Here is a well equipped T-Craft

[M Towsley]

I like to see the Taylorcrafts that are for sale on Barnstormers, etc., to see how they are painted, equipped and to see if they are relatively stock. I have never seen a panel like this on a T-Craft, until today. Photo courtesy of Barnstormers.

[RobertP]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

My F22A has all that and more including an ADF, DME, VOR fixed GPS etc in a much neater fix. When I purchased the aircraft it was estimated to have £10K of Nav gear fitted. The reason was that the Aircraft was flown from the factory to the UK and probably needed all the help it could get up the Eastern Seaboard then via Greenland etc to Scotland and finally 56 hours later down to Lydd in Kent UK! some flight and I feel very proud to be the owner, just wish I could meet the Pilot!

[M Towsley]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

Wow, that was quite the flight. So it was originally intended for a buyer in the UK? Interesting...

[flyguy]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

Bet Forrest knows who it was that flew the 22 over.
DC

[RobertP]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

My Aircraft ( Tri Gear F22A ) and a tail dragger F22 flew together on the trip. It was intended that the two Aircraft would travel on to Italy from the UK to set up a Franchise there but on reaching the UK the Taylorcraft Company went into Liquidation and that was the end of the idea! A 60 Gallon bladder tank was fitted to the P2 side to give a 100 gallon capability for the flight.

The fuselage and wings of the F22 are now in my garage as spares after it suffered a landing accident last year and I bought the Salvage.

I have tried to find out the identity of either of the Pilots without success so far! I guess the flight must be the longest ever undertaken by a Taylorcraft and says a great deal about the reliability of the aircraft and what could have been!

[3Dreaming]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

I have tried to find out the identity of either of the Pilots without success so far! I guess the flight must be the longest ever undertaken by a Taylorcraft and says a great deal about the reliability of the aircraft and what could have been!

The longest was by the Moody brothers. They were in the air 343 hours and 47 minutes. The flight for your airplane did cover a greater distance, as the Moody's just flew in circles.

[M Towsley]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

Which happened to have occurred about a mile away from my house.

[NC43501]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

There was a fellow at the Watsonville fly-in 15 years ago, or so, that flew in from Isreal. I remember he had an antenna on a reel that he could let out the tail for long distance communication. Now that I think about it though, it may have been a Columbia Tcart fly-in...

[lfries]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

I believe that was the Taylorcraft fly in at Columbia. If memory serves me correctly he flew an L 2 from Palo Alto Ca to Israel. Good slide presentation and very interseting presentation.

[midniteflyer52]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

RobertP,
By any chance was your aircraft's "maiden" name N180GT? I have a snap shot of that plane taken at Barber field in the early nineties at the annual Taylorcraft reunion fly-in. If memory serves me, Fred Burlingame flew the ship in from Loch
Haven, PA with an "experimental" sticker in the rear window. I think that I may also have another shot with Mrs. Ferris sitting under the wing.
Regards,
Glen Brodeur
TF #42
Putnam, CT

[RobertP]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

Hi Glen,

Thanks for your interest. The original Registration of my F22A Tri Gear was N22 UK and her sister! the F22 Tail dragger was N221 UK. From paper work I have when my aircraft was first registered in the UK ( There was considerable difficulty obtaining a POH as one had not been fully completed and the CAA wouldn't give the aircraft a Certificate of Airworthiness for 4 years ) that the people involved with the aircraft were John Polychron who lived in Weston Salem, North Canton, Ohio and Darrell Romick the Chief Engineer who at that time lived in North Canton, Ohio. I don't know if these people are still with us but I guess They would know who flew them over to the UK. It would seem that the flight took place around about the 24th June 1991 but my aircraft was not finally Registered with the UK CAA until 1995 due to the POH problems.

I was told that someone finally went to the defunct factory and virtually kicked a door down to get a POH but I guess that may be just a good story! but certainly judging from the paperwork the new owner in the UK had a lot of hassle obtaining one!

I could never understand why they undertook such a perilous journey across such an expanse of water when they could have sent them over in a container! but perhaps that was to be part of the sales pitch that they had flown all that way so they must be reliable! It helped convince me when I bought my aircraft! They also had a good write up in the UK Pilot Mags which I have dating back to 1991 when they were viewed as ideal training aircraft especially the F22 Tail dragger model but it was sad that the Company went Bankrupt when these and the other new models would appear to have had so much to offer.

kind Regards,

Bob Preston.

[3Dreaming]

Re: Here is a well equipped T-Craft

RobertP,
By any chance was your aircraft's "maiden" name N180GT? I have a snap shot of that plane taken at Barber field in the early nineties at the annual Taylorcraft reunion fly-in. If memory serves me, Fred Burlingame flew the ship in from Loch
Haven, PA with an "experimental" sticker in the rear window. I think that I may also have another shot with Mrs. Ferris sitting under the wing.
Regards,
Glen Brodeur
TF #42
Putnam, CT

I can remember being at one of those fly-ins and looking at the tri-gear airplane. It had been re-painted with a new number, but you could still see the old number outline under the new paint. Tom