New Member

[alexl]

Hello everyone!

I would like to introduce myself. I have recently made a deal on a 1946 BC-12D. I am very excited to take delivery of the airplane and start a new aviation chapter. I got my PPL in 2016, but haven't flown a lot since. I am excited to learn tailwheel and use this bird to build plenty of hours. The airplane i have purchased is no cream puff, but it is airworthy, and the price was right. My criteria was to find an airplane that i was reasonably confident would get me at least 4-5 years of flying before tearing apart for a full restoration. The aircraft is due to be delivered to my mechanic next week for a pre-buy. I am located in western South Carolina (Near Augusta, GA).

One question for the folks who have done training in a no-electric bird. I do plan on carrying a handheld radio, is it also necessary to purchase a portable intercom for communications with my CFI (10 hour checkout for insurance) or is the cabin quiet enough for communication without the intercom? What has been your experience? I have no problems purchasing an intercom, but almost all of my flying after my checkout will be solo, so the intercom is not necessary other than possibly for training.

Regards,
Alex LaFave

[Nefj40]

Re: New Member

Congrats on the new adventure. I got a sore throat from yelling after my first hour with an instructor. I'm running a Icom hand-held with a external antenna into a intercom. The hand-held works way better when used in conjunction with the intercom. I've got another T-crafter in the state that I run into frequently at fly-ins and he always had problems transmitting on his handheld. I suggested using my intercom in his plane and doing a radio check, it worked. Now that he's running one, I've picked him up on the radio 100 miles away. I don't know exactly what it is that causes the need to run one, but they're cheap enough. Besides, you can plug a phone or Ipod into one and have in-flight music.

[McRay7ac]

Re: New Member

I installed outside antenna with my handheld radio and intercom system I bought from Aircraft Spruce that works very well - tried with a handheld only it works was very noisy and radio hard to communicate with tower and passenger

[M Towsley]

Re: New Member

Alex,

Welcome and congratulations. You should love her once you fly her.

The little search box in the upper right corner is your friend. I know I have, as well as others, covered handhelds, antennas, silencing ignition noise, etc. I use an Icom handheld, external antenna, a two-place intercom and headsets. This plane is loud and will injure your hearing, remember, hearing damage is cumulative and non-repairable. I even purchased a Sennheiser S1 Digital headset because the noise can be bothersome on long flights.

Making your ignition quiet is a little more work, depends upon what your T-Craft has at this time. Many have cowl bumps allowing shielded plugs on top, (and bottom), so yours may already be ok. I can talk to people the next state over with my Icom and external antenna, and work out of Class C airspace, and they have never had a problem hearing me.

A lot depends upon what your plane is equipped with at this time. Please use the search function because this information has been discussed many, many times.

When you get a chance, please post a picture of your plane. We all like to see the new birds on the forum. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions if you don't understand anything you read while searching the forum.

[PA1195]

Re: New Member

I used one of these portable intercoms with an ICOM handheld radio in an earlier aircraft: http://www.pilot-usa.com/intercoms/2-place.html

They are made for specific radio models, are plug and play, and worked well. They run on a 9V battery that's inserted inside. The remote push to talk (PTT) button on the control made installation and use easy. They're available from several sources online.

Gary

[3Dreaming]

Re: New Member

Absolutely you need an intercom. I have been teaching both of my boys in my dad's Taylorcraft, and being able to communicate easily is essential. Also you will want a push to talk. We hang ours from the throttle, instead of strapping to the control wheel.

[alexl]

Re: New Member

Thanks for all of the information and warm welcome.

The airplane has been converted to slick mags with shielded wire. When this was installed, holes were cut in the cowl for clearance, but no "cowl bumps" were added. This isnt a huge issue for me, but i will be looking to add the bumps pretty quickly. Other than that, there is a fabric repair on the right aileron that i am not too happy with. I will either be redoing the patch or recovering the complete aileron. I am considering this as practice for when it is time to recover the whole airplane. For those of you who have tackled a recover project. I am considering taking the airplane down a few months at a time during the winter each year to do a portion. In your experience, is it possible to remove, recover and reinstall a wing in a couple of months working in free time? Just looking for a good timeline i should be looking at. I imagine the fuselage would take me longest, as i would like to tear it all the way down, blast and repaint (or powder coat) before recovering.

[LostnSpace]

Re: New Member

Hi Alex, I am just North of Atlanta, I have two cowl bumps for when yu start to cover the spark plugs, hope to see you one day, gary

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: New Member

I have taken all of my (powered) training in a Taylorcraft and is is a great plane for training because I think anyone can fly one, but to fly one perfect takes concentration and careful flying. Yu WILL learn to coordinate aileron and rudder and that will serve you well in ANY airplane.

I used an iCom IC A22 and they are great radios. I even went so far as to buy a second in case I ever run into a rundown battery. I did mount an external antenna on top back by where the aileron cables cross. You will need to lace a coax cable from the external antenna to the place where you hang the radio. I made a belt clip bracket and hang mine on the A Pillar where it does not interfere with visibility and is easy to see and use. The output impedance from the hand held DOES NOT match regular headsets but an intercom will shift the impedance to get them matched (volume will be VERY low with the headset plugged directly into the radio). When you put the antenna in remember you will need a piece of metal between the stringers that will act as a ground plane.

