Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

[HPsauce]

Hey Everyone,

I'm a new member and first time posting. As fate would have it I ended up with a Taylorcraft BC-65 which is 52 years older then me! Can't tell you how excited I am about building this thing. Unfortunately the plane never came with any logs... If it had I would definitely keep this piece of history as original as possible. Before I get into asking a bizillion questions I would just like to ask one.

Is there any manuals on how to rebuild one of these things? I found the service manual on taylorcraft.org but it is for the BC-12. What are the differences between the two?

Thanks fellas

[Pearson]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Hello HPsauce, welcome to the forum! There is no "How To Manual" for rebuilding a Taylorcraft, but there are some great resources out there. A copy of Chet Peeks book on Taylorcraft Airplanes could come in handy. The service manual helps but, as you can probably see, it doesn't tell you how to restore the plane. Rob Lees has a great website at http://www.taylorcraft.org.uk/ that has a lot of great pictures. But I believe his plane is a post war, and as you will find there are many differences between pre and post war planes. Other than that, there are no stupid questions. You can always use the search feature at the top right of this page. Many of the responses have pictures with them. But don't hesitate to ask a question. Also tell us a little about yourself, where are you, your name, how you came to rebuilding a Taylorcraft. A good place to start is by teaching yourself how to upload pictures to this forum by posting one of your project. You WILL need to send pictures eventually.

[HPsauce]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Sure thing, Richard

My name is Howard Pearce, and I am born and raised in BC, Canada. I first soloed when I was 14 years old and currently hold my Private Pilot's Licence. I am doing the Commercial flight test in about a months time. I currently go to school in Prince George, BC, which is just about smack dab in the center of the province. Was taking Environmental Studies but now taking Aviation Business Management.

How I came to acquire the Taylorcraft.
I used to live down on Vancouver Island and our airport was Victoria International. A lady who lived elsewhere had two planes parked at Victoria Air Maintenance; the Taylorcraft (no engine, and in pieces) and a Cessna 120. For whatever reason, she never made any payments for keeping them at the Maintenance Hanger, and she never had them fix anything neither. So eventually the folks got sick of this lady and took the Tcraft as payment and I flew the Cessna 120 to her local airport. Last I saw the Cessna 120 it had a wheel boot on it sitting at the airport I flew it too! What a lady haha. Anyways, She was ticked about the Tcraft to say the least. She claimed the Taylorcraft never had logbooks. Guess I'll never know. The Maintenance hanger never wanted it so they gave it to me, just as simple as that. Lucky me!

The plane doesn't have an engine so I was wondering if a C90 will fit the same mounts as the C65? If so, will the open cowling work with the C90?

Cheers

Howard

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

I guess the next step is to figure out exactly what you have. Post pictures of what you can and we may be able to verify what model it is. Do you have any idea what the original N number and serial number are? Being in Canada it will not have the original U.S. number on it. Before you put any money into this you need to be sure you have clear title to the plane. Pictures of the instrument panel, control wheels, doors, wing ribs and trim system can go a long way to making sure of what you have. Don't start taking stuff apart and buying parts untill you know what you have and if you have more than simple possession. If you don't legally OWN it, she could come back and claim it (if she was smart she would wait for you to fix it, claim it, and refuse to pay you for the costs since you had done "unauthorized work" on "her" plane. These things can get sticky so don't put ANY money in till you have that clear title.
You want to be the "reasonable" one here since she probably has all of the paperwork and she has no incentive to not just burn all of the logs. If she sees that the plane is basically worthless to her, she may be willing to sell you the paperwork for a reasonable price. If your contact is adversarial she will just destroy what she has out of spite and there is nothing you can do to stop her. Explain there is a lot of liens on the plane and you are trying to help her. She can satisfy the liens and get the plane back, but it isn't worth the cost. She can recover some cash by finding all of the paper and selling it to you. Make sure it is always to HER advantage to get the paper to you. She may be a nut ball and has already destroyed the paper, or there could be some strong sentimental attachment like it was her kids or husbands and she just can't let go. I got my first plane from a guy who was never going to fix it up by telling him I would give him first right of refusal when it was repaired. If I ever decide to sell it, I promised I would give him first shot to buy it. I still stand by that promise, but he has realized he is way beyond actually wanting it back. He cried when I took it away. He was really attached to that pile of of parts.
As for the C-90, do you HAVE a C-90? That is a decision that can be made down the road based on what you have when the decision is needed. They fly great with anything from a 65HP up.
Hank

[barnstmr]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Howard...
As for a "how-to" manual, there is not one specifically for Taylorcrafts. Instead... you need to make sure that all your work is of acceptable methods, techniques, and practices to the FAA (or TCCA in Canada). So you would be doing yourself a big favor by getting your hands on a copy of the FAA Advisory Circular FAA AC 43.13-1B and 43.13-2B. These can be downloaded and printed from www.faa.gov. These books have detailed "how-to" instructions in a GENERAL sense about welding, wood work, sheet metal, fabric finishing, and other information about the construction of airplanes like Taylorcrafts. This will give you a good idea for what the FAA is looking for these days.

