newbie BL-12-65 questions

[Lisa]

Greetings,

I am looking at a BLS-12-65 that was "converted" (I'm not certain what that entails) from an L-2 in 1946. O-145-B2, no electrics...

Q1: The FAA site shows the current revision (5) of A-700 from 1969. (Is this correct? If so it might explain my next question.)

Q2: The ancient Weight and Balance shows an empty weight of 637 pounds which seems low. BUT, there is also list of 212 pounds of equipment that pushes this to 849 pounds combined. I have never seen such an extensive list, the doors, upholstery, basic instruments, fuel system, (I assume anti-)corrosion treatment, each have weights and datum points. As well as what I think of as being more normal items like the prop, extra mag on the A2, floats... Was this normal practice back then. (Or, maybe because it was stripped of military gear, reweighed, and then civilianized?)

The availability of O-145 parts, and the 429 pound useful weight limit are understood.

Thank you

Lisa

[Ragwing nut]

L-2H or J? Serial #? I don't know of any changes that were made to civilianize a "B" model. None were built under military contract, they were all impressed into the war. I had a very rare '42 Deluxe, 6th to the last prewar built. It left the factory in OD paint. lycoming parts are a little hard to find, but are out there. As far as W&B, I would like to see this list. The TCDS gives a lot of those items but not all. Deluxe doors and interior were more plush from factory so they were heavy, wing tanks were optional,

[Lisa]

According to the owner-- who has a copy of this aircraft's records from the FAA-- it was delivered to the CCP (Civilian Coastal Patrol-- not Soviet Union) in late 1941, just before Pearl Harbor. From other sources I know that the US Government appropriated funds in July 1941 (FY 1942) to purchase light aircraft for a variety of missions including looking for "Unterseebooten." This one was equipped with a battery and radio-- likely on the right hand floor and seat area making it a single seat observation airplane.

Various US Government agencies also bought existing registered aircraft from their civilian owners before 12.7.41. (Apparently the purchasing agency didn't necessarily use the aircraft. There was a lot of scrambling to use every dollar available.) From this website and the Taylorcraft book, shortly after 12.7.41 the government started to impress civilian aircraft. They ordered large numbers of DCs as trainers and observation airplanes, but also purchased Taylor's existing stock and allowed those side-by-sides under construction to be completed as the factory was switched over to exclusively produce the tandem DC derivatives.

When the Army Air Force took charge of the vast majority of these aircraft (the Navy has some too) and integrated them into the L-2 designation (some had been O-57s and C-95s) they were assigned the following suffixes:
L-2 (no suffix): DC-65 with Continental (A65) O-170-3 engine
A: As L-2, with radio, battery, and wind generator, swiveling observers seat, and "desk."
B: An "A" with a modified canopy design.
C: Trainer version, -3 engine, non swiveling rear seat, radio gear
D: Civilian DC-65s, purchased new, used or impressed. Trainers, with no radios, single ignition -1 engine.
E: Civilian DFs, purchased new, used or impressed.
F: Civilian DL-65s, purchased new, used or impressed. Single ignition O-145-B1 engines.
G: Civilian BF-50s, purchased new, used or impressed. 150-5 engine.
H: Civilian BC-65s, purchased new, used or impressed. A-65-7 engines.
J: Civilian BL-65s, purchased new, used or impressed. O-145-B1 engines.
K: Civilian BF-65s, purchased new, used or impressed. Franklin 171-B2 engines.
L: Civilian BF-65s, purchased new, used or impressed. Franklin 171 engines.
M: Military spec tandem as "L-2B" but with added spoilers.

In total, there were thousands of tandems and hundreds of side by sides. Some of the side-by-sides, presumably those once sold to civilians have BOTH civilian and military data plates. Some, presumably those sold new to the government and those "finished" during changeover ONLY have military plates. This one has its construction number (between 2500 and 3000) stamped in the hinge and only has a military plate. I don't own it (yet) so I'm not comfortable publishing specific details the owner sent me.

The highly detailed list of equipment is pretty neat actually. Usually I see very vague reweighs: "Aircraft: 800 lb (+17.0)," that's it, zero breakdown. In another thread someone said their "old BL" had a light weight of 690 pounds. So I guess 849 sitting on floats isn't bad. (It's just an incentive not to gain weight as I grow older. With full seats, baggage, and fuel, I'd be just 13 pounds under gross.)

Lisa

Edit: It has a 18 gallon system. The aux is a 6 gallon "headrest" transfer tank in fuse. (+35)