I also have a battery box in my plane (on a pre war it is in front of the seat on the floor) and a 12V battery like is used in an electronics UPS or an emergency exit sign. Plenty of power to run a hand held and even the lights for a while. I just charge it on the kitchen counter but honestly I haven’t put it in the plane for over a year. An extra iCom battery does fine especially with the whole spare radio. You WILL want headsets and if you get one with Active Noise Reduction be prepared for some surprising sounds. First time I used mine it suppressed a LOT of the engine noise and suddenly I was hearing all kinds of funky pops, clicks and buzzes I never heard before. Most were normal “airplane noises” I was used to from flying a 2-22 glider but one buzz was really strange and was traced to a piece of baffle that vibrated at one RPM. Never heard it because of engine noise before the new headset.

Just an opinion but I DO NOT like powder coat for structural parts. I painted my 45 Taylorcraft fuselage with an airbrush (cheap $10 Harbor Freight one) and used epoxy primer and paint. With the airbrush I got almost NO overspray and had my sports car parked in front of the hangar the whole time. I have had bad experiences with powder coat hiding cracks and corrosion. Others may have different opinions. I DO like it for things like control wheel and other nonstructural parts.

POST PHOTOS!!!

Hank

[LostnSpace]

Re: New Member

I too use the Icom A22, got it while working at Erickson AirCrane, the owner said to buy some to keep in a few of the warbirds, I asked if i could add one more for me, several other mechanics said they wanted one also, so we got a large box of them and had the charges taken out of our paychecks, one was in the P-38 that crashed in Tillamook, OR. when the book writer pilot ran it out of gas and didn't switch tanks, the next morning I took my son to the sight cause he had helped me with the restoration, it only had 5 hours since rebuild, I looked up in a nearby tree and the Icom was hanging in a limb, I had my son get on my shoulders and lifted him so he could get it, we took it home, put a new battery in it and it came up on 122.8, what was used at Tillamook, they take a lickin' and keep on tickin, also my little son always asked after that when we were going to go fly, "Dad, do we have enough gas", made quite an impression on him, gary

[M Towsley]

Re: New Member

Jeff Ethell, I have quite a few books of his. He supposedly had the largest collection of color WWII photos around.

[alexl]

Re: New Member

Hi Alex, I am just North of Atlanta, I have two cowl bumps for when yu start to cover the spark plugs, hope to see you one day, gary

Gary, that sounds great, thanks!

Thank you all for the information. I actually already have a Bose ANR headset from flying pipers and Cessnas, so all set there! I have never flown a tube and fabric airplane, so i was not sure what to expect, but i will certainly plan on an intercom and PTT. I am currently considering the YAESU FTA-550AA. I am actually intersted in this radio specifically because it uses AA alkaline batteries, rather than an FTA-550L which comes with a rechargeable battery. All i have to do is carry 6 extra AA's, rather than risk the rechargeable battery going flat. Also, doing the math, i can replace the AA batteries 51 times before i even catch up with the price of the FTA-550L. I like having the redundant nav feature, in case my pilotage or portable gps were to fail.

I will post photos as soon as i get the bird home, hopefully next week!

Alex

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: New Member

The iCom has a battery pack that holds AA batteries. That is what I use for my back up. I always have plenty of batteries for my AM/FM radio and flash lights. The new ones always go into the iCom and the ones from the iCom go in a basket for everything else. Thee is plenty of life left in them for non aviation use.

Hank

[LostnSpace]

Re: New Member

Gary, that sounds great, thanks!

Thank you all for the information. I actually already have a Bose ANR headset from flying pipers and Cessnas, so all set there! I have never flown a tube and fabric airplane, so i was not sure what to expect, but i will certainly plan on an intercom and PTT. I am currently considering the YAESU FTA-550AA. I am actually intersted in this radio specifically because it uses AA alkaline batteries, rather than an FTA-550L which comes with a rechargeable battery. All i have to do is carry 6 extra AA's, rather than risk the rechargeable battery going flat. Also, doing the math, i can replace the AA batteries 51 times before i even catch up with the price of the FTA-550L. I like having the redundant nav feature, in case my pilotage or portable gps were to fail.

I will post photos as soon as i get the bird home, hopefully next week!

Alex

If you want you can plan on flying into Cherokee County - CNI, that would be a nice flight in the tcraft- not today with the snow , I am just south of there and I'll bring the cowl bumps with me to see how they may match with your cowl, wish you the best with your plane, gary

[LostnSpace]

Re: New Member

Jeff Ethell, I have quite a few books of his. He supposedly had the largest collection of color WWII photos around.

I was to be type rated in that P-38, examiner was lined up, owner was good with it, Jeff wasn't supposed to be in it, it was a limited category aircraft and he had a LOA to fly experimental aircraft, the owner was shocked to find out he was flying it, such is life, gary