavy now is simply people add weight, and the T-Craft is a good enough plane to carry it without complaint. I once took out about 50# of plywood from the cabin of a BC-12-D, thick floorboards, a wood seat bottom, wood door panels and so on.
So that's my story folks-
Chet Peek