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Hey guys, I'm new to this group, got a couple of questions for you Taylorcraft experts out there.
First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Chris, I'm 21, and live in Nikiski Alaska. My whole family is pretty big into aviation and my grandpa taught me to fly when I was 15 in his Cessna 170B. My grandparents have been been generous enough to let me keep it, take care of it, and fly it as much as I can ever since I got my license while in the meantime they play snowbirds down in Arizona with their D17S and Cessna 180 during the winter.
The 170 is a blast to fly, I love that plane almost more than anything, and I've put about 600 hours on it, but in the past few years, after seeing so much incredible scenery from the 170 and and reading old books about Bob Reeve, the Wien brothers, Don Sheldon, and the like, I've been itching to feel the real Alaska, rather than just gaze over it and dream. Friends with cubs and 180s have given me sample tastes, and I occasionally get a little more satisfaction with spring caribou hunts in the 170, but other than that I pretty much have to stick to airstrips that are printed on the charts. Not because I can't do any off airport stuff in the 170, but mainly because if I break something, it's not my airplane, and I couldn't afford to fix it if I broke it. I just really wanted something I could do some basic off airport work in, and at a budget. This is where my T-craft comes in.
Last Fall, I had the opportunity to fly CraigH's old F21B from Texas to its new owner here in Soldotna, AK. I got so many warnings from people about Taylorcrafts before I left AK to pick it up, ranging from how uncomfortable they are to sit in, to how they'll "float a mile down the runway" to how lousy sideways visibility is. But I took all of that with a grain of salt and waited until I could see for myself how it really was. I admit, the first few hours were a bit interesting, learning to raise a wing to look left and right and reaching a leg across to the other side of the cockpit for the longer legs of the trip, but after a while I realized that the warnings weren't nearly as big a deal as I expected. And as far as the "It'll float a mile down the runway"?? I don't think I had to slip it more than once the whole trip up, what's the big deal? I really enjoyed the plane and missed not flying it more last winter.
This summer's fishing season was pretty good, so after a few weeks of careful shopping on barnstormers and TAP, I found just what I wanted, a '46 BC12D with only 1300 hours total time on a grass strip just outside of Spokane WA. I flew down there and brought it back home. So I finally have something I can really "stretch my legs in"!
I plan on keeping it as near stock as I can. It weighs about 780lbs now and I think it flys pretty well on 65 horses. All I'm planning so far is to put 8.50's on it, get the heavy duty steering springs on the tailwheel. There are other little comfort items that are coming first though.
First of all, the sliding windows are all scratched up, so they're almost number 1 on my fixer-upper list. I fly with them wide open all the time just so I can see better. That's going to be tough when it gets any colder. I wanted to ask you guys if there's a way of installing new ones in a way so they won't get so scratched up in a hurry again.
Also, I have access to some Federal 1500's, but they have the narrow bottoms and I'm curious to as how well they'll do for me. What kind of snow am I limited to with those and only 65 horses? Would it be worth finding some with wider bottoms? Again I'm not wanting to do any serious bush flying or anything, but I just want to be able to land on frozen lakes and that kind of thing.
Lastly, are there many Alaskan Taylorcraft drivers in this group?
Thanks guys, I'd appreciate any info
Chris
First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Chris, I'm 21, and live in Nikiski Alaska. My whole family is pretty big into aviation and my grandpa taught me to fly when I was 15 in his Cessna 170B. My grandparents have been been generous enough to let me keep it, take care of it, and fly it as much as I can ever since I got my license while in the meantime they play snowbirds down in Arizona with their D17S and Cessna 180 during the winter.
The 170 is a blast to fly, I love that plane almost more than anything, and I've put about 600 hours on it, but in the past few years, after seeing so much incredible scenery from the 170 and and reading old books about Bob Reeve, the Wien brothers, Don Sheldon, and the like, I've been itching to feel the real Alaska, rather than just gaze over it and dream. Friends with cubs and 180s have given me sample tastes, and I occasionally get a little more satisfaction with spring caribou hunts in the 170, but other than that I pretty much have to stick to airstrips that are printed on the charts. Not because I can't do any off airport stuff in the 170, but mainly because if I break something, it's not my airplane, and I couldn't afford to fix it if I broke it. I just really wanted something I could do some basic off airport work in, and at a budget. This is where my T-craft comes in.
Last Fall, I had the opportunity to fly CraigH's old F21B from Texas to its new owner here in Soldotna, AK. I got so many warnings from people about Taylorcrafts before I left AK to pick it up, ranging from how uncomfortable they are to sit in, to how they'll "float a mile down the runway" to how lousy sideways visibility is. But I took all of that with a grain of salt and waited until I could see for myself how it really was. I admit, the first few hours were a bit interesting, learning to raise a wing to look left and right and reaching a leg across to the other side of the cockpit for the longer legs of the trip, but after a while I realized that the warnings weren't nearly as big a deal as I expected. And as far as the "It'll float a mile down the runway"?? I don't think I had to slip it more than once the whole trip up, what's the big deal? I really enjoyed the plane and missed not flying it more last winter.
This summer's fishing season was pretty good, so after a few weeks of careful shopping on barnstormers and TAP, I found just what I wanted, a '46 BC12D with only 1300 hours total time on a grass strip just outside of Spokane WA. I flew down there and brought it back home. So I finally have something I can really "stretch my legs in"!
I plan on keeping it as near stock as I can. It weighs about 780lbs now and I think it flys pretty well on 65 horses. All I'm planning so far is to put 8.50's on it, get the heavy duty steering springs on the tailwheel. There are other little comfort items that are coming first though.
First of all, the sliding windows are all scratched up, so they're almost number 1 on my fixer-upper list. I fly with them wide open all the time just so I can see better. That's going to be tough when it gets any colder. I wanted to ask you guys if there's a way of installing new ones in a way so they won't get so scratched up in a hurry again.
Also, I have access to some Federal 1500's, but they have the narrow bottoms and I'm curious to as how well they'll do for me. What kind of snow am I limited to with those and only 65 horses? Would it be worth finding some with wider bottoms? Again I'm not wanting to do any serious bush flying or anything, but I just want to be able to land on frozen lakes and that kind of thing.
Lastly, are there many Alaskan Taylorcraft drivers in this group?
Thanks guys, I'd appreciate any info
Chris
Attached Files
Never hit any thing yet, but been close. I did get stuck once becuase I din't see what was on the rigth side. 
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