Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

[Takoda]

Good evening,

I've put a Taylorcraft on my wishlist for next year. In the meantime I will be getting rid of all my other projects which include a plethora of IH Scouts. My brain is telling me to buy ready to fly but my heart is whispering buy something to fix up.

Because of something I read yesterday and from reading lots of posts the last few days I'm a bit confused. How much work can the aircraft owner do on his plane and still retain the certification?

[Bigdog]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

There is a specific list of preventive maintenance items that a pilot can perform. IIRC there are 43 items that run the gamut from sparkplugs to fabric patches. If you want to go beyond that I'd suggest cultivating a relationship with a mechanic or IA who is willing to let you help or even supervise your work if they develop enough trust. Not all will do it and they aren't under any obligation to do so but finding the right guy is a god send.

[skip]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

Also, once the friendly A&P/IA is on your side, there are a specific set of criteria where you can specify and produce "Owner Produced Parts". These parts must follow The Rules meaning that they are safe and conform to the original certification and they must still be signed off by the "real" mechanic. learning these rules lets you produce most anything needed for your plane.
Doesn't mean that you can run off and do anything at a whim, but if you follow the rules the owner can do a surprizing amount of the work.

[Takoda]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

Thanks guys. That's actually good news. My local Scout guru also owns the small airport. I realize my next question is both subjective and wildly variable based on what the project that you start with. If I find a Taylorcraft that's begging for a teardown, how many hours would you anticipate until you fly? Again, logically it makes more sense to buy one and start flying. However, my house, car, backyard are all a reflection of me because of the work put into it. Plus I enjoy it. I've done lots of big projects but want to be honest with myself on something I'm not familiar.

[Robert Lees]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

Hey Takoda,

In case no-one has said: welcome to the Taylorcraft Forum!

Mine took me about 2000 hours of labour, but then I'm a bit of a perfectionist (by my own admission) and that was a compete ground-up rebuild. Those hours do not include research time, or parts selecting & ordering time; just the hours on the job. I did everything, except the new upholstery and the basic forming of my new cowls.

Rebuild blog: here, look for G-BREY rebuild on the left hand menu.

Hope that helps, don't underestimate the hours. If you have to do it, do it as a labour of love.

Start with a complete and airworthy example. If not, you can double those hours quite easily.

Rob

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

Rob,
I see you are in Lubbock, TX. It would be well worth your while to get to know others with Taylorcrafts in your area.

I think I have spent my whole life rebuilding my first 45 Taylorcraft and it is still no where near ready to fly. I only paid about $2,000 for her with two engines back in the 70s, but about a decade and a half ago I bought a second, 1941 to FLY while I worked on the first. I would suggest you look for a FLYING plane and a great project will come along in due time. The difference in cost will be negligible in the end since I paid a LOT of hangar rent for non flying planes over the years (everybody stop laughing, I know I spent much more than the cost of both planes over the years on hangar rent! MUCH more!)

I wouldn't trade the fun I have had WORKING on my planes and working with all the friends I have made because of it for anything, but I should have bought the flying plane FIRST.

Welcome to the tribe. Be careful, most of us are a little nuts. ;-)

Hank

[astjp2]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

I spent 3 years rebuilding mine.

[Scott]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

2.5 years and counting and I second Rob's comment about starting with a complete flying aircraft. Even then the chances of finding significant issues under the surface is high. Corrosion, poorly designed and/or implemented modifications and repairs, poor original design, and of course wear and tear are a few of the causes of unanticipated challenges.

Parts that initially look like they can be reused turn out to be marginal. Example I decided to reuse my top cowlings, despite a few hale dents etc. because they had the original TAC stamp on them. Stripped, etched, primed and painted them and it was only during fabrication of the bottom cowl that I discover one top cowl was over 1/2" shorter than the other so ended up making new ones anyway. I bought some wheel pants too that looked really good until I stripped the paint off and realize they were held together with a couple of pounds of bondo. Haven't finished them yet but I estimate over 100 hours just to resurrect the wheel pants.

One scenario worth considering is acquiring a good airplane and in place of stripping it all down, segment the project into winter tasks. For example, rebuild the tail feathers and ailerons one winter, do the firewall forward the next, wings the following year and finally the fuselage. Each summer you get to fly, and perhaps more importantly you're less likely to catch yourself looking at the mass of aircraft parts stacked around your shop wondering if there's any hope of ever getting it back together!!!

[Takoda]

Re: Putting Taylorcraft on bucketlist

You guys have some great ideas. I really like what Scott and Hank have suggested. Hank's I had thought of; Scott's has unique appeal. I've been spending lots of time on Youtube to see how well my skill set matches up. Sadly for my wife I haven't found anything that scares me yet.

I found some surprising news this morning. A guy that sits a few rows in front of me at church is the manager for local FAA FSDO. While I know that he works in a rules enforcing environment, he's a good guy. I knew he had been in the Air Force. Another member that I don't know is the Aviation Safety Inspector. I remember his name from the past as owning a local flight school. Who knew? I hope it helps smooth the path.

Rod