Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

[kenw]

Found her in a barn in a hourse field in the middle of nowhere in LA. Dragged it home to PA on a 20' boat trailer with a plywood deck. Looks like she last flew in '89. Fuselage bare. Only controls left. Engine and rest of parts in big box. No windshield, no carb, no tach. Lots of small aluminum pieces. Even some Cessna(?) parts. Fuselage was bead blasted and them poorly primered, now rusty in a lot of places. Wings are covered, but have stuff rolling around inside.

Have oldtimer EAA IA to mentor me. He's doing the welding and epoxy coating after sand blasting. Fuselage and tail feathers go for sand blasting as soon as the thunderstorms and rain break. Got covering stuff from Jim and Dondi.

I'm going to need stringers and hardware for same and drawings for what goes on the fuselage and where. I guess the best source for control cables and pulleys is Spruce. Any pictires anyone has of various stages of disassembly would be great too.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Ken,
Start at Rob Lee's web site. He just finished a ground-up restoration and documented it extremely well.

Jon Timlin (Capt. Jon) has the T-craft parts catalog online -- another great resource!

Many fine restorers hang out here and can tell you specific details. Many have websites. Others have parts and pieces available -- obviously Forrest is a huge asset and source of stuff you will need.

Once you identify what you require, someone here can tell you where they got it or how they made it.

[VictorBravo]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Congratulations and welcome! You just got yourself involved with the best of all the early light planes... "the jewel of vintage airplanes" as one forum member rightfully puts it.

You'll find a lot of help here, a lot of encouragement, and about a thousand years' worth of Taylorcraft experience.

As has been mentioned already, start collecting parts, and making lists of what parts you can't find. Photo-document every inch of your airplane with a digital camera for reference during the rebuild. Come up with a system for marking and storing all the stuff you are about to take apart, so you remember where every nut and bolt went... even if you are going to replace all the hardware. That way, you can make a better shopping list of the hardware and buy the right new screws and bolts all at once. Get a cheap plastic AN bolt gauge for a few dollars so you can instantly ID the length of any bolt.

Also, in my personal opinion, when you go to prime the fuselage, apply primer with a stiff brush into all the nooks and crannies of the clusters and into small spaces first, then spray on whatever you are going to spray on. I once saw a film of a tour of the Piper factory in 1939, and they were putting on the primer with a garden hose. The seminar instructor (Clyde Smith the "Cub Doctor") said THIS is why your airplanes lasted 60 years!

In my personal opinion, since it is something I've been involoved with for months now, you may want to weld in a few extra steel tabs in the upper cabin structure for skylight supports. Forrest has the factory drawings he can sell you. If you do this while you are repairing the fuselage early on, putting in a skylight will be an easy downhill battle with the FAA even if you decide to wait and do it later. The skylight is a very worthwhile upgrade on a Taylorcraft.

Bill Berle

[N96337]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Good find!! I have N96337...only a few #'s from you...
JH

[M Towsley]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Bill,

AN Gauge, where do you find such an item. Thanks!

Marty

[kenw]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

How did I find her? Called from an online aqd for a rough tri-pacer. It was gone . After a bit of discussion he said "My sister hasd a Taylorcraft stored in a barn". Talked to sister and established a price. Wife not interested - costs, fixing it up, hangar rent insurance, etc. Sister didn't get around to finding log books or taking pictures.

One year later... wife understood fixed up value was twice what it would cost. Called sister. Got $500 reduction. Was working in CA. Found work back home. Bought 20' boat trailer, added a plywood deck. Drove east pulling the trailer with a 1990 Volvo SW with 185K miles on it. Gas mileage in first leg in CA was 24. After loading plane it was 16. Almost lost wings in MS - tie down strap broke. 5 days and 2980 miles from Camarillo CA (NW of LA) to Harrisburg PA.

I left out some detail. That's a lot of running off at the keyboard for a short question.

Ken.

[flylo]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Great find! There's a lot of help & knowlege available on this forum. Post pictures & keep us up to date on the progress.

[Len Petterson]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

All you fellows out there welding on the fuselages are you aware of the danger in arc welding on the fuselage,
It set up a strong magnetic field in the fuselage and can ruin the usefulness of the compass! USE A TOORCHE! GAS WELDING.
It happend to friend of mine then he welded a "2 little tabs"for the windshield mount on his Stinson.
He has dune evrything he and all other experts know about neutralizing the field, it is better but not good.
If you saw this beutifull resturation and know about his "only" mistake you want to cry.
Len
I guess there still are planes and cars in barns after all!

[Guest]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

All you fellows out there welding on the fuselages are you aware of the danger in arc welding on the fuselage,
It set up a strong magnetic field in the fuselage and can ruin the usefulness of the compass! USE A TOORCHE! GAS WELDING.
It happend to friend of mine then he welded a "2 little tabs"for the windshield mount on his Stinson.
He has dune evrything he and all other experts know about neutralizing the field, it is better but not good.
If you saw this beutifull resturation and know about his "only" mistake you want to cry.
Len
I guess there still are planes and cars in barns after all!

Hi Len,

What kind of things are done to the plane to remove the field?

Dave.

[N96337]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Dave, I have a friend that has a "degauser" which is the machine that they use to neutralize the magnetic field on a tube frame. It's not such a big deal, as he used it on his L5 as well as a couple other planes. It's like an overgrown screwdriver "demagnetizer".
I don't agree that the problem is so bad with electric welding (tig) on an airframe, as most of the manufacturers are using that method anymore, eventhough I still use a torch (can't afford a tig just yet). It's definately something to keep in mind, but not a big deal to panic over, in my opinion.
JH

[kenw]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Mark,

Found them, bookmarked them. Thanks.

Ken.

[crispy critter]

Re: Rescuing '46 BC-12D N96310

Ken,
If ya ever need any help,have questions,or need parts let me know.I'm in West Liberty,Ky(northeast) and am happy to help if I can. I don't have a lot of extra parts left right now but I'm always running across something new.