What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

[Levi]

I have a '41 BC-12 that I have had for sale for a while. I am curious as what other T-Crafts are selling for. I am asking $16k but have had very few phone calls on it. I have tryed barnstormers and ebay and a local buy, swap, sell guide. The details can be seen at:

http://www.unclehenrys.com/init/clas...%2F1%234022657

Any ideas on what this aircraft are going for and how I could sell this plane?

-Levi

[Pearson]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

Levi,

That is a nice looking airplane! Barnstormers is cheap but, based on my experience with it, mostly full of tire kickers. Trade-A-Plane is more expensive, but I think you get a lot better results. It seems that people who read it are more serious buyers. I have also had good results from flying around to all the airports in my area posting a nice color picture with description on the bulletin boards of the FBO. In this economy it is going to take awhile to sell anything. I don't think lowering the price will make it sell any faster. I would put an ad on Trade-A-Plane and frequent as many online forums as you can with your info.

[Robert Lees]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

Struts? (loaded question).

Fly it to the UK & it'll be snapped up, no quibble on price!

[Levi]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

It has new sealed struts, Slick mags, Steve's gascolator, and ceconite fabric. I guess I left these things out of the add.

[casserv]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

I think more and better pictures would go a long way, I would like to know if the wing spars have ever been replaced. Good luck to you.
Seth

[dejh22]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

Don't laugh...but I would run some adds on craigslist. Don't cost anything and you can run adds in neighboring cities and states. It is a really nice looking airplane. I would think it is priced right.

[Ragwing nut]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

more pics and ALOT more details. THe more you inform your potential buyer the more likely they are too call. From the ad you posted I dont know if it a fresh restoration or needs restoration

[RyanShort1]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

I was looking HARD at all the Taylorcraft aircraft available when I bought mine. I ended paying under $15K, but also did some work to it that brought it closer to $16K. There were two other aircraft I was looking at at the time that were both in the $14K range and I probably could've talked the owners down a little bit, but I ended up going for the local bird since I figured it would be less hassle. Personally, I think the planes are undervalued, but that's a matter of perception that we need to change.

Ryan

[cvavon]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

tribe I have thought about this and came to this assumption if you take a supper cub and a taylorcraft and cut the fabric off and wad it up in two piles take a metal sheer and cut the tubing up in short pieces and do the same to the aluminum and hall the two piles to the scrap dealer they will bring about the same price SO what makes the cubs so valuable? also there were a lot more cubs built so there are more on the market so should be cheaper in most cases rarity makes for large price so what happened to our tcrafts and can we fix it

[M Towsley]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

Chuck,

First, I think the comparison between a Taylorcraft and a Super Cub is wrong. They are two different airplanes. Perhaps you are doing that due to your upgrades, but a 65hp T-Craft and a Super Cub don't compare. However, I understand your point. Let us just say Taylorcraft and Cub.

Part of the problem is us. There are very few ratty Cubs running around. The owners take really good care of them and restore them back to original. However, I see many Taylorcrafts that are not taken care of that are used as flyers, not any where near show planes or original. And show planes is the wrong description, maybe just plain, old pride in ownership. Folks buy them cheap and then continue to fly them cheap. I look at some of the planes for sale and see non-standard instrument panels or ones made of plywood. Non standard Cessna yokes, and the list goes on. The planes are not being kept to their original form or even close-to. (Part of it is also good advertising and salesmanship on Piper's part). I have stuck several thousand dollars in mechanical and cosmetic upgrades into my plane. Will I get the money out of it? That is hard to say, but I am proud of my plane and will continue to keep it that way. Until we can drag our planes out of the low to mid teen dollar sales it will stay that way.

