Tcraft or 12

[Dan Mahalak]

hey guys.
I am in limbo. I just bought a pa-12 project for a great price....now everytime someone stops by the hangar, they alwasy ask if iam going to sell the General T.

What would you all do.. the cash out for the new project would be good, but if I dont like the 12, then I woudl have to find another T.

Of course, floats are my priority in flying. The Tcraft is such a great floatplane....and the 12 is What?

Dan

[DanBrown]

Re: Tcraft or 12

How about selling the Super Cruiser at a profit to be able to restore another T-Craft??

[tawadc95]

Re: Tcraft or 12

you will not regret having a cruiser.
very nice airplane indeed. My grandpa bought a PA-14 in 1950, my dad currently owns it. It is a tad wider than the 12 with a second seat up front but all else is the same.
It is a fine airplane in all aspects with gentle but solid characteristics,great in the mountains and a much better climber than a t craft with more weight in it.

[Ed O'Brien]

Re: Tcraft or 12

I owned a PA12 for a little while and I loved it. I bought it for around $25K and sold it 18 months later for about $40K. They moved up fast in the mid-90s as Super Cubs became too expensive. My point being, T-Craft's haven't made a similar price move. A PA12 is like money in the bank... or better... like liquid gold. You can enjoy it and when you're ready to part with it come out just fine. I owned Harleys and made money with each buy and sell (in the early 90's). There a lot to be said for owning an appreciating asset that is also fun to boot. They should be the same price as a Super Cub, really. If it's in good shape and low times -- fly it -- let it appreciate -- sell it -- and buy 2 or 3 T-Craft's down the road.
With regards; ED OBRIEN

[Dick Smith]

Re: Tcraft or 12

Dan, It depends on what you want to spend your time and/or money on! Since you bought the project for a good price, you can probably resell it here in Alaska for a better price, as there aren't that many PA-12's around and there are people with the time and $ to go the whole distance to arrive at something like this:
...or you could go to Soldotna and buy this 12 for about $150,000...or you could spend a lot of money and time and build up your project to whatever level you want...during which time you would probably not be flying all that much...! The fact that there are a lot more Taylorcrafts around than PA-12's gives you an easier option of reversing course if you don't like the 12...on the other hand...$150,000 probably wouldn't cover what the guy has into the beautiful 12 shown above...! And you would still have to find floats and rigging for it. It's all about time and money and what you want! And time is certainly the most precious. So many contradictions...but someone once said: "Contradictions are just The Truth standing on its head, trying to get our attention". Dick

[Dan Mahalak]

Re: Tcraft or 12

if i went that, i woudl only fly ariport to airport because it is so nice...if I built it...i woudl never fly it...jsut cart it around from airshow to airshow. thats the truth....

Either way, I will be beating the bush back in some fashion. Long winters are great for projects of course. I will keep you posted. I just bought the 18 gear and stc,

So far I have a 12 with.
0320 + borer
flaps, ext aielerons,
leading edge cuff, big tires.
Putting in ext baggage, cub gear, cub seat, cub elev. controls.
Hoping to have it all complete before Jan 1st. stay tuned.
dont think it will perform on floats like the Tcraft.

[MNJoe]

Re: Tcraft or 12

Dan,

The PA12 will out perform the Taylorcraft off the water. I owned a 12 with the 60 gallon tanks, EDO 2000's, PA18 tail, flaps etc. My 85hp Taylor craft takes twice the water then the 12 did with two people and 60 gallons. That said I now own a Taylorcraft for less then half the money. I took the 12 to the Artic circle and back from Minnesota on floats and have many fond memories

Joe

[Dan Mahalak]

Re: Tcraft or 12

Hey Guys.
Alright...a long winter and longer weekend painting, cleaning, masking, painting etc...but I have arrived at the final Destination on Design and buildout....now to put the wings on and go! This aircraft is for sale most likely when we get annual done... Bought in Late July 07, finished today april 21 08...putting wings on and plumbing fuel tanks to wing root this week.

What da yall think?

[MNJoe]

Re: Tcraft or 12

Dan,

Look above your post I posted last on August 11th 2007. Since then I have had my previous T-craft ( T-Rex) wrecked by a hail storm just a few days after that post. Today I flew my new T-craft (bought in Ketchican last October put on a barge to Seattle and trucked home to Minnesota) on Baumann floats and it took off in about 10-12 seconds. What a difference, know I like both the old 12 and the new T-craft.

Joe