Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

[wmfife]

Has anyone else seen this?
I have been looking for something like it since I got my '41.

http://store.wagaero.com/product_info.php?products_id=2946

Can anyone verify it's the same or nearly so as the ones shown on virtually ALL the factory pics I have seen of the '41 Deluxe models?

http://www.alliancememory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/taylor&CISOPTR=490&CISOBOX=1&REC=1

(Earlier B model pics also show it: )

http://www.alliancememory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/taylor&CISOPTR=310&CISOBOX=1&REC=5

...Or is it the standard postwar Skull Cap? The printed catalog showed two pics - one was fat & round and the other was this one now in the link by itself. It comes to a point like in the early pics. Sort of.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Bill,
The small Wag Aero skull cap works good and lasts a long time. Sad to say they cost $14 in 1986...

There are two issues however.
First, many A&Ps tighten the mounting bracket without holding it steady down at the base. Result is a twisted mounting bracket.
Second, the sheet metal screw provided with the spinner is too short. Swap it for a longer screw. I have seen these spinners trimmed at their base, stove in at the tip and had home-brew mounting brackets made - but all it needs is a longer screw.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

The pictures look just like what is on my 41 and my 45. Skull cap "works fine and lasts a long time" IF you secure it properly! That picture of the 41 could BE my plane! Just put the vents back on the windscreen instead of the door windows this weekend. Still need to add the hand grabs on the "A" (door hinge) pillars.
Hank

[wmfife]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Hi, Mark,

And thanks for the tip on the sheet metal screw. My skull cap is the standard postwar type you describe. Right now it is off the a/c along with the bracket and prop. The person who will be installing it next time will likely be me.

I actually had to add some washers to mine when polishing it in an electric drill removed a tiny bit of thickness there at the hub... I ended up using extra starlocks and the fit is now more secure than before.

I haven't really had the problems you describe but other list members perhaps can benefit from your answer.

Maybe this is only a question for those with prewar models. But the fat, round cross-sec. skull caps from my observation are seen mostly on postwar models. Those seen in these pics seem to have disappeared altogether.

I have looked (in desperation) at the ones by Rotax but they are still more expen$ive and are not PMA'ed. Plus would have to get extensively modified and field-approved just to get back the original look.

(I wonder if Forrest has any of those pre-war spinners in his collection?)

[wmfife]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Just put the vents back on the windscreen instead of the door windows this weekend. Still need to add the hand grabs on the "A" (door hinge) pillars.
Hank

Hank,

Did I understand your '41 has the divided windscreen? I have been looking at those as a possible replacement for mine as they are fairly reasonable from Wag-Aero. (If they still make them..) Only the blown one on it now ain't broke (much) so not in TOO big a hurry to fix it..

My vents aren't in the door windows but in the boot cowl (and painted..!). Moving them may get a little involved but that's only a small part of the corrections I need to get done in that area.

I need to look at sources for some hand grabs. Probably any automotive supply source will have something close. Right? If not then maybe eBay. (L-o-o-ve the black airliner seat belts I found there-) Main trick will be installation I would think.

Anything beats saying to a first-time passenger, "just reach up and grab some tubing". That really instills confidence in the first-time-in-a-small-plane set. ("...right!")

[NY86]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

And thanks for the tip on the sheet metal screw.

DON'T use a sheet metal (type A) screw! It will not lock correctly in the Tinnerman nut. You must use a type "B" screw or risk loosing the spinner in flight.

Think about it: what parts can fall off the airplane in flight and hit the prop?

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Bill,
I have the 4 piece on my plane now and am working on the drawings to share. If Wag has come out with them I am going to CRY!!! They didn't have them when I started and this has been a LONG HARD road. My "blown" windshield only had a few stop drilled cracks but was scratched all to pieces by knuckle headed line boys with filthy rags in their pockets. The second reason I put the original glass back in mine is there is no log entry saying it was ever removed and replaced with the blown one. I know no one would probably notice, but I am trying to pull EVERYTHING that has been added that didn't get logged.

