Hi guys and gals, I've been poking around your site for awhile and figured since im a young pilot i'd join to get all the help i can. I recently bought an old prewar Tcraft with 26 inch goodyears, ugly 1320 floats and landis 2000 skiis to the tune of 22k. the plane looks ugly but i really checked it out and it seems mechanically sound. the 0-200 engine has around 1100 smoh but the guy i got it from was flying it atleast once a week so i figure thats a good thing. anyways i havent flown (substantialy) for about 2 years before that i was flying pretty regularly and have about 120 hrs under my belt, I know im still a greenhorn! all of my time before this was in c-172's c-150's and surprisingly DA-20's which i actually got my private it. im thinking that getting my license in the DA-20 will help me with landings on the tcraft due to no flaps (the 20 has them but even with its more of a glider than a plane!) My 1st question is with not flying recently should i start out in my tcrate with an instructor or just go get checked out in the 172 at the local fbo and go practice landings and takeoffs for 3-4 hrs? im leaning toward the second even though it will cost more because i have zero tailwheel time and no(hull) insurance. second i think i should learn how to fly my plane with an instructor, not another tailwheel with an instructor but now a days its seems harder to find one that will teach you in your aircraft. and third i've seen where people said that the 1320 were way underfloated for the t-craft (specialy that mine has the 1500lb increase) also my 1320's have dual rudders? i thought they only have single rudders?

Thanks for any imput all of you, im glad to finaly be an aircraft owner, i was tired of being the kid with a drivers license and no car! btw nice site

My first plane was the ugliest PA-12 I had ever seen before I bought it.
I also checked it out. It checked OK so I bought it.
The second after I bought it it was the most beautiful thing ever.I flew it a couple of years ugly before I re-painted it.
This is why you got a good deal on your plane. Floats, wheels and skis for that price is good.
I flew a J-3 on 1320s and never had a problem with them. They also had duel water rudders. These will help you control the plane and it will turn when you want it to. It might be a little dicey going up stream with a heavy load in a river eddy and turning out into the current but other wise they will be OK. I also like the look of the 1320 float as it looks like a little Beaver float.
Don't worry about the looks unless it is going to attract unwanted FAA attention.
GJ

AlpineTCraft wrote:...should i start out in my tcrate with an instructor or just go get checked out in the 172 at the local fbo and go practice landings and takeoffs for 3-4 hrs? im leaning toward the second even though it will cost more because i have zero tailwheel time and no(hull) insurance. second i think i should learn how to fly my plane with an instructor, not another tailwheel with an instructor but now a days its seems harder to find one that will teach you in your aircraft...

No tailwheel time and no insurance sounds like all the more reason to find instruction in your plane. Even if you hit the pattern in a rented 172 for 3-4 hours, those things wouldn't change. Some stick and rudder would translate, and some of the radio and traffic pattern refresher would probably serve you well, but it wouldn't really make you any more qualified to take the Tcraft up solo when you were done, IMO. (If you do go that route, though, you should slip the 172 in with no flaps, and stay off the brakes to help you prepare )

If you already had a TW endorsement, I'd say you could look around for someone that was highly qualified, but not necessarily a current CFI, to help keep you bending anything in the first couple hours in the Tcraft.

BTW, I learned in a T-craft that I bought upfront, and then swapped it out for a 170B after a couple years.

Anyway, welcome to the site, congrats on the new wings, and good luck!

-Denalipilot

Don't forget to legally fly a TW airplane you need a TW endorsement in your logbook. I would HIGHLY discourage you from just jumping in and trying it on your own. I thought I was I greatest 172 pilot on the planet and I could not even keep a Champ on the runway the first time I tried to take off. It does not take much to figure it out but it also does not take much for an epic expensive fail either.

Alpine:

T Crates are great birds, so don't worry about the looks. It is a great airplane to learn the art of tailwheel flying in. I also agree that if it is solid mechanically, with 26 inch tires, floats, etc, you got a good deal. What it lacks in looks, it makes up in class.

I also agree with the advice given about getting straight to it. Your insurance will allow you to fly with TW qualified instructor to get the minimum hours to get in the air. Make sure you get someone with lots of TW time and also make sure you spend lots of time working on the cross wind work. Maybe if you find the right instructor, you can take them fishing and get him to sign off the time so you can get soloed quicker!

Have fun man. T Crafts are great old airplanes.


Regards, Larry

Just saw you're in Southcentral. Do Not Pass GO. Go Directly to Arctic Flyers and ask for Heidi.

-DP

Get the instructions in the Tail wheel , get your license in the tail wheel. Put your money into the aircraft you own and are going to fly!