For a similar older reference manual more in line with how the airplanes were built originally, take a look at the CAM 18 manual if you can find it online. I think it is also available to download from the FAA website, but maybe not. These will give you a good GENERAL guide for airframe work. As for engine work and powerplant installation information... follow the Continental Service Overhaul and Maintenance manuals.

For finer details... put your needs out here on the forum and I am sure you will get more than you asked for.... some of it will probably be usable or helpful.

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Howard...
For finer details... put your needs out here on the forum and I am sure you will get more than you asked for.... some of it will probably be usable or helpful.

Or you may not! Your mileage may vary. :-) L

OK that was with tongue in cheek, this is a great place to find out what you will need to know to make her airworthy again.

[barnstmr]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Howard...
You will also want to take a look HERE for early Taylorcraft service documents.

[HPsauce]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Wowie!

Thanks a lot guys. I may actually try to contact this lady again like Hank suggested. I plan to be going back down south in a couple weeks to do some Sim time so when I get down there I will take lots of pictures of the Taylorcraft. I'm quite certain it is a 1938 tho. It has the monster sized tach with oil pressure and temp built into it. Other then that just has altimeter and airspeed. It has the open cowling style which I know was an early feature of BL,BC, and BF's. But when I go down south I will take pictures.

One other thing, it has an auxillary fuel tank in one wing. I thought that was a post war thing..

Thanks for all the great advise though and the good websites to check out. I will be sure to get pictures as soon as possible.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

If she has an emotional attachment make sure she sees you as rescuing it from the trash pile and not the thief who "stole her plane". Maybe she would like to see is resurrected so she could see the plane back in her glory. Mention how much fun it would be to it her back down to show her and maybe let her fly in it again (don't promise, just let it sink in that she could see it back in the air). She needs to understand that restoring a plane like this is NEVER as cost effective as buying one already flying and if she does have that emotional attachment treat it like when you get a puppy from someone who realizes they really can't give it the life it deserves.
OF course if she is just looking to make money, see how much she wants to let go of the paper. With the lien, she has already lost the parts.
Hank

[Howard Wilson]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Hi Howard,
When you get back to the plane, look for the data plate. Might be on the floor under the passengers knees or on the kick panel under the right door. 20442 was built in January of '39 and has a right wing tank. There are some pics of her in different states of disassembly on my gallery page. h

[HPsauce]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

I will try to look her up again. I'm sure the guys at the maintenance hanger have her information still.

[HPsauce]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Howard,

That looks exactly like the one I have. The panel is the same but mine has different yokes which say Taylorcraft in the middle. Like a half steering wheel not the full thing.

[3Dreaming]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Howard,

That looks exactly like the one I have. The panel is the same but mine has different yokes which say Taylorcraft in the middle. Like a half steering wheel not the full thing.

It sounds like the airplane has had some changes over the years. They built the big tach airplanes from 38 till 41. Look on the door hinges for a serial number. It may not match the paper work or data tag, but it should be close. With the serial number we can figure out what year the airplane was built.

[mikeg]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

The serial number will be stamped on the top of the upper right door hinge on the fuselage door post.
Mikeg
NC29804
NC27451

[HPsauce]

Re: Rebuilding 1938 BC-65

Gentlemen,

It has been a long time and the airplane restoration has not gone underway. I do have information now. I am completely moved off Vancouver Island and now the Taylorcraft sits at my house, looking at me everyday saying, "GET CRACKING"! Here's what I have found. It is NOT a 1938 BC65; it is a 1940 BL50. I will post some pictures after I send this out, just have to figure out how. One question, are many parts from taylorcraft's interchangeable? For example, a BC12D horizontal stab onto a BL50, engine mounts etc... Just trying to get a feel for how acquiruring new parts will be. I seem to have a lot of old stuff that needs to be picked through. I have a mechanic which is going to be helping me but I would love extra feedback from some experienced men!

Cheers