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My interest in the Taylorcraft started at a very young age. My dad was a pilot, and our family airplane was a little yellow Taylorcraft that he purchased and restored several years before I was born. Almost as soon as I could walk he started taking me along for Sunday morning flights in the airplane, and it was not too long after that that I was working the controls in flight and “flying” the little ship. I was 5 years old or so when he sold the airplane, but the aviation “hook” was set and my life’s path followed aviation.
The family jewel, circa 1970
A Mooney showed up in the family a few years later, but it was not until my late 20’s, marriage, and nearing the end of an Air Force enlistment that I decided to get serious about learning to fly. Fast forward another 20 years and I’ve lost Dad (12 years now), as well as worked my way up the performance food chain to a Harmon Rocket, but that little T-cart has never completely lost its hold. I’d kept very loose tabs on the airplane over the years and in the 80’s it was reported to be disintegrating on a back tiedown somewhere in the SF Bay Area, but I’d never made the move to make contact with the owner. That changed recently when I ran across a bunch of old pictures of “Dad’s” airplane and I decided to actually write a letter to the owner. I included a picture of the airplane “back in the day” and a brief description of my relationship with the little crate. I included a phone number and email on the off chance he would give me a status update – and the longshot: was it for sale?
I dropped that letter in the mailbox on Monday, and on Saturday morning received a phone call from the owner. Yep, the airplane is still in one piece, and yep, it is available. Long story short: A deal was struck, I inspected the airplane and it’s now back home in my family after a 43 year hiatus.
The family jewel, April, 2016
This one is a fairly unremarkable example of a 1940 BL-65 aside from the strong sentimental attachment. I have no plans to “upgrade” the airplane because the little Lycoming will perform its mission of evening flights around the pattern of my private strip just fine. The 10 hour ferry flight home was likely to be the last cross country trip the airplane will ever make. Additionally, my wife has finally decided to learn to fly after thousands of miles of cross country time in our other airplanes, and she has latched onto the T-cart as “hers”. Despite my being trained the “modern” way, I am very definitely a strong believer in fundamental stick and rudder skills, so the Taylorcraft will make a fine trainer. Its typical prewar adverse yaw and low power will hone her basic flying to a razor edge.
It has been a long time since I’ve flown a prewar light aircraft and this has been my only Taylorcraft, so I am having to make some adjustments. I’m used to 3-4000 FPM climb and 200+KTAS in cruise with the Rocket, so this is a whole different animal. However, it is a hoot to fly and I only intend to get it rigged right and maintain it in excellent condition. I want a time machine from 1940, so that’s how this one will stay.
The family jewel, circa 1970
A Mooney showed up in the family a few years later, but it was not until my late 20’s, marriage, and nearing the end of an Air Force enlistment that I decided to get serious about learning to fly. Fast forward another 20 years and I’ve lost Dad (12 years now), as well as worked my way up the performance food chain to a Harmon Rocket, but that little T-cart has never completely lost its hold. I’d kept very loose tabs on the airplane over the years and in the 80’s it was reported to be disintegrating on a back tiedown somewhere in the SF Bay Area, but I’d never made the move to make contact with the owner. That changed recently when I ran across a bunch of old pictures of “Dad’s” airplane and I decided to actually write a letter to the owner. I included a picture of the airplane “back in the day” and a brief description of my relationship with the little crate. I included a phone number and email on the off chance he would give me a status update – and the longshot: was it for sale?
I dropped that letter in the mailbox on Monday, and on Saturday morning received a phone call from the owner. Yep, the airplane is still in one piece, and yep, it is available. Long story short: A deal was struck, I inspected the airplane and it’s now back home in my family after a 43 year hiatus.
The family jewel, April, 2016
This one is a fairly unremarkable example of a 1940 BL-65 aside from the strong sentimental attachment. I have no plans to “upgrade” the airplane because the little Lycoming will perform its mission of evening flights around the pattern of my private strip just fine. The 10 hour ferry flight home was likely to be the last cross country trip the airplane will ever make. Additionally, my wife has finally decided to learn to fly after thousands of miles of cross country time in our other airplanes, and she has latched onto the T-cart as “hers”. Despite my being trained the “modern” way, I am very definitely a strong believer in fundamental stick and rudder skills, so the Taylorcraft will make a fine trainer. Its typical prewar adverse yaw and low power will hone her basic flying to a razor edge.
It has been a long time since I’ve flown a prewar light aircraft and this has been my only Taylorcraft, so I am having to make some adjustments. I’m used to 3-4000 FPM climb and 200+KTAS in cruise with the Rocket, so this is a whole different animal. However, it is a hoot to fly and I only intend to get it rigged right and maintain it in excellent condition. I want a time machine from 1940, so that’s how this one will stay.
, and a hearty welcome to you here.
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