leather wrapped yokes

[N74DV]

I really would like to wrap our yokes/control wheels in Leather... or possibly some fine reptile skin. Anyone ever done this? pics??

[VictorBravo]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

Mine has the old round wheels that were wrapped in leather when I got it. Looks really nice, although the leather is a little worn... from use!!

You can probably see some photos showing it in my page on the gallery.

I am fairly sure that if you want them done, you can just go to a good car upholstery shop and have them do it. It will be a lot less expensive that way... if you tried to do it yourself it would be a really difficult thing unless you were an expert. My guess is bring the upholstery shop the leather, fifty bucks and a six-pack.

[VictorBravo]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

http://gallery.taylorcraft.org/main.php?g2_itemId=3332&g2_page=5

shows a couple of photos of my yokes among other stuff.

[DanBrown]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

My T-Craft also had leather yokes when I bought it. They are smaller and more like Cessna yokes that Bill's. Also worn with use. I don't know what the orginal had in 1940. I'll take some photos and post them this weekend.

[N74DV]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

I'm gonna remove one of the wheels and bring them down to a custom auto upholsterer and see what they say. Can't decide if I'd like leather or snake skin.... mmmm snake skin would look pretty damn cool, especially if I had the center cap machined from a chunk of billet and then polished, but I dunno how well it holds up to handling over time.

[VictorBravo]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

Hey DJ... Get you some skins from a Mojave Green rattler and you'll have "the world's most dangerous Taylorcraft" !

Just don't get hurt finding the skins... those little bastards are reportedly much more aggressive than a standard Western Diamondback. Fortunately I have never gotten too close to either and I ain't in no hurry!

But to be honest, I suspect suede will be the most comfortable. That's what I have, some sort of suede. It gets worn and a little sweat stained, but it gives you a great excuse to spin some REALLY good flying stories...

"Why yes, those yokes got stained from sweat. I was hired by Air America back in '66 to get into a strip on a Laotian hillside that the Helio couldn't safely get in, to pick up some spy microfilm and a couple of sacks of artifical sweetener... and all of a sudden the jungle is crawlin with black pajamas ! I barely broke ground when they opened up with small arms fire..."

[N74DV]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

hmmm... I suppose wrapping the yokes with some form of material can be a start point of conversation for all sorts of things.

"Yep, that there snakeskin on the left wheel was taken from a 10' rattler that was chasing me aggressively on my final into an old desert mining camp dirt strip. Sucker was hot on my heels as I touched down.. fast bugger he was. He made the mistake of trying to strike at the wrong moment. I put the left main wheel flat on his head and sent that dude off to snake hell. Skinned him fresh that afternoon and by the next mornin' he was being displayed proudly where you see him today".

"Now, that dragon tail skin you see on the right side wheel?.... pour yourself a hot cup a joe and lemme tell you a little secret......."

[1938BF50]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

OK...I had to post it!

Last summer I was on vacation in Pheonix and took the opportunity to do a little snake wrestling. One of my longstanding desires was to capture, handle and release as large a Western Diamondback rattler as I could find. As luck would have it on the eve of my last day, I found this 3 footer(just a babe). Captured it in the middle of the sandstorm you see coming in the background. Just after I caught it and had a good hold (shaking like hell) the sand hit. All I could do was turn around and close my eyes for several minutes while holding grumpy at arms length. It was hard coordinating the frequency of left hand shakes with the right hand shakes to get a decent pic. Anyway, let the little guy go and went on my way happy as hell. I e-mailed pics to the folks I was visiting and got back a quick reply that I had actually captued a Mohave! Chuck told me that the Mohave rattler has venom 20X the diamondback. I started shaking all over again!

I sure like the looks of the wrapped control wheels and will probably do the same. Post pics when you get done.

[mulwyk]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

Snake? You call that a snake? I looked at that picture for the longest time, trying to see the snake. At first I thought it was a picture of you holding your penis.

Snake? Around here even a baby rattler is big around as your arm and twice as long. Snake that size is a common birthday gift for 6 year old girls.

You wanna see a snake? A rancher near here killed a timber rattler last summer that weighed over 300 pounds. When they cut the snake open they found a full grown German Shepherd inside it. That's a snake.

[whake]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

While you guys are having fun with rattle snakes and other natural leather predetors I went to Walmart and purchased a leather auto wheel cover. Cut it apart with razor knife and cut half inch wide strips about 10 inches long. I wrapped the yoke first with the foam rubber from the wheel cover. Used contact cement sparingly and then wraped the leather strips around the yoke over the foam, fastened the ends with contact cement. Nice and soft and works great. Total cost about $15.

[ROllerton]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

I have a fair amount of rattlers at the ranch. I leave them the hell alone, try to make a bit of noise to herd them off the place. If they get you, you wil likely be permenantly physically effected in some way. Admire them, look at em, and keep a safe distance.

Scorpions, I swat like flies flush down the crapper. I hate scorpions. I hate anything named scorpion. Damn the scorpions. About as smart as a cockroach but with a stinger.

Now Lizards, I love lizards, always room for more lizards. I carefully move them out of harms way and make sure they have a safe and warm place to spend the winter. Except for the Gila Monster of which I have none (so far). Better leave them alone too.

You would be smart to look, but don't screw around with desert wildlife.

[ROllerton]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

http://www.desertmuseum.org/

[Forrest Barber]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

You fellows need to check out my hat band at the fly-in this year... skinned it and ate it myself.... kind of like Gordon Liddy & the rat. I used to hate snakes. It came from Guateamala (sp)....

[Richard Boyer]

Re: leather wrapped yokes

We get rattlers here. But we don't admire them until after their head is removed........