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My partner and I bought a 46 bc12d on edo 1400s and are inthe process of going thru it to bring it back to airworthiness . Sometime in its life it had some mods done to convert to an 85,I believe by an stc from a fellow in Agawam Me.We are working on an 85 to replace the 65 .So far we have repainted the fuselage fabric,that had been recovered in 1998.and started to inspect some of the float fittings, looks like we will have to replace the brace wires as they are rusty and pitted,talked to Dave @Steen about new ones,any other thoughts on this? Not sure if I'm posting in the right forum or not,so re-direct me if needed. Looking forward to working with the gang here!........regards Mike
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Re: Floatplane project
Mike,
It seems to me I remember Jerry Zerbe mentioning that a T-Craft on floats had been trucked in sometime this fall.
The original STC was owned by/called Gliberti/Harer STC - it is now owned and sold by: http://dc65stc.blogspot.com/2010/09/...ts-offers.html
As for the float questions, I can barely swim, so I cannot comment there.
Good luck with your project - hopefully when they rebuild 77FJ, they'll put the 85hp upgrade in it.
Sean
Oh...that reminds me....I owe somebody some money....better get the check out tomorrow!!!
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Re: Floatplane project
Sean,that's our t-craft .I talked to Ed Peck about the brace wires,and in our conversation I mentioned the prior conversion work and he said it was from a guy named Walter O'Conner up in Maine ,the paper that I have on it says its from northeast air motive in Agawam .Anybody else here know about Walter?Comment
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NC36061 '41 BC12-65 "Deluxe" S/N 3028
NC39244 '45 BC12-D S/N 6498Comment
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Re: Floatplane project
Dalton, Yes I do...Originally posted by Dalton View Post
I maybe on of the last airport kids, or Seaplane Kids. I hung out their during my Jr and some High School Years. What would you like to know?
Walter lived to 95 yrs and died a while back, Walter was a character, claimed to be the 1st guy to loop a Ford Tri-Motor and was their in Springfield MA during the Gee-Bee years and knew all the Grandville Brothers. His Seaplane Base in Agawam Ma has been converted to a home, and the Base is gone. After he died, one of his grandsons sold off all his T-Crafts ( 7 or 8?) 3 Four Places, ( 2 20's and a gone to seed 15A ) and 3 Fairchild 24's...They went in lots if my memory is correct all the 4 placers to one guy, ditto that the other 3 and tons of floats, 2880's and 1320's and a pair of PK 1800's that were the 1st ever install on a TCraft, more on that later...
On the STC's....
Walter may have had a number of them. Let me explain. He had one for Fairchild 24's with Warners, since he had at one point 3 of them. Walter Installed the Carb of a O-470 out of a Cessna 180, and had a 90 elbow out of the bottom of the Speed Ring to feed it. Claimed it go rid of a flat spot Warner's are supposed to have.
In terms of T-Crafts, I think he had an STC for putting H & W mufflers on T'Crafts. I remember watching him weld aluminum elbows with rod and flux from stampings he made from a wooden mold with gas, probably a lost art. In terms of putting a C-85 in, he did something interesting and I do not know if he had an STC or did it on a 337. Walter made a square dish out of stainless steel and put in the firewall for a recess for the starter to give you a short Motor Mount with Starter and Gen w/ the C-85. I remember a firewall/fuselage front apron hanging in the machine shop with one installed in it, and seeing the old "blue" prints, yes they were blue. But he didn't have one flying since the one he did as a renter got wrecked and the main renter, N43483 the one I flew in the most, had the dish but he never upgraded. Walter was a bit of T-Craft zealot and claimed 483 would do 105 mph flat out on floats...
While you can look on the FAA's website for STC's, I don't know how to look for the older and defunct STC's ( does anyone know the trick? ) or do you have them in your log book?
It was a pretty amazing seaplane base, as a kid I got to see a number of planes fly-in, many came up from New Jersey, A J-4 on Floats, L-19, a 160 hp Tri-Pacer with what have may been on of the 1st big props, A local "Rivera" coming to do touch and goes and to see it on the step about 50 feet from the dock while I was standing on it!
I also used to bumb rides and get stick time and the love of flying has never left, although the cost etc, I don't know if or when-ever I'll ever get back in the saddle. I also got many a ride in his Ranchwagon on 2880's that is a whole other story, it's "mods", the rides I went on, trying the Ag-Wagon Prop are for another time.
On the PK1800's...
Walter borrowed a F-19 from a fellow in either RI or NY Sabatino Ludivici, and had it registered temp. experimental and mounted the PK's on it. What he did was machine these long aluminum beams he called trunions, and they attached to the landing gear and had intricate collars and fitting to mount them to the floats and rear struts. His goal was when the T-Craft went back in production ( this was the mid 70's, and he knew the Ferris's etc ) he hoped this would be good for the Alaskan guys to roll the bird up on the floats, take off the wheels and brakes, and mount it up and go. It was heavier, interestingm and it flew, and like Walter said it flew like a T-Craft, and I was blessed to have a ride in it as well. He had a G meter to see how it would landing hard, I think he let his grandson plonk it in :-), it did fine! He never went forward with it, to much $ and or paperwork you know the drill. But as far as I know it was the 1st T-Craft to have 1800's on it.
FWIW, I am a Michigander now and I'd love to come see your project, and also talk off line.....
Best Regards,
Anthony j. Liberatore
p.s. I got a thing for T-Crafts and now Clipped ones, anyone know if their is any chance the Swick T will ever re-emerge as an STC or could you convice a FSDO to let you do a one-time STC or 337 to mimic it even if you didn't purchase their serial numbered plans-etc?Comment
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Re: Floatplane project
Clarification, I did get my ticket in my the early 90's but I like many am not current. I do a little writing for now a number of publications when I can. My best, AnthonyComment
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Re: Floatplane project
Hi Anthony, thanks for the info on Walter,also to the Knowledge Squirrel for the link,lots of history there.My email is [email protected] if you want,drop a line and I'll give you my ph# so we can talk.Regards..........MikeComment
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Re: Floatplane project
Hey Guys? How's the Floatplane project coming???Comment
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Re: Floatplane project
Hey Sean,project is going well,somthing like 90% done and 90% to go! We have the fuselage pretty much the way we want it,just trying to figure out the trim scheme.We were going to paint it up like the coast guard a/c,but we are finding there me be some legal issues with that.I've been stalled a little due to shoulder surgery,but hope to get back to work soon.Sorry to here about your paperwork woes.I know how that goes,generally everything can be fixed with the fed it's just how long that's the issue.We also stripped the wings yesterday and found 1 mouse nest and a couple birds nests, will inspect the spars etc this week.Stop by sometime if you're around Jerry has a key to the hanger if i'm not there.Good luck with your a/c......Comment
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