OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

[Fooey]

Is this a 1941 panel and contorls or something later

[Ryan]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

Panel itself looks homemade or one purchased during the ferris era. '46 panels were not a flush flat and the glove doors look to big. The pretzel control yokes were used post war until may of '46 then we're replaced by the magnesium wheels found up through the ferris models. I believe the pretzels were used in 41, but Hank or one of the other prewar gurus will know for sure.

[M Towsley]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

That color makes it difficult to see if there are any curves in it. I catch what looks like a small curve up toward the top, but cannot tell.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

The panel is definitely not 41, nor are the wheels, but the structure under the panel might still be there (not the shock mount sub-panel, but the mounting lugs). The doors could very well be 41 but have been modifies with metal frames around the windows (the window edges of the 41 wood doors were VERY prone to being broken when closed on the belts or anything else in the door when closing). The windows are swing out type and the two clusters of three elastic nuts are where the wood screws for the wood 41 doors are supposed to be. Someone has repaired the doors (done a nice job too) and they do look like 41s.
The door kick plates, latch striker, the seat skirt, door "A" pillar trim and "D" window all look like 41.
Without more pictures I couldn't say for sure but it looks like a really nice 41 that has been cosmetically repaired in a very acceptable (but not necessarily original) way.

Hank

[Fooey]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

Can the 41 panel and banjo wheels still be had? Is there a way to increase gross wt?

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

If the support structure (actually just some small tabs that could be put back on) is still there and you can find the parts it isn't that hard to restore to original, just tedious. The Banjo wheels are HARD to find. I was close to just making a set when I got a second one. I still need the center caps for mine.
I have drawings for the panel parts, but I WOULD NOT take a nice plane off line to do this job. Make the parts and put them on when you get them, maybe before an annual at a time of year when the flying in your area stinks anyway. It will take you some time to get the whole thing together.
I your IA would agree, the original look could be done a LOT simpler than the factory way, but would not be "factory". The hardest part is the 41 panel itself. There are NONE of them available and I had to metal bump mine from a flat sheet by hand. It took MONTHS to make and we have a parrot that still bobs her head and makes tapping sounds. My neighbors HATED it and I messed up several panels before I got a couple that worked. Nice skill to have, and makes fixing a bashed nose bowl a non issue.

Hank

The wheels in the picture were something we think the military put in while they had mine during the war. I haven't gotten the Banjos restored yet. I also finally found a 6 o'clock altimeter and got rid of the non-sensitive in the panl and extra one in the glove box.

[Fooey]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

Here is a photo I happened across of a 41 panel that is very similar to the one I posted the other day that you guys responded to.
Is it possible that there was one like this that was original?

Thanks
Tim

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Taylorcraft-BC12-65/0188117/L/&sid=49d4bc73a7793fd73341d8e2b989d7e5

[3Dreaming]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

To the best of my knowledge there were only 2 panel types in 1941. The one like Hank posted and the rounded top for the large tach. The ones in your link and earlier picture have been redone at some point. You have to remember these airplanes are over 70 years old and changes have been made over the years. These airplanes used to be just airplanes, and people didn't worry about if something was original or not They just made them work for what they wanted them to do.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

That was what my 41 panel looked like (though not that nice) when I bought her. It is just a flat slab of aluminum with the instruments mounted in it. That one looks lighter than mine since mine felt like it was cut from a battleship hull and had a slab of plywood stuck on in front of it. The wheels ARE 41 banjos but they have been painted (again, they look nice, but that is not original from the old photos I have). I REALLY like the center covers with the Taylorcraft logo still nice and sharp.
Not sure at all what the blob of electrical tape on the throttle ball is supposed to be for.

Hank

Also, that is NOT the large tach panel plane. The ones with the big tach had a higher arch to the top of the panel.

Here is a photo I happened across of a 41 panel that is very similar to the one I posted the other day that you guys responded to.
Is it possible that there was one like this that was original?

Thanks
Tim

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Taylo...41d8e2b989d7e5

[Ryan]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

Here are some photos of panels in more original configuration. Hank has posted the deluxe '41 above. The first is a what a '41 trainer should look like. The second is my BC12D which is an early '46. You can see the curves above the glove boxes like Hank's deluxe panel. The panel is one piece of metal however, and the instrument cluster is arranged like an up side down triangle. I have since replaced the mag switch with the type 7. (only look at the panel, the rest of the interior is not original configuration by the way!) The later F-19s did away with the curves and replaced the panel with a flat piece of metal. The panels posted above seem to mimic later model panels which are easier to duplicate.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: OK guys, Could this be a '41 panel and controls or not original to 41

If you look close at Ryans (GOOD LOOKING by the way!) and my panels you will also see that Taylor made the bottom edge of the bumped in sections above the glove boxes parallel to the glove box after the war and they were at an angle before. It is a subtle difference, but noticeable if you are looking for it. The glove box size was also different from before and after the war.
If someone needs the dimensions I have sketches and patterns for pre and post war boxes and glove box doors as well as bucks for both types of door. If you make your own glove boxes USE CARDBOARD like the original, NOT sheet metal. If you have metal boxes already, make SURE they are attached to the tubes in the back (end towards the firewall) so they CAN NOT push inboard and foul the gear on the end of the control wheel. If the box jams the wheel and is cardboard you are strong enough to crush the box. Maybe NOT on a metal one.

Hank