Year in Review-from Harry Ingram

[captjon]

I spoke to Harry Ingram this afternoon. He had just finished up this "Year in Review" which I said I would post for him. This it! The word is out! Sport Pilots take notice!...............................

Taylorcraft Year in Review 2004

This has been a great year for Taylorcraft. We have spent the last two years unpacking, repairing, sorting, cleaning, and adjusting thousands of tools, jigs and templates. Our engineering department has completed sorting through the 20,000 drawings and updating most material change orders. Our updated Master Drawing List is ready for FAA approval.

May 11, 2004 was a big day for Taylorcraft. On that date, we received all approvals to build, and sell any and all Taylorcraft parts for new aircraft production and support all Taylorcrafts with Factory replacement parts. Our service department is up and running strong. We have ten aircraft in for full restoration. We have repaired many airframes, landing gear and wings. It is very satisfying seeing a damaged airframe leave here looking new. Seven of the aircraft are now ready for re-covering and new paint.

2004 gave us the education needed to build new aircraft and parts. When President Bush told the nation he was working hard and its hard work, I truly understand. Projects that I thought would take a day or two at most, might take weeks or months to complete. To build a Certified Aircraft or any part you must follow every process and procedure to the letter and this can be very time consuming.

It would be easy to blame the FAA for all delays, but this is not the case. Our FAA inspector is very helpful and excited to see new Taylorcrafts fly again. The delays have been mainly up-dating materials and process in manufacturing.

Sport Pilot Approved

This changed everything. The phone calls and e-mails for information for our new Taylor Sport are very exciting, and what a great airplane! The Taylor Sport is a new F19 with hydraulic brakes and large fuel tanks. Our Sport Aircraft will have a new Certified 0-200-A engine and will be built using the same processes and procedures as our FAA Certified aircraft. (A Real Airplane)

Taylorcraft Aviation will offer two aircraft that qualify for Sport Aviation pilots.

2005 Taylor Sport & 2005 Taylor Cub

Yes, we are going to build the Taylor Cub. It will have Taylorcraft wings and a new Certified Continental 0-200-A engine. Both aircrafl will sell for $59,995.00.

Poor communications from the factory is our #1 complaint and I apologize for this. It was necessary to keep our staff and expenses at a minimum until we got all needed approvals and set up for full production. So every time the phone rang, it was for me and I did my best. A new year is here and with it brings much excitement for Taylorcraft. In January, we will add a number of employees with the focus on our F22 and Taylor Sport production, also a business manager, parts manager and service manager. This means fewer calls for me.

Many people have contacted me, inquiring about Taylorcraft dealerships. We have 27 aircraft now sold and in production and with the new Taylor Sport and Taylor Cub I believe we will sell out our 2005 production capacity by April or May. For this reason I have decided to retain four aviation professionals to act as our Factory Representatives and charge them with the responsibility to set up our Dealer body for 2006. Captain Jon Timlin-East Coast, Jim Zangger-Central, Gary Owens- Mountain States, and Tom Walters-West Coast. These individuals have each contributed to the success of this company and they will have full authority to sell new aircraft, appraise trade-ins and award Taylorcraft Dealerships to qualified applicants.

We hope to have our web site updated by January 15th and it will include the 1-800 numbers of our representatives. Please direct e-mails to [email protected]

The Factory Fly-In is set for May 21st. Hope all can attend. Forrest has promised a great show and if you liked last year's attendance gift, don't miss this year's. I hope to get Randy Henderson and the Texas T-Cart back this year.

Sun-N-Fun--we will have our new F22 and our Taylor Sport.

Air Venture-Oshkosh--we hope to add the Taylor Cub. Forrest is working with the Taylor Family for a great event.


The FAA has just approved Mike Rice of Aerolearn.com to open an A&P school here in the factory.

Our local Airport Advisory Board has expressed an interest in investigating the possibility of building a C. G. Taylor/Taylorcraft museum. I will support 100% the Taylor Family's wishes.

Thank you and God bless,

Harry

[henryawehrli]

Re: Year in Review-from Harry Ingram

I had a wing repaired by Taylorcraft in 2003-2004 (after a ground loop) and finally received it 9 months after its parts were sent LaGrange Texas (11/03 to 8/04). Both wing spars were broken very close to where the struts attached - which made it necessary to replace both spars. I know I hit Harry with a job that was ill-timed in terms of his business development. My BIG complaint is that Harry does NOT tell you the truth!!!!! about your project status. In my case it went from 1 week to 9 months! Progress on the repair was COMPLETELY misleading. All I wanted was an honest report of the repair status.

