Taylorcraft Wing Compatability Question

[Troy520]

Hello to all,
New member here assisting a friend in the wing overhaul of a pre-war T-Craft. Having a time finding a source for wing ribs and other wing components. It's a BC-65 and the built-up ribs are in poor shape. Hoping the experts here will know whether the pre-war BC-65, the military L-2, and the post-war BC-12 wings are parts compatible. I've seen some wings advertised for sale, but they have all been post-war models, which if compatible, would be our preference with the stamped ribs. Any insight into compatibility and/or wing parts sources (or whole wings for sale) would be hugely appreciated. Thanks very much!

[3Dreaming]

L2 wings will not work. B model wings will work, and stamped ribs are okay. They may be a little heavier.

[Hank Jarrett]

A few things. You CAN put post war wings on pre war planes but it does NOT increase your allowable gross weight or VNE (not like that is a big problem). Individual ribs can be switched back and forth when rebuilding but again it won't allow increased loading or VNE. If you can get a set of post war wings they will be 15 rib instead of 13 rib but again, no change to your max GW or VNE. They ARE stronger and will suffer less damage from line boys putting fuel in the wing tank breaking ribs. If you DO put post war wings on save ALL of the pre war parts!!! ALL OF THEM!! Even broken ribs! Those doing accurate pre war restorations are always looking for ribs and parts. They are hard to find and harder to reproduce.
None of this is as simple if someone wants to put pre war wings on post war planes (yea, I have seen it). I WOULD not DO THAT. I did see a plane with one pre war wing and one post war. Looked strange and no one else seemed to notice. Amazing what you can screw up on a T and it will still fly fine! But I wouldn't go with a mix or pre war wings on a post war plane. If there was an incident some FAA guy would have a nervous breakdown.

Hank

[3Dreaming]

Think back to 1946. If you owned this pre war airplane with built up ribs, and had a mishap damaging a wing. If you ordered a replacement wing from Taylorcraft it would have had 15 stamped ribs. They would have considered it a direct replacement part.

[Robert Lees]

We had one in the UK like that, imported from the USA in the 1980s...13 one side; 15 the other (all built-up ribs) (now rectified to 15 per side); With credit to the folks back in the '40s, I'm not convinced even back then it would've passed muster.

[Troy520]

Thank you very much for the amazing replies! Great news that we can either substitute the stamped ribs or track down a set of post-war wings. Thanks again!

[3Dreaming]

I think any wings ordered after 1941 would have been 15 rib wings.

[Robert Lees]

Troy520: My apologies for an error on my part, I should have realised this was your first post/thread... Welcome.

You will receive good advice from the likes of 3Dreaming (above) and Hank (above) and hopefully many others in time to come.

[n6346m]

You may have the option of getting new "experimental" ribs from D & E Aircraft in Florida and modify them to fit your wing and they will legally be "owner produced" parts. Taylorcraft was very loose with their interchangeability of parts of different models. According to the TCDS for the D models, the TG-6 glider wings and D model wings are interchangeable. Technically you can have one all-medal wing from a DC 65 on one side and an all-wood wing from a TG-6 glider on the other side and be legal. I found it hard to believe when I first read the TCDS but an FAA maintenance inspector verified that the wording allowed for it. If you're interested on how my wing rebuild project progressed you can go to the Tandem (L-2) postings on this forum.

Bob Picard

[astjp2]

I have a pair built and in yellow for sale, post war but if you want to fly the price is right. PM me if interested. Tim

[bluerooster]

The airfoil is the same. You can build a jig and crank out a bunch of ribs pretty quickly. The jig can be quite simple. Here's one I built using the Taylorcraft airfoil, for a home built project.

[[email protected]]

QK Fellas, I'm just an old retired/ burned out FAA Airworthiness Inspector but , the way I remember these kinds of issues goes like this: your Std. A/W Cert. is only effective if you maintain the airplane IAW parts
43 and 91,(says so right on the front of your A/W Cert.). The definition of Airworthy is 'meet type design and be safe for operation'. Mixing pre and post war ribs on the same wing assy' may be safe, but it certainly does NOT meet Type Design, and is therefore, by definition, NOT Airworthy.
Now, if something happens.........your A/W Cert is no longer effective....and neither is your insurance.......................
Y'all have a blessed day

your A/W cert is not currently in effect

[astjp2]

QK Fellas, I'm just an old retired/ burned out FAA Airworthiness Inspector but , the way I remember these kinds of issues goes like this: your Std. A/W Cert. is only effective if you maintain the airplane IAW parts
43 and 91,(says so right on the front of your A/W Cert.). The definition of Airworthy is 'meet type design and be safe for operation'. Mixing pre and post war ribs on the same wing assy' may be safe, but it certainly does NOT meet Type Design, and is therefore, by definition, NOT Airworthy.
Now, if something happens.........your A/W Cert is no longer effective....and neither is your insurance.......................
Y'all have a blessed day

your A/W cert is not currently in effect

Know your history before you make a claim that it’s not approved. it was approved by the factory in the 70’s and there is documentation that supports the approval to interchange ribs. There are also approvals to rib stitch and use marson rivets and screws to attach fabric to the post war wing ribs. I know because I got the approvals for the rivets and rib lacing. There are 337’s to support this in the tech reference section.

[[email protected]]

If everyone operating airplanes altered in those ways has the approved data for those alterations and records of work showing compliance with that approved data on their aircraft, then no worries at all !

[Mark Bowden]

My 1945 BC12-D was on it's back at a flight school in 1956. The right wing is about 1/3 stamped ribs as part of the repair, replacement ribs purchased new from the factory. Taylorcraft switched to stamped ribs in '46 as a cost and labor reduction not a performance or capability improvement. Stamped ribs basically supersede the old rib PN, happens all the time and still does. The replacement sheetmetal ribs are rib stitched, there is no wire clip on these ribs. Rib stitched sheetmetal ribs working for 66 years. I could also use wire to clip these ribs in as well. It just wouldn't match appearance wise.

I have the 337 for the repair and will happily share it if asked.