Thanks Guys! really appreciate all the input. I guess i'll just go the route of getting the endoresment in my aircraft. i'll probably have to start out learning the tw stuff in another bird cause mine only has pilot side breaks. after i get the brakes down i figure i can go to my aircraft for the rest. im starting to think about insurance now (at least for the first year just to protect my invetsment) incase something dumb does happen. I know about falcon anybody have any other insurance ideas?

Arctic Flyers has Taylorcrafts for Dual. Wheel and float. Not sure, Heidi might even be willing to use your plane. Worth asking. They're on Lake Hood.

-DP

Hey DP yeah i called them about a week ago and yes they do have the 100hp taylorcrafts. they want me to get hull insurance if we use my aircraft and at least the first 4 hrs in theirs because mine has only brake peddles on the pilot side. im thinking about getting the insurance cause i'll save some money on using my aircraft + i want to learn how to fly my aircraft as evey aircraft is particular. they were also a little hesitant about my aircraft having 26 inch goodyears and hydrolic clevlands vs. they're mechanical cable breaks as the cleavlands canbe more touchy if hit accidentaly. Thanks for the info and advise DP and everyone else honestly i'll take all i can get

I'll second the notion of flying with Heidi. You won't go wrong, and you wont' find many instructors with more experience in T-Craft. Heidi is a great instructor in any case,

MTV

Dang, you got floats, skis, Goodyears and Cleavelands for $22K?! You scored big Next I'm expecting you'll add that it has an electrical system!

Nice Job

-DP

Haha we will see only time will tell if it was a good deal or not! im pretty confident though. the fabric is good wings were done in 02' and fusalage in 96' motor in the early 90's but like i said it was flow nearly 400hrs in the past 2 and a half years. we just did an anual on it and the previous owner and i tore out all the interior to inspect the tubing(of course with an authorized A&P/IA). it all checked out good. the compression tests were 75,75,73 and 67 the ones a little low but it passes and the motor seems to develop good power. YES DP it does have electrical with a skytech starter and B&C alternator landing light and wigtip strobes and position lights, also has the giant skylight and 2plc intercom system with dual ptt on the yokes. the paint was improperly applied though and is starting to come off i think the original application was done rather poorly but i also drive a 76 ford pickup so i really dont care! I almost want to do the whole thing silver eventualy just to keep it cheap. the floats are ugly but servicable. they just need new spreder bars talked to a guy in canada that will drill out the tubes and ship for around 700 bucks the date tag on the floats says 1939 haha so the whole plane is prewar. I also told the last owner when i saw the floats that they looked like the boat at my duck shack haha, and they do!. i also got a complete set of cowl,windshield,wing and tail covers with it. the previous owner was a real nice young man himself he just wanted to get into a supercub project. Im pretty sure im going to go with Artic they seem to know what there talking about and if insurance is low enough i plan to get it for the first year or two at the least. You guys are all right, good instruction is probably one of the most important things a pilot can get, specially a low time one like myself! Thanks again for everything DP, MTV and everyone else i really appreciate it! My dad and I have two remote cabins on lakes plus a duck shack and the only way we have ever been able to access them is by chartering or an 8 hr snowmachine ride so you can bet im pretty excited to get in the air! When i get some hours in this thing and get confident anyone of you guys is welcome to follow me out for some remote hunting and fishing. its the least i can do for helping me make some of these crucial desisions. thanks again
-ATC
-

some pics from last summer. bird is still running great just pulled the skis off and back on the 26's. put on about 120 hours since last spring.thanks again for the help guys, gotta love the little beater!

Just remember, even when renting you still need insurance. The FBO's insurance covers them, not you.

If you learn in a nose dragger, you'll still need to learn how to fly a tailwheel AND you'll have to unlearn bad nose dagger habits. If you learn in your airplane, you'll have the concepts and foundation to fly any nose dragger.

AlpineTCraft wrote:
some pics from last summer. bird is still running great just pulled the skis off and back on the 26's. put on about 120 hours since last spring.thanks again for the help guys, gotta love the little beater!

Looks like you're living the dream. Awesome!

Thanks for the update! It's always good to see old threads surface once in a while. Looks like your having a good time and that's what it's all about!!

Glad to see it all working out for you

-DP

Thanks guys! Its pretty much been a learning curve going out to bristol bay for 3 months last summer really taught me to work winds sometimes up to 40mph gusts tried not to go anywhere were crosswinds were over 12-15 and tried to keep a dirt road in mind that would be lined up with the winds just in case sinsce there arent many trees. ski flying this winter was amazing aswell learing when to keep the gas on and when not to and using the edges of treelines to determine how high up i was in flat light. pretty much its been the realization of a dream....it will pretty much come full circle when i get my floats on in the next couple years. I like working the wheels for now in bristol....keeps ya on your toes! here are some more pics. Ill be headed out again to bristol in a few weeks so all have a good summer. AlpineT

There's something awfully familiar-looking about that T-Craft: