'41 Deluxe yokes

[M Towsley]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

My dad's 41 has leather covered control yokes.

And they are beautiful, Tom. I wish I could have walked out of the shop with one and hung it on my wall.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

I REALLY like the leather. Wonder how it would look with Maroon leather to match the seat trim.

Hank

[3Dreaming]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

I REALLY like the leather. Wonder how it would look with Maroon leather to match the seat trim.

Hank

Good! All you need is some leather and someone who knows how to stitch it on.

[3Dreaming]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

And they are beautiful, Tom. I wish I could have walked out of the shop with one and hung it on my wall.

I know he changed the interior from the previous restoration, and I think he re-wrapped the control yokes too.

[Mark Bowden]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Paul, there are "home" kits to do your own electroless Ni plating if you don't have a vendor that will do it for you. I would still suggest a shop that does it so you get the best cleaning prior to processing and thus the best adhesion. They may include a copper strike first that will also help plating.

Mark

kit example:

http://www.caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/nickel-plating-kits/electroless-nickel-plating-kits.html

[TC747paul]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Thanks Mark,
I may need to look into that if i cant find a plating company
attached is a rubbing off the center caps for the banjos. i will be glad to mail one if needed
also i just got the deluxe trim in the mail today, i got it from the same guy i got the yokes from, they look great i can't wait to install.
The trim, yokes and panel were cut off and stolen from my plane during a hangar break-in after a pancake breakfast back in the 90's

thanks again
Paul

[Bird]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Talked to Don Jones who builds stuff in Guam and this is what he wrote back.
" Ok, let me check with my stamping plant. If you have looked at my Aeronca Hub
Caps, the die cost 2200 dollars. The cost of making each, about $2.20 but that
was 10 years ago. Not as much work here, but Im going to guess $5000 to produce
200 to 400 but really a guess. You have to make that many to bring down the
cost.


Just a guess, brings the cost down to as much as 15 to 20 dollars each. Then
there is a mark up as it will take a few years to get the money back. In the
case of the Aeronca Hub Caps, maybe 5 years as I sell maybe 15 sets a year.
Truth is, Ive never figured that out. "

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Probably not going to work. There were very few planes built with the Banjo wheel, certainly less than 50. Many of those were converted to the Pretzel wheel and without the wheel itself the center cap is just a decoration. It took me a LONG TIME to find a second wheel that was in poor shape and didn't have a center cap.

The way to REALLY find out is to take a count of how many people even have Banjo wheels. NOT as a basis for ordering, just a population count.

Just to start, I have 2 Banjo wheels (for grins and giggles I would be interested in caps if they won't cost the national debt).

Hank

[NC36061]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

There were very few planes built with the Banjo wheel, certainly less than 50.

As far as I know, all Deluxes had the banjos; that would certainly have to be several hundred airplanes at the time... but the number of Deluxes remaining in service with original banjos could well be less than 50 today. FAA has 169 BC/F/L12-65's on active registration. What percentage of those are actually airworthy? Yes, many have lost their banjos... Certainly no market for any kind of mass production.

[M Towsley]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Don Jones is a great guy, as well as his sister Patty here in the States. They Ebay a lot of airplane parts. I was going to have him make something Taylorcraft related, (cannot remember what it was), years ago but it ran into the same problem, too many needed to be made to make it worthwhile.

[Ray36048]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Hank, do you still have the same address of 805 KCD in Va? If not PM or post your address. I have one deluxe banjo center cap I want to send to you. It is not perfect, has a split in the side and a small ding in the face. I only have this one and I am not concerned about keeping my project original.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Yes, same address (for the last 31 years......unless we finally get that land in NC for the grass strip).

Even a damaged one could help a lot to compare with when I make some. Still messing with details on how to stamp them and get one that actually looks like the originals.

Hank

[clear_prop1961]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Hank- I suggest you look into having the caps engraved by a trophy shop. Look for a shop that laser engraves wine glasses because they have a machine to engrave on a curved surface like the caps. They will need some art work to put in their computer but you can get that from the Taylorcraft Story book. If you are only making two you can machine a set from brass then have them plated and engraved. At least that is what I would do. I made the cap that goes on the prop hub of the Wright engine and it came out great.
Jerry

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Yes, I agree on the engrave. I have a guy who does it and have seen his work. Looks very good. I am still messing with pressing them right now (kind of a background project). I have done some turning and something this thin I would think spinning would be easier if you could get the front to tube transition fairly sharp edged. Another idea I was kicking around was forming the face and silver soldering it to tube stock, but for a short run of less than 10 or 15 pressing still looks most promising. I have done some thin cut turning and having the part fly out of the lathe was NOT a good memory! I am an engineer and we tend to be dangerous with some tools. ;-)

Hank

You want EXCITING? Check out what happens when a part comes off while spinning!

[Bird]

Re: '41 Deluxe yokes

Don just dropped this off to me .
Michael,
We think we can produce this for $10 to $12 each. EBay and Paypal take 15% and
my distributor takes 15%. So, figure $13 to $15. Id make 200 and Ill double
the price. My payback is 4 years if I can sell 25 or so a year. Let me know if
you want me to proceed.

Don

So what do you think guys?