Many people will say not to do that. That Taylorcrafts are cheap to fly aircraft. Well, I agree - I bought my first plane for around $14,000 when I really couldn't afford much else. However, as time has gone by I have tried to move up to nicer, more well taken care of aircraft. If the aircraft continue to degrade, there will be more and more lost forever...never to fly again. You rarely see that with Cubs. I'm sure all of you have seen the picture of the Taylorcraft with the fabric hanging off of it, tied down at some small airport. I doubt highly you would see a Cub like that. Some of the problem lies in support of the types. There is great support for Cub-type aircraft. For the most part all you get for Taylorcrafts is what you see here which, by the way, is a great group of people helping each other. But no parts, little support from parts manufacturers adds up to problems when trying to restore one or keep one flying.

A lot of it comes down to a mind-set of the individual who decides what they are going to purchase. Recovering an airplane just about destroys re-sale, as you probably won't get your money back out of it when you try to re-sell it. The cost may be prohibitive for the potential buyer. (Especially when there are others planes out there much cheaper). I would personally be willing to pay more for a well taken care of airplane if I could afford it. It also makes you wonder if maintenance reflects the looks of the airplane. Ratty airplane, ratty maintenance? And the list goes on.

I am a big proponent of Taylorcraft airplanes and you could call me a bit of an activist over it. I have called some magazine writers to task over their glossing over or non-existant coverage of our type when articles on vintage airplanes are written. We have a great airplane and people need to know that.

Whew, ok, off the soap box I go. There are too many issues of comparing a Cub to a T-Craft. Two different airplanes with almost two different missions and the owners that have different opinions regarding those airplanes.

And Levi, this has nothing to do with your airplane as I really know nothing about it. Just describing things in general and in reply to Chucks observation.

[cvavon]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

Ok Marty we both seem to be on the same mind set as far as our planes so how do we fix this as the value of our planes should be close to what a j3 cub is worth on the market. we have some thing that i think will help this the people in Texas are about to start to make parts this was from the faa rep that is in charge of them in Texas the support of parts should help also we need to get the foundation up to speed and get what data we can and make it available to owners that should help with some of the problem

[M Towsley]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

Actually, Cubs are highly inflated in price. As you pointed out, lots of Cubs so the price should be lower but that is not the case. They have an almost mythical status.

I posted last year about the owner of Taylorcraft and their five year plan here: http://vb.taylorcraft.org/showthread...ight=year+plan

Forrest mentioned something about 'news' he had that he was going to divulge at the Alliance fly-in. I have never heard anything more from him regarding that. Do we have any valid news, or just the same old lack of information about Taylorcraft???

[n6346m]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

Part of the popularity of the J3 is that some people prefer tandem seated, stick controlled airplanes. It feels more like flying than driving. That's why I love my L2. What makes it even better than a J3 is that it's roomier and considerably easier to enter and exit AND you fly solo from the front seat. When I got my L2 I just didn't want to spend all the money that the J3s were going for. I thought then as I do now, that the J3s were overpriced for what you got. Now that I have owned my L2 all these years, I wouldn't trade it for the nicest pristine J3 in the country.

[Robert Lees]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

I love flying Cubs, particularly the L18C, with 90hp...a good Piper comprimise between speed & fuel efficiency.

But there is no way I would own one...they are just too way overpriced for the speed & fuel efficiency. Also, because I do a fair amount of cross-country at max weight, I like to have heavy baggage under my knees, a map spread across my lap and a friendly face-to-face chat with my passenger.

Just my 2p worth.

Rob

[Pearson]

Re: What are Taylorcrafts selling for nowadays?

The common thread that I hear when I ask people why they didn't consider a Taylorcraft when they were searching for an airplane is the lack of parts support and drawings. I have two friends who are constantly restoring Cubs and Aeroncas. They both have told me that if they could get detailed drawings or new parts, they would buy and rebuild Taylorcraft. Both of them have been up with me in my BC12D, and both of them absolutely loved it. They agree that it is the better plane, but just can't take on the challenge of restoring one with the lack of parts and drawings. I have also heard the same thing from people at fly-ins and airshows.