Sorry Harry but the truth is the truth

Hank Wehrli

[email protected]

[3696T]

Re: Year in Review-from Harry Ingram

If everything is going so great at the factory, why has Harry consistently lied to us about the status of the spars we ordered last March? Now he won't refund our money, but every time you call him he says the check's in the mail.

[henryawehrli]

Re: Year in Review-from Harry Ingram

Articles by Meg Godlewski
What's up with Taylorcraft?

Meg Godlewski

12/10/2004

It has been more than two years since Harry Ingram bought the assets of the Taylorcraft Aviation Co. and set up a factory in LaGrange, Texas, with intentions of producing the tried and true F-22 design. When General Aviation News interviewed Ingram in May 2003, he predicted the first aircraft would be delivered by Aug. 15, 2003.

But, the plans of mice and men — and apparently aircraft manufacturers — often do not go according to schedule. When we interviewed Ingram in September 2004, he stated that no aircraft had been delivered yet and predicted it would be the end of October before deliveries began. When we spoke with him in October, he said December was a more likely timeframe.

"This is a new process for us," Ingram said. "We have these old drawings that we have to update with new materials, then the drawings have to be approved by the FAA."

He concedes he underestimated how long it would take to get the production line into operation.

"Getting the permits we needed took longer than we thought it would," he said in a telephone interview. "We purchased the company two-and-a-half years ago and applied for the permit to build the F-22 under Part 21 Subpart F 21.123 or production under Type Certificate only. That means the FAA has to inspect every aircraft we build. We also applied for Parts Manufacturing Authority so that we could build spare parts for all 23 models listed on the Type Certificate. It took until May 11 of this year to get the PMA. It took us two years to get the wing drawings into shape and prove to the FAA that we could do this correctly."

CHECKERED HISTORY

Taylorcraft began in the 1920s when C.G. and Gordon Taylor decided to build a small plane that didn't break the bank. The first design was the two-seat Chummy. Over the years production has started and stopped like a school bus along its route. Ingram is the sixth owner the company has had in the last 17 years. The last time the F-22 was mass produced was 11 years ago.

According to Ingram, the company is working with the FAA in order to get a production certificate so that they can mass produce aircraft. In the meantime, the company will build a few at a time under the Type Certificate.

That's perfectly legal, says Robert Robino, manager of the FAA's San Antonio manufacturing and inspection district office, but it makes more work for his office.

"If the company holds the Type Certificate to an aircraft, which Taylorcraft does, then it has the right to produce that aircraft," Robino said. "But there is a tremendous amount of FAA involvement while producing under the TC because the FAA has to inspect the aircraft at regular intervals, such as when the frames are welded together, then after they get covered and so forth."

Acquiring the production certificate involves a lot of paperwork to show the FAA that the design is sound and that the company has quality control measures in place, Robino says. The fact that Taylorcraft has been around in one form or another for so many years is both a blessing and a curse in this respect.

"Even when you buy a design that has been around a long time, you still have to take the time to get your production line going and you have to figure out where to put the tools in the factory," he says. "We have to make sure they have the capability to build this aircraft, such as do they have all the tools and fixtures and do they know how to use them. They are coming up to speed, but you need to understand it takes time. There's a lot of information out there on this aircraft, but it has traveled around from holder to holder. They are digging through boxes trying to find everything. They also need to write a quality control manual. When they produce a full aircraft, they will need to establish flight test procedures. They have to have a quality control system in place that covers everything from the raw materials coming into the factory to assembly to the end aircraft going out the door. The fact they have the PMA means they have an approved system in place. They can keep producing parts and use that system as they work incrementally toward production of a complete aircraft."

STARTS WITH PARTS

When the company opened its doors, Ingram's first priority was supplying existing Taylorcraft owners with parts. While most owners were pleased that someone was carrying on the line, there were also some growing pains.

General Aviation News received phone calls and emails from Taylorcraft owners who ordered replacement parts from Ingram's operation and said that the parts were old stock produced years ago and not airworthy. Others said they ordered parts and were promised delivery dates, but when the parts didn't arrive on time and they called to ask about them, Ingram allegedly gave them excuses or misled them about the factory's ability to make the parts.

Craig Helm says his problems with the factory began in October 2003 when he tried to get replacement fuel tanks for his aircraft. When he contacted the factory, Ingram told him replacement tanks would be ready in 10 days.

"Ten days came and went with no tanks," said the Graham, Texas resident. "So Steve Pierce, my mechanic, and I asked Harry if he could build us a tank to our specifications as an owner-produced part. He agreed and said we'd have the tank within a week. That week came and went."

Ingram blamed the delays on paperwork issues with the FAA, Helm said.

"He told us the tanks were done except for the FAA approval. Then Steve contacted someone at the factory, who let it slip that they were not even working on the fuel tanks and that nothing had been submitted to the FAA," he said. "We were told the fuel tanks were a low priority."

