N96043 1946 bc12-d

[Bravo 6]

Acquired this beauty from a good friend that I helped with his restoration of her back in the mid '90's. He always promised me first shot at her when he decided to let her go. I took possession back in October of 2008. Lots of little projects to get her in tip top shape. Brought her home to Texas last October. 28 hour flight from Redmond, OR to Houston (Brookshire), TX with my wife of one year as my copilot! More to follow.

[barnstmr]

Re: N96043 1946 bc12-d

Greg,
Thats a really nice lookin bird. Really nice hangar too. I hope to meet you and your wife at the Fly-in in March.

[Bravo 6]

Re: N96043 1946 bc12-d

Thanks Terry. Really hoping that we are able to make it too. If we can have a couple more wet weeks of weather I think we will be there!?

[Bravo 6]

Re: N96043 1946 bc12-d

BTW, the Navion and J-3 belong to my hangar mates (and the C-185 not shown). I am renting a spot in the hangar on Sport Flyers Airpark (27XS). So far a lot of great 'aviation' folks there! Really nice place to be with a Taylorcraft.

[Larry Lyons]

Re: N96043 1946 bc12-d

My first thought when I saw your pics and all that grass was: I think I could like this place! L

[Bravo 6]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

Doing a little sprucing up?!

Time for the annual and to address a few items that were creeping up. Short List:

Replace leaky main fuel tank (note Hank's recommended test of new tank! )
Replace cracked/patched bottom sheet of boot cowl
Replace patched/drilled glare shield
Replace bent and worn floor boards
R&R bungee cords and safety cables
Overhaul three cylinders (did the other one last year)
Clean up and repaint numerous items to include struts, tail brace wires, window tubing, engine and mount, etc,,,
Replace all cowling from the firewall forward to include a NOS nose bowl!

Lots done but much more to do, a few pictures of the process.

[3Dreaming]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

It may be just me, but I think the tail brace wires should be cad plated and not painted.

[M Towsley]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

Tom,

I really respect your, (and your dad's) abilities in restoration and repair. I am curious as to why CAD and not paint. All of mine have been painted. CAD plating I thought utilized heat and if done improperly could result in further problems. I am basing this on a local CAD plating service who has done some non-airplane work for me. Thanks for your opinion on this.

[M Towsley]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

There is a great Youtube video showing that drag, Hank.

I believe it is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftq8jTQ8ANE

[3Dreaming]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

Marty, tail wires can crack and break. When painted it can hide a problem. With the round wires our airplanes use it is not as big of a problem as it is with streamlined wires.

[M Towsley]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

Thank, Tom.

[Scott]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

I have not seen a broken round wire, but I've seen a broken streamline wire (not sure the exact material but some form of stainless/corrosion resistant steel). It was on a Pitts S1 and it broke exactly where you would expect, between the lock nut (left hand thread) and the attach fitting. I recall the fracture point indicated that a crack existed before the complete failure but of course, as diligent as the pilot/mechanics were, there was no way to detect the pending failure through visual inspection without backing off the nut. Even then cracks in thread valleys are tough to spot.

My suspicion remains that at some point in the aircraft's history the lock nut was over tightened, however this Pitts was used in unlimited aerobatic competition and had a boosted IO360 (advanced for its day).... the wires would occasionally "sing" at high air speeds (a problem you won't likely experience on a Tcraft) so I'm sure that didn't help. Fortunately the wings were built with double wires so no harm done.

One great thing about cadmium is that is is sacrificial i.e. it oxidizes instead of the surrounding metal. It's also very soft so by the time you've adjusted and secured your flying wire, the cad might be mostly gone... right at the point you need it most. My intention is to paint mine over the body but not the threads. The threads will get a non hardening thread sealer. Years ago I maintained a Grumman Goose that was operated in both fresh and salt water. We used either a marine thread sealer (clear so it looks presentable) or a yellow compound we used to call "baby sh*t." I don't currently have a source for either but I'm sure they're available in some form or another. The Yellow stuff we had at the time was by Aerospatiale helicopters now part of EADS.

JMO - my view is a non-hardening compound is the only truly effective way of preventing corrosion on the unseen portion of threaded parts.

[3Dreaming]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

When I see wires with a thick coat of glossy paint I really wonder what is under the paint. If you are going to paint I would do a thin coat of something like a silver Rustoleum ,and clean and redo every year or as needed.

[Scott]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

When I see wires with a thick coat of glossy paint I really wonder what is under the paint. If you are going to paint I would do a thin coat of something like a silver Rustoleum ,and clean and redo every year or as needed.

I hear you. Of course that would apply to every other key element of the airframe with paint on it. At some point we need to look beyond the more emotional assessment to objective risk assessment or we'd never get in the airplane. Flying wires have been around a long time, failure rate is very very low, fatalities due to failure even lower, perhaps even nonexistent in terms of risk statistical significance. Failure of one flying wire does not necessarily mean a loss of control.

Maybe because they're out there in plain sight, and look kind of basic, even puny, we pay them more attention than they deserve. We certainly need to pay attention to them, but there appears to be a much greater probability (though still very very low) that the lower flying wire attachment point pulls away from the fuselage tube because it is corroded from the inside.

[Marv]

Re: N96043 1946 BC12-D

Why not clear coat them without painting them. This will protect them and you can still see any problems that may occur.