Author: Terry

Taylorcraft 15 Tourist / Foursome / 16

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Taylorcraft 15A

In the late 1940s and the early 1950s the people at Taylorcraft wanted to better cash in on the coming boom in general aviation. The boom never happened, but its promise generated a Taylorcraft big enough for the whole family.

The idea of a four-place aircraft began in 1945 as the war ended. A prototype was built at that time, but it never got out of the development stage. According to the book, The Taylorcraft Story by Chet Peek, the prototype began as a tube-and-fabric aircraft at the Taylorcraft plant in Alliance, Ohio, and was dubbed the Tourist. development stopped with the bankruptcy of the company.

Taylorcraft 15 prototype NX36320

When the Taylorcraft company was bought by Ben Mauro and moved to Conway, Pennsylvania, the model went with him but wasn’t developed further until 1949. Prototype NX36320] had a 125hp Franklin and the Model 15A, which retained the Tourist moniker, was intended to have a 125-horsepower Franklin engine. First flying on 1 December 1944, concerns that Franklin might go out of business caused a switch to 145-horsepower Continental C-145 engine.

The 15A features three large doors – a fourth was optional – slotted wing tips to improve aileron effectiveness at slow airspeeds, and the same door handles used for Nash automobiles.

It has a wing with wooden spars and stamped-aluminum ribs. C.G. Taylor, the founder and former owner, was working with Mauro as a vice president when he was asked to take weight out of the airplane; he took 150 pounds out but he never touched the wings. For stress testing during the wing’s design, it was hung from the roof of the factory and loaded with increasing weight over the course of an afternoon. Mauro got bored waiting for it to break and went back to his office. Finally the workers heard a crack and thought the wing had failed, but it hadn’t: The roof beam of the factory had cracked from the weight of the still-intact and heavily loaded wing.

Preflight includes draining two tank sumps and the gascolator. The tanks are covered by fabric. Features include side window panels that slide up and down and an overhead trim control. The preflight also includes the gas caps. Because they use forward-facing vent tubes, care must be taken not to install them backward, which can result in siphoning out gas in flight.

The interior is tight enough that you must fly with someone you like, but it is not uncomfortable. Steel tubes of the airframe limit foot space. Original avionics included Narco tube radios (an outside vent channeled air to cool the tubes).

Takeoff requires a 10-degree flap setting using a mechanical lever on the floor. (Takeoff with two people aboard took less than the advertised 500 feet). True airspeed measured at typical cruise power setting of 2,350 rpm was 85 knots (98 mph. Stalls with power on dropped the right wing.

Production began in 1947 at Conway, and later (c.1950) Collinsville. ATC 3A3 was first issued on April 3, 1951 for the 15-A with Franklin 6A4-150-B31 or 145hp Continental C-145-2 engines. Selling for $4,500 a total of 31 were built.

The original four-place 1953 demonstrator Taylorcraft 15A, N6653N, first went to a flight school in Texas where it was used for rides. Then it went to Alaska where in the 1950s and 1960s a church flew supplies to remote settlements until a shortage of parts led to dereliction. The aircraft sat in the weeds at Fairbanks International Airport in the 1970s until it left Alaska on a truck with the promise of restoration in Florida.

The restoration never happened, but two pilots in Alliance stepped in, restored it, then sold it to finance their North American T-6 restoration. Roe bought it in 1992 for $24,000 and brought it to Culpeper, Virginia. By 2010 it was owned by Robert Peterson of Mahaffey, Pennsylvania. It features a Lear Omnimatic navigation radio developed by Bill Lear, father of the Learjet.

Roe said. “I can use short fields – it probably made a heck of a bush plane in Alaska. If only it were a little faster.” He flight-plans for 105 mph and burns 8.5 gallons per hour; usable fuel totals 40 gallons. Roe uses 80 mph in the pattern, 70 on final, 60 over the numbers, and finds that touchdown occurs at 45 to 50 mph. The only modification he made was to add Fiberglas wing tips.

The Taylorcraft 16 of 1946 was an all-metal model 15 of which only one was built.

Taylorcraft 15-A Foursome
Engine: Franklin 6A4-150-B31, 150hp
Wingspan: 36’3″
Length: 24’0″
Useful load: 925 lb
Max speed: 125 mph
Cruise speed: 112 mph
Stall: 38 mph
Range: 450 mi
Seats: 4
TC 3A3 / ATC 775

Taylorcraft 15-A Tourist
Engine: Continental C-145-2, 145hp
Wingspan: 36’3″
Length: 24’0″
Seats: 4
TC 3A3 / ATC 775

Taylorcraft 500

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The 1959 Model 500 that was tested briefly before being canceled.

Mike Rodina of Hampshire, Illinois, has the only Taylorcraft 500 on the registry. Basically a Model 20, it had a fifth seat mounted at an angle in the cargo compartment. The rear seats tilted forward to allow access, but after brief experimentation the idea was dropped. The 500 was also to have a nosewheel and disk brakes. It got the brakes, but the nosewheel modification was never attempted.

Taylorcraft E-2 Cub / F-2 Cub / G-2 Cub / H-2 Cub

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Taylor E-2 Prototype NC10547 with C G Taylor and company pilot Bud Havens

Taylor first built a glider that looked like a small Breezy and the E 2 Cub evolved from towing that glider behind a car up and down the Bradford runway.

Designed by C. Gilbert Taylor in 1930 and produced as the Taylor E 2 Cub in 1931, much of the inspiration and many of the design goals for the airplane came from W.T. Piper, Sr. Taylor selected the U.S.A. 35B airfoil for the Cub. This airfoil had a reputation for providing favorable flying qualities at low speeds; all subsequent Cubs. The E 2 was open air except for a windshield and had squared off wingtips and tail surfaces. The tandem cockpit of the E 2 was without side windows, but a young man named Waiter Jamouneau, subsequently chief engineer and now a vice president at Piper, designed optional sliding side windows and a door arrangement that remain features of the Super Cub.

Reliable lightplane engines were virtually nonexistent when the E 2 was designed. For the first E 2, Taylor found a two cylinder engine of 20 horsepower. It was known as the Brownbach Tiger Kitten, and the name reportedly inspired the E 2 to be called the Cub. The plane handled fine on its first flight (in September 1930) but on 20 hp didn’t get too high five feet, actually The new Taylor E-2, now known as the “Cub,” was meant to be an affordable aircraft that would encourage interest in aviation and was awarded its type certificate on July 11, 1931 and licensed by the U.S. Department of Commerce for manufacture.

Twenty-two Taylor E-2 Cubs were sold during 1931, retailing for $1,325; by 1935, sales had increased to more than 200 E-2 Cubs.

A 45 hp, nine-cylinder French Salmson AD-9 was tried: its performance was spectacular, but it was too expensive.

Continental provided the solution with the A 40, a “40 hp” flat four that actually produced 37 hp. The E 2 was certified with this engine on June 15, 1932 and was put on the market for $1,325, or $1,495 with optional 40hp Aeromarine AR-3 engine, or $895 less motor.

Taylor E-2 NC14346 with AR-3 engine

Unfortunately, the early Continentals were giving trouble, for the engine company was using the Cubs as test beds. One of Piper’s five children, Tony, said that he rarely got more than 20 miles per forced landing. Sales to people who wanted to fly longer between stops were, naturally, a little sluggish. There was a frustrating period before Continental improved the A 40 during which Taylor actually started designing his own engine.

Continental added dual ignition and cured the annoyances of blowing head gaskets and breaking crankshafts.

Taylor E-2 NC15370 with A-40 engine

The Prototype (s/n 11) was powered by a 20 hp Brownbach Tiger Kitten and was first flown on September 12, 1930. The E2 barely managed to leave the ground with the tiger kitten, however the engine left a legacy in that it prompted one of C.G. Taylor’s colleagues to remark that since the engine was called the Tiger Kitten the E2 should be called the cub. The engine was deemed too weak and a 40 hp French Salmson was tried and deemed too expensive. Ultimately the decision was made to try a brand new and untried 40 hp engine from continental. That engine was an air cooled flat four cylinder designated the A-40. An uncertified A-40 was fitted to s/n 12 which was completed on April 9, 1931. The engine had a number of teething problems and Taylor has been quoted as saying that in the first 30 days of flying with the A-40 the E2 had to make 26 forced landings. It was also discovered that the crankshaft’s tended to break at around 100 hours.

