New to the Forum

[Blade]

I am new to the forum and just purchased a 1940 BL-65 Taylorcraft project. According to the logs it was a flying airplane 3-4 years ago but the fabric was removed for recovering. I plan on taking it down to bare bones and doing a full restoration. I've never worked on a tube and fabric airplane but I'm told that this is the place to come with all my questions. I'm sure I'll have many. The airplane isn't in too bad of shape but I'm sure I'll need to either repair or replace some wing ribs and I need to rebuild the ailerons. I have new spars for the ailerons and the wing spars look fine. If anyone has some old wing ribs for sale in good shape let me know. It does have the original Lycoming engine. I believe I have most of the parts in various boxes but we'll see. Below are a couple photos of my project. I just stuck in that old Cessna airspeed indicator to fill the hole so I'd like a more vintage one of those as well. I really like that neat old tach. Now I need to figure out where to begin on this project. I'm open to any suggestions from the gallery. Mark Pearson who lives nearby has already contacted me and will be a great resource since he has two Taylorcraft. The last photo is one I found on the Internet from about 5 years ago.

Thanks,

Mark
St. Helens, OR

[Robert Lees]

Re: New to the Forum

Hello Mark, ane welcome to the Taylorcraft tribe!

That's a nice looking project you have there. You will get a whole lot of technical advice & recommendations from us, and also some friendly banter too.

I'm going to start the ball rolling by saying:

1. Keep the unfiltered engine intake (and cowl, nosebowl). Don't be tempted to fit an after-market Brackett air filter.

2. Keep that big centre tacho/engine oil temp & pressure gauge (and if needs be, get it overhauled professionally...it's original).

3. The two Baxter brothers are in Oregon (Mark & Eric)...they are not very often on this forum, but might be close to you (they're in Corvalis, to my recollection). They know an awful lot, so if they don't pipe up here, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with them.

4. Hank Jarrett will be along shortly to advise you on the windscreen, and it's originality to your aircraft (along with his other advice, which is always welcome on all sorts of matters on aeroplanes of your vintage).

5. And most important, please continue to ask questions here; send photos, and post photos of your project.

Merry Christmas!

Rob

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: New to the Forum

Rob beat me to it. Haven't seen an original flat panel windshield/windscreen for a LONG time! That is WAY COOL! Most of the old birds have had the glass changed out to the blown post war single piece windshield. The multi-piece is MUCH classier!
I also agree to save the lower cowl! The original intake is, well, original. Ernie Bryant had one that he made a filter for that seemed to work well. Hopefully he is reading here, if not I will try and get together with him and see how he made it.
Take lots of pictures (AND POST THEM!) as you go and we will all be looking over your shoulder.
Don't forget to join the Foundation too. Forrest is a wealth of information and parts. His hangars in Ohio are Taylorcraft Disneyland and he is Walt Disney.

Welcome to the Tribe. You couldn't have picked a better airplane or bunch of people to help you with your restoration.
DO HER UP PROUD!
Hank

[mulwyk]

Re: New to the Forum

Wow. What a beautiful project! Post lotsa photos, please.

[crispy critter]

Re: New to the Forum

I gotta side with Rob & Hank,keep it as original as possible....cowl & airbox, I love the old original windshield and would love to see you save that too but I understand they can be a pain to keep up. Definetly keep the tach & panel original.
As for where you should start.....I recommend takin lots of pics for later reference,start cleaning out the dirt,dobbers,mice,cobb webbs,etc and try to make an inventory list of what's there and what's not(at least everything you know for sure). Then start disassembling something,I would recommend one major airframe part at a time. For example,if you decide to start with the fuslage first then leave the wings in dry storage until the fuslage is ready for cover. At that time do an assembly of the complete airframe uncovered and run new cables,pulleys etc hook everything up and make sure everything lines back up and is going to rig properly, then finish the fuslage and start on the wings....or vice versa. As tempting as it may be, don't try to do it all at once,this can create mass confusion,frustration,and make you feel overwelmed...keep it simple taking your time and just keep picking away at it one piece at a time. Treat even the smallest,most simple parts like it's own little project and when it is complete then move onto the next. It takes a lot of time to do it right but the rewards can be grand. Also,with a bird as original as yours I hope you keep it as original as possible. If you get stumped or stuck let us know and someone will always be here to help. If ya need to talk in person about something or can't wait for a reply there are a few of us here you can call almost anytime,including myself(PM or email me for my number). Good luck and welcome aboard.

