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I've been lurking here for a couple of months, so I thought I'd finally introduce myself. My name is Brian Cantrell. I live on an airpark about 20nm south of Memphis, TN in a little town called Hernando, MS. We have a 3300ft grass strip - great for taildraggers. It's H75 if any of you are ever in the area.
I've a had Bonanza for the last 6 years or so. Before that I had a Maule that I bought as a basket case and restored from the ground up. Lately I've been itching for another project, and I wanted something better suited for low/slow flying than the Bonanza. Also wanted something that I could operate out of a pasture on my parents farm in central Arkansas. I fly a friends Wag-Aero Sport Trainer (cub clone) quite a bit, but it was just too slow (100nm to the farm) and uncomfortable for me. So, you guessed it, I ended up with a Taylorcraft. I came very close to buying Chuck Avon's plane, but decided I wanted more of a project airplane. (Chuck's plane is really cool by the way!)
I ended up buying a plane that was literally right across the street. My neighbor's dad had an affinity for Taylorcrafts, and this was the last one he owned before passing way. My neighbor already has a Pacer and a Vagabond, and had no desire to keep the Taylorcraft, so he made me a deal that was pretty hard to turn down. The airplane was airworthy, but pretty ratty and in need of some serious TLC.
Here's the embarrassing part. I flew it couple of times - it flew much better than it looked! But then I had a little starting mishap. Apparently I had the throttle cracked a little much for my chocks. After hand propping, it started at a higher power setting than I intended. It rolled over my chock and before I could get inside to shut it down, it hit the side of my hangar. Ouch. Fortunately I had it insured and no one was hurt - other than the plane, my hangar, and my pride. Kind of embarrassing for a 6500 hour airline captain. I've got quite a bit of tailwheel time, but obviously not as much experience hand propping.
So.... My insurance company accepted my offer to buy the airplane back (it was totaled), and now what was intended to be a flyable project just became a full on restoration. The main damage from the mishap was the engine/prop, and the right wing. I had intended to replace the tired A65 with an 85 anyway, so no big loss there. The right wingtip struck the building, and all that moment arm broke the rear spar in the first bay. I've got the wings off now, with the right wing on sawhorses and the fabric removed. I'm gonna need a few wing parts, and I just found out the Univair currently doesn't sell ribs. The butt rib is pretty ugly - it already had some patches before the mishap. The root compression strut is a bit tweaked too. The wingtip skin is mangled, but the bow itself is fine. A few other ribs have some damage but may be repairable.
I've already spent tons of time with the search function. You guys have a great board here, and a wealth of information! I just wanted to jump in and say hello, and see if y'all have any resources for wing parts. Thanks!
I've a had Bonanza for the last 6 years or so. Before that I had a Maule that I bought as a basket case and restored from the ground up. Lately I've been itching for another project, and I wanted something better suited for low/slow flying than the Bonanza. Also wanted something that I could operate out of a pasture on my parents farm in central Arkansas. I fly a friends Wag-Aero Sport Trainer (cub clone) quite a bit, but it was just too slow (100nm to the farm) and uncomfortable for me. So, you guessed it, I ended up with a Taylorcraft. I came very close to buying Chuck Avon's plane, but decided I wanted more of a project airplane. (Chuck's plane is really cool by the way!)
I ended up buying a plane that was literally right across the street. My neighbor's dad had an affinity for Taylorcrafts, and this was the last one he owned before passing way. My neighbor already has a Pacer and a Vagabond, and had no desire to keep the Taylorcraft, so he made me a deal that was pretty hard to turn down. The airplane was airworthy, but pretty ratty and in need of some serious TLC.
Here's the embarrassing part. I flew it couple of times - it flew much better than it looked! But then I had a little starting mishap. Apparently I had the throttle cracked a little much for my chocks. After hand propping, it started at a higher power setting than I intended. It rolled over my chock and before I could get inside to shut it down, it hit the side of my hangar. Ouch. Fortunately I had it insured and no one was hurt - other than the plane, my hangar, and my pride. Kind of embarrassing for a 6500 hour airline captain. I've got quite a bit of tailwheel time, but obviously not as much experience hand propping.
So.... My insurance company accepted my offer to buy the airplane back (it was totaled), and now what was intended to be a flyable project just became a full on restoration. The main damage from the mishap was the engine/prop, and the right wing. I had intended to replace the tired A65 with an 85 anyway, so no big loss there. The right wingtip struck the building, and all that moment arm broke the rear spar in the first bay. I've got the wings off now, with the right wing on sawhorses and the fabric removed. I'm gonna need a few wing parts, and I just found out the Univair currently doesn't sell ribs. The butt rib is pretty ugly - it already had some patches before the mishap. The root compression strut is a bit tweaked too. The wingtip skin is mangled, but the bow itself is fine. A few other ribs have some damage but may be repairable.
I've already spent tons of time with the search function. You guys have a great board here, and a wealth of information! I just wanted to jump in and say hello, and see if y'all have any resources for wing parts. Thanks!
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