Continental eventually worked the bugs out and the A-40 received its certification on May 15, 1931 which cleared the way for the E2 aircraft certification on June 15, 1931. The E2 was originaly certified under group 2, no 2-358 which covered the first 14 aircraft. The remaining aircraft were certified under ATC A455 which was issued on November 7, 1931 (covering s/n 26 and up.) The aircraft originaly sold for $1325 and no options were offered. The fuel tank was moved from the wing as shown on s/n 12 to the fuselage where it was located between the panel and the firewall starting with s/n 13. A fully enclosed cockpit was introduced on February 9, 1932 and became standard starting with s/n 35 and up.

Sales reflected the improvements, and 351 E 2s were produced between 1931 and 1936.

E-2

In the midst of the depression Continental announced that they were getting out of the aircraft engine business (a decision they later changed.) As a result the Aeromarine AR3-40 (40 hp) was installed starting with s/n 75 (3 Jan 34). This new configuration was designated the F2 cub. The Aeromarine was not satisfactory and several further engines were tried (models G2 with a Taylor designed T-40 and the H2 with a 35 hp Szekely SR-3-35.) Eventually Continental updated to the A-40-3 and this engine was used for s/n 178 and up.

The company was always sensitive to customer desires, and in 1936, Taylor introduced a refined Cub in order to incorporate design improvements as well as suggestions from the field. A young man named Walter Jamouneau was given the job of improving the E 2 resulting in the Piper J 2. In 1937 a fire destroyed the plant, prompting the company to relocate to a defunct textile mill in a town called Lock Haven. In November of 1937, the relocated company changed its name and became the Piper Aircraft Corporation.

The 1934 Taylor F-2 Cub (ATC 525) featured and open-sided cabin with optional side panels. Selling for $1,470, about 30 were built.

The 1934 Taylor G-2 Cub was an F-2 with a 40hp Taylor T-50 experimental motor. Only the one was coverted, N14756, which was rebuilt as an H-2 Cub in 1935.

The 1935 Taylor H-2 Cub (ATC 572) featured an open-sided cabin with optional side panels. Selling for $1,425, at least four were built.

Production Summary

YearModelQuantityS/N RangeNote
1931E-2 Prototype 111 
1931E-22112 to 32 
1932E-22233 to 54*
1933E-21855 to 72 
1934E-2173 
1934F-2 Prototype174 
1934E-2 & F-26475 to 139*
1934H-2 Prototype1140 
1934E-28141 to 148 
1935G-20149*
1935E-2 & H-2206150 to 358*
1936E-25359 to 380*
Total Production: 348

22 Aircraft in the batches marked * were not delivered. They were either not built or they were completed as later models and assigned new serial numbers.

Taylor E 2 Cub
Engine: Continental A 40, 36 hp
Length: 23 ft 3 in / 6.78 m
Wingspan: 35 ft 3 in / 10.74 m
Chord: 5 ft 3 in
Airfoil: USA 35B
Wing Area: 183 sq.ft
Empty Weight: 532 lb
Gross Weight: 925 lb
Useful Load: 393 lb
Gross Weight (ATC 455): 970 lb
Emp Weight (ATC 455): 556 lb
Useful Load (ATC 455): 414 lb
Fuel Qty: 9 gal (54 lb)
Oil: 1 gal (7 lb)
Fuel Consumption: 2.8 gph
Max speed: 74 kts / 137 km/h / 80 mph
Cruise speed: 68 mph
Stall: 28 mph
Best Climb: 450 fpm
Ceiling: 12,000 ft
Take off (ground run): 120 ft
Landing (ground roll): 95 ft
Range: 173 nm / 320 km
Crew: 2
Original Sales Price: $1325
Datum: Rear of Wing LE (aft positive)
CG Limits: +16 to +20.5 in
Incidence at Root: 2.5 deg
Incidence at Tip: 0 deg
Diehedral at Front Spar: 3/4 deg
Diehedral at Rear Spar: 1 deg
Horiz Stab Area: 24.2 sq.ft
Aileron Area: 9.77 sq.ft
Rudder Area: 7 sq.ft
Fin Area: 3 sq.ft

Taylor F-2 Cub
Engine: 40hp Aeromarine AR-3
Wingspan: 35’3″
Length: 22’0″