[ajfriz]

Re: New to the Forum

Don't listen to these guys about keeping that old worn out tach. Send it to me and I'll dispose of it properly Very cool project btw.

[M Towsley]

Re: New to the Forum

Welcome, Mark.

What a neat project and you just have to love that big ole honkin' tach. Those are just too neat.

I know just enough to be dangerous but there are a lot of great guys here that are more than happy to help. You picked a great airplane, and a piece of history, to restore. Best of luck!

[crispy critter]

Re: New to the Forum

Don't listen to these guys about keeping that old worn out tach. Send it to me and I'll dispose of it properly Very cool project btw.

Hey now,that's just cheating....I'll be fair about it and offer a new standard tach,temp,& oil gauge in trade....might even throw in a proper airspeed indicater...lol

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: New to the Forum

I understand there is a guy around who rebuilds Studebaker tachs who can make yours like new. Anybody have his contact info? Probably a good idea to get that sent of fairly soon since it isn't cheap and takes a lot of time.
Take real care in taking the suspended panel apart. Take lots of pictures and save all of the little bits and pieces. You are going to need to make new rubber bits to shock mount the instrument cluster again and what you have is almost guaranteed to be dried out and rotten.
Don't throw ANYTHING away! No matter how worn out or broken YOU WILL NEED SOMETHING YOU TRASH. Put EVERYTHING in zip lock bags and mark them. You WILL NOT remember where everything goes and you don't want to do it like I did and take FOREVER trying to figure out what that funky part is. Buy paper string tags for anything you can't get into a bag and label EVERY NUT AND BOLT with a FELT PEN, NOT a pencil! It WILL fade and you won't be able to read it later. Don't forget to date each bag and tag. It will help later when you can connect the tag with photos from the same time. Trust me, some of your tags will NOT make sense to you later! Write your notes as if some one ELSE will end up having to put it all back together. Take photos EVERY day. Some of the details in the corners are priceless later.
Wish you weren't so far away.
Hank

Don't be nervous. It IS a blast!

But then, most of us are totally NUTS.

[Blade]

Re: New to the Forum

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. So far I've only restored an old tractor so this will be quite an undertaking. Even with the tractor I had lots of bags by the time it was apart and did a lot of head scratching later. I plan on taking my time to do it right and I plan to keep it original.

[ajfriz]

Re: New to the Forum

I sure wish that my tcraft had everything labeled. Instead I have a bunch of parts and a bundle of wood and have no clue where a lot of it goes...

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: New to the Forum

AJ,
1) Start a thread called AJ's restoration.
2) Take a picture of a part and post it. (ANY part)
3) Wait for the identification, and probably pictures of where it goes and how it is attached
4) Fix up the part and put it on the plane
5) Repeat as necessary

It REALLY IS as easy as that. Takes time, but you will be amazed at the help that is available here. It's a blast for us too.

Hank

[ajfriz]

Re: New to the Forum

I'm afraid that my thread will be about 40 pages long LOL. I was actually going to start a thread pretty soon because I'm going to start making all of the wood pieces for the fuselage and I don't know a lot of the dimensions.

Stay tuned

[mulwyk]

Re: New to the Forum

A bit off topic but...

What kind of tractor did you restore?

Just this fall, I fired up a (1953?) Farmall Super M that had set behind the barn for 20+ years. What a thrill! I had to replace all of the fuel system and most of the electrical but then the old girl just popped right off. I plan to blast and paint it next year.

Maybe you can post a picture of the tractor?

[Forrest Barber]

Re: New to the Forum

Had to check a bit to see who "blade" might be , then realized he ahd sent for his factory stuff and I helped him out already with the ser# questions. She will be a great ship, I think Joel Harris had her before. MARK get the complete CD's from the FAA Registry. Happy Holidays!