Helm kept calling Ingram to find out the status of the replacement tanks.

"Harry told me they had some problems with the FAA, but that he would have a tank built by Friday," he said. "This call was made on Tuesday. I told Harry I would call on Friday and see how things were coming. When I called on Friday, Harry said the tank was not complete, but that the sheet metal had been cut and all that was lacking was to weld it together. We agreed again that this tank would be identical to the existing F21B tanks without the tabs.

A few days later he called to say the new tank was ready. I hired a driver to make the five-hour trip to LaGrange to pick up the tank. Instead of a new tank, I got a used tank with the tabs cut off. You could see where it had been drilled out of the wing of another F-22."

Frustrated, Helm posted his experiences on the Internet on the Taylorcraft Foundation Discussion Forum, on a message board titled "problems dealing with Harry Ingram and the factory".

"I knew there had to be other aircraft owners out there that were having similar problems and I didn't want them wasting their time or money too," said Helm.

"We had a fuel tank issue," Ingram concedes. "We had to redesign it. That took six months longer than I thought it would."

Ingram notes that he did not charge Helm for the replacement tank.

"It's not about the money," said Helm. "I just wish he had been up front with us from the beginning because then we could have approached the problem from a different angle. Instead he strung me along for three or four months."

Ingram is understandably defensive about the criticism he's received, noting that he has worked with customers to try to solve their problems.

Some of the comments on the web board were irrational rants and personal attacks on Ingram and others, by people hiding behind screen names. The posts became so abusive that the board administrator had an email trace done to find the guilty parties. Moderators then pulled the negative comments and the administrator of the site established a policy forbidding the posting of any negative comments about Taylorcraft or dealings with the factory.

That decision worries some former posters. GAN received an email from one man who expressed concern that other people would not be able to do due diligence before they put down $60,000 for a new airplane.

The San Antonio Better Business Bureau has not received any complaints about the Taylorcraft Co.



WILD ABOUT HARRY

Ingram does have his fans. Anyone who can produce a new aircraft that sells for $60,000 is going to be popular with pilots. GAN heard from several people who are pulling for Ingram and looking forward to getting parts from the factory or have had a chance to visit the facility and are planning to buy one of the new Taylorcrafts.

"I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt," stated Lee Dautreuil from New Iberia, La. "I would like to see the business do well. Right now I feel comfortable, we will see in another month or two what is happening. I don't think Harry understood the industry and how it works and how long it takes to build things and get FAA approval. Once that happens, I think the aircraft will move out pretty quick. This will be easier than someone starting out with a new design because the airplane has a proven record of 70 years."

Ingram said he's looking forward to manufacturing TaylorSports, which are aircraft that fall into the new Light Sport Aircraft category.

"We're ready to do it," he said. "We have seven of them sold already."

http://www.Taylorcraft.com

http://www.VB.Taylorcraft.org

General Aviation News - 800.426.8538
P.O. Box 39099
Lakewood, WA 98439
[email protected]
___________________________________________
Here are my personal thoughts;
I think the above article by Meg says it all. We Taylorcraft owners want them to succeed because we all eventually new replacement parts,etc. But we also want to be treated HONESTLY, with respect and a belief that what we are promised will be delivered in a timely fashion. And this just is not happening!

Hank Wehrli

[Robert Lees]

Re: Year in Review-from Harry Ingram

This article came out a while ago.

[ROllerton]

Re: Year in Review-from Harry Ingram

I have to say that a part of her story is simply not true.

"and the administrator of the site established a policy forbidding the posting of any negative comments about Taylorcraft or dealings with the factory."

I don't know what led her to think this was the case. She never talked to me. I should have said something when it came out but I was too busy or too chicken to stick my neck out at the time.

Let me just be on the record that the Truth is welcome here. Good or bad. As long as its honest, identify fact from opinion, and no nasty personal attacks. I also think the Taylorcraft clan is an open minded, fun loving, and forgiving group of people, so its not often you read anything negative here. When there is something negative, there is an underlying plea or tone for the offender to just make things right and all would be forgotten. Taylorcraft people are the best.

In the whole history of the mail list and this forum I have only had to remove one user, and that was for hiding behind a made up name and making repetitive insulting remarks about the other members. One of the moderators and I did agree to remove that "persons" caustic and questionable postings. So thats it, the only one , in the past 9 years (!).

This forum is free in several ways, first you dont pay anything, and next you are free to say anything you want in good taste as long as you can back it up.

I do wish the best for Harry, his partners and employees, and the people that have done business with him. Other than that I have been and remain hopeful but neutral on the topic of the new factory.