BC12-D Empty weight.....

[Staton]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

It has alaska bush wheel 3200 tail wheel and 26/12.50/6 ak bush wheels and yes it is fun to fly the way it's set up

Do you have wing Tanks? I love your tires. I have the 3200. I am looking to get more rubber, either 29" or 31"? my BC12-d 85 with 850's, weighs 851. But i have electric. Looks like i got to start stripping.
Staton.

[hyflyer]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

My BC12D 160 hp weighs in at 1097 lbs on 21 inch tundra tires. It has the Gilberti STC . extra heavy strut mounts , beefed up fuselage and 2000 lb struts from Airframes Alaska. Still the original spruce spars from 46 . I fly it to 1800 lbs gross. 486 hrs now and no problems

[cvavon]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Staton i have made a bunch of changes to my plane sense the last post have full electrics and C85-12 luscombe exhaust it weighs 777lbs now

[paddydix]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Mine is down to 824 now, still heavy, but getting closer to where it should be.

[jim cooper]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Being old, I have flown quite a few different light aircraft. Most seemed more fun as the horsepower increased.IE: piper cub verses super cub. The first time I flew a super cub was really an eye opener. I think that if taylorcraft had been better financed, they might have wound up with something superior to the supercub. An aeronca champ is fun but not compared to a 150 Citabria, or a 180 hp decathalon.Had I been a good mechanic I would have kept my last BC12D and installed an 0200 or a don swords conversion. As most aircraft evolved, no matter if it was a cub, P51, Stearman, champ, or f4 phantom, adding horse power always seemed to improve the aircraft. (My last annual on the BC12D cost 1200.00, more than the aircraft cost new.) no major problems were found. It was a sound aircraft. I decided it was time to retire from the air. I had a lot of fun though! JC ( I should add that previous to this my annuals had never exceeded 300.00 but the last one was done by a different AI with a lot more overhead.)

[cvavon]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Jim in your post you have touched on the cost of Annuals 1200.00 is out of line for sure but there is a larger problem what we have for the most part are A/Is that are use to working on big dollar airplanes and as such charge big dollars it's time we pushed for owner maintenance like Canada at least on older air planes of the type we have.

[M Towsley]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

I hope he had a gun to go along with that $1,200 bill. Apparently he is the only IA on the East Coast.

[cvavon]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Marty I have sat here and tried to add up how he came up with a 1200 bill and how much time it takes to do inspection on my plane and 6hr will do it very thorough that works out to $200.00 per hr labor rate?? Now hank and i have talked about doing a tcraft fly in annuals where a group gets together and does annuals on all there planes get one A/I to do sign offs and turn the inspections over to the owners who know there planes say ten sets of eyes rather then one looking at it There is no more critical bunch then this group. This would be a good part time job for Forrest

[Mark Julicher]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Hmmm,
It costs me $5000 per year to keep my door open. hangar rent, taxes, tool calibration, IA refresher costs, etc. So it would take 17 of those $300 annuals to break even if I give up three meals a day and I walk to work. Count yourself lucky if you have such an inexpensive inspector, but be sure to do a good preflight after your cheapo annual.

But Yes, $1200 is a bit high.

[M Towsley]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

The only problem is that Forrest doesn't have any time for anything. Notice the lack of participation over the last year. Maybe if he ever sells the airport......

And the only reason it would take six hours to do an annual would be if the owner did not participate or there were problems. At least, that is from my experience in my local.

[M Towsley]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Sorry Mark, you replied while I was typing. My annual is not cheapo or pencil-whipped, but I do most of the work which is unbuttoning the aircraft, lubing, etc. My IA comes in and inspects the aircraft, compressions, etc. Apparently I am lucky to have a couple of folks here who have full time A&P/IA jobs and do this on the side. And you think $1,200 is a 'bit' on the high side????? Wow, I must live in the land of Oz. I would sell my plane if it cost that much. For some Taylorcrafts that is close to 10% of the value of the plane

These aren't King Airs, apparently you need some of those to help.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

No worries Marty.
Airplanes are like horses. The purchase price is far exceeded by the veterinary bills.
If someone brings me a plane I have never see before it may take a couple hours to research ADs. Firewall forward on a T-craft can easily take 4 hours with removing and replacing the cowl, thorough inspection, oil change, magneto timing, and a good varsol wash. Maybe I'm getting old and slow, but at $50 an hour I have already spent $300 for half the job. I still have to feed the calibration lab to maintain my torque wrenches and diff-pressure gauge. And yes, I have been ramp checked for calibrated tools.

That said, If the owner is someone I trust, then yes I can do a good annual for a lot less.

[magman]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

I'm wondering if the $300/$1200 is the INSPECTION or does that include REPAIRS?

When an aircraft is short changed on maintenance & then the "New Guy" shows up there is often a LOT of

catching up to do.

Was the Heat Shroud really opened up?

Your best bet is to find a IA that you can have faith in & will

do Owner Assist.

Of course you will log the time per FAR 65.77 to get the A & P &

jump on the Big Money Bandwagon!

[M Towsley]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Oh, Mark, that is like the 'free' dog my wife found 12 years ago. I can easily understand that concept!

[magman]

Re: BC12-D Empty weight.....

Another point that impacts cost for a "Traveling IA " is

fixing relatively minor things.

A blown exhaust gasket comes to mind.

If there is not a replacement available then another drive is required.

There is no need to be an A & P to recognize the problem & either fix it

or have parts available to do so.