After seeing how CLEAR the new glass is I really can see all the scratches in the old blown windshield. I NEVER let anyone else put fuel in my plane or wipe my "glass". Send me an email at hjarrett2 at cox dot net and I will put you on the list for the drawings if you want copies.

I have seen the vents in the boot cowl and they are usually the "domed" ones, not the flat ones. I would keep the cowl ones and just ADD the windscreen ones. On a hot day there is just no such thing as too much ventilation and those ones down on the boot really circulate some air around your legs when it is hot.

Any upholstery shop can make a set of hand grabs in no time. I plan to have some steel cable sewn in instead of the cotton cord to make them REALLY usable when I get a "heifer" passenger. I just need dimensions from an original and a clear picture of the attach. I know it goes to the diagonal tube at the top of the "A" Pillar, but I don't know how it attaches.

Drop me an email.

Hank

P.S.
Yes, that "line" up the windscreen in the pilots side picture is the broken plexi. I have a STACK of broken windscreens till I learned the secrets for forming them! Make them on the HOTTEST DAY of the year in a broiling hangar with a heat gun, then let them heat soak for a few days so the plastic takes a set. A 50 degree day will give you a LOT of plastic to mix epoxy on. Too bad we don't use epoxy on the Taylorcraft.

Hank,

Did I understand your '41 has the divided windscreen? I have been looking at those as a possible replacement for mine as they are fairly reasonable from Wag-Aero. (If they still make them..) Only the blown one on it now ain't broke (much) so not in TOO big a hurry to fix it..

My vents aren't in the door windows but in the boot cowl (and painted..!). Moving them may get a little involved but that's only a small part of the corrections I need to get done in that area.

I need to look at sources for some hand grabs. Probably any automotive supply source will have something close. Right? If not then maybe eBay. (L-o-o-ve the black airliner seat belts I found there-) Main trick will be installation I would think.

Anything beats saying to a first-time passenger, "just reach up and grab some tubing". That really instills confidence in the first-time-in-a-small-plane set. ("...right!")

[rail]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

If no one manufactures a "Skull Cap" spinner similar to the original Taylorcraft shape, I can spin one to your specification. Please read AC 23-27!

I am four months logged for spinning services, if you can wait.

Charles

"Different shapes of domes!"

[wmfife]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

If no one manufactures a "Skull Cap" spinner similar to the original Taylorcraft shape, I can spin one to your specification. Please read AC 23-27!

I am four months logged for spinning services, if you can wait.

Charles

"Different shapes of domes!"

Charles,

In a word: "Wow"!

Yes I guess I can wait. I bought the plane in '03 and it's been one thing after another. Waiting is something I should be used to by now.

Looking at the link from Wag I see it is different from the original. Theirs is fatter across the base and the taper starts only about a third to one-half of the way off the backplate. The way I know it's different from mine is in the printed catalog (but not the link) it shows both. But doesn't explain why. In any case neither is an exact copy (I don't think) of the original.

If you can beat the Rotax price (which included mounting parts not to be used on any four-cycle engine that I'm yet aware of...) then you likely have a deal.

I'll have to see what paperwork is involved with a contracted part but will have to come up with some hard specs for it to be considered a bona fide remanufacture.

Factory drawings in my BC12D Service Manual copy only show the prop & hub without the spinner. My 1971 Taylorcraft parts price list for "All BC Models" lists ONE "Spinner Assembly", Part No. B-90140 (price: $3.00). ("Specify Wood or Steel Prop")... *Somehow* I think this is probably not the prewar spinner, being the only one described...

(Rotax Spinners: )

[wmfife]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Bill,
I have the 4 piece on my plane now and am working on the drawings to share. If Wag has come out with them I am going to CRY!!! They didn't have them when I started and this has been a LONG HARD road.

Hank I have to correct myself. It wasn't Wag-Aero. I have to look up something then I'll send you an email. ...I can't watch a grown man cry.

My "blown" windshield only had a few stop drilled cracks but was scratched all to pieces by knuckle headed line boys with filthy rags in their pockets.

Mine has one stop-drilled crack near the wing root on pilot's side. The line crew here has been very helpful donating clean rags and polishing material. But the scratches came with the airplane. I am hoping most can be polished out as they aren't THAT bad. But they could use some attention.

The second reason I put the original glass back in mine is there is no log entry saying it was ever removed and replaced with the blown one. I know no one would probably notice, but I am trying to pull EVERYTHING that has been added that didn't get logged.

My formal airframe log book entries start with 1983. Anything before that are filed maintenance forms in a ring binder.

Only maint. entry addressing new plexiglas was made in 1969 and doesn't specify windshield by name, only says "New plexiglass (sic) windows installed throughout cabin area." Your guess as good as mine. Or perhaps even better.

I have seen the vents in the boot cowl and they are usually the "domed" ones, not the flat ones. I would keep the cowl ones and just ADD the windscreen ones. On a hot day there is just no such thing as too much ventilation and those ones down on the boot really circulate some air around your legs when it is hot.

Mine are the domed ones. Someone had to go and paint them Hickory Brown. Against the off-white background they look sort of like where someone's dog had an accident. Windscreen ones would be a cool addition (literally), especially way down here.

Any upholstery shop can make a set of hand grabs in no time. I plan to have some steel cable sewn in instead of the cotton cord to make them REALLY usable when I get a "heifer" passenger.

With this Lycoming it has to be a real cool day for me to take a passenger weighing more than I do (~145). Density Altitude here in the Sunshine State is something I now watch year round. Checking out with a 200 lb instructor, a wood prop and one cylinder about to go was a real experience. Practice flights around the pattern consisted of climbout followed by descent. There was NO in between...

But solo with the new metal prop & 1 rebuilt cylinder head in early Oct. it did climb almost like a Cub. Like night and day.

But all the same yes, steel cable has to be considered a must in today's America. Never have I seen such huge individuals. You just never know.

(Check your email- )

And Thanks.

[Ron Greene]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Model B drawings and parts list (Prop1.doc) for propeller install. From the L-2 disks but with B part numbers. I would guess most people are not using the spacer. I do not have the strap drawing. Notice the screw is listed as an
AN515-10-8

Prop1.doc

[wmfife]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Model B drawings and parts list (Prop1.doc) for propeller install. From the L-2 disks but with B part numbers. I would guess most people are not using the spacer. I do not have the strap drawing. Notice the screw is listed as an AN515-10-8

- YES! That's IT! Ron you just hit a Home Run!
I can't recall anyone here asking about those early spinners. And here was my answer all along! THANK YOU Ron!!!

Do you think it could be fitted to the current bracket? I guess that's the next thing. And AN screw NOT sheet metal! Guess it's true they don't make 'em like they used to.

Thanks!

(P.S.: These early photos show the original small skull cap to good advantage: )

http://www.alliancememory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/taylor&CISOPTR=339&CISOBOX=1&REC=14

http://www.alliancememory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/taylor&CISOPTR=407&REC=15

[rail]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Model B drawings and parts list (Prop1.doc) for propeller install. From the L-2 disks but with B part numbers. I would guess most people are not using the spacer. I do not have the strap drawing. Notice the screw is listed as an
AN515-10-8

[ATTACH]5999[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]5997[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]5998[/ATTACH]

Ron,

Could you email the drawings to me?

Charles

[jim cooper]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

Please go to Taylorcraft aircraft photos, scroll to # 6 and see the spinner on my former red white and blue T-Craft. Its MUCH better looking than the skull cap type which in (my humble opinion) is cheesey looking. I need one like this NOW! JC

[jim cooper]

Re: Skull Cap Spinners: "Small"

I should add here that photo of 95916 was taken in Mayville NY 2008, so you'll see the right photo. see(Taylorcraft aircraft photos) IF someone can make some of these at a REASONABLE price, I think they would sell very well. You can't sell things if you can't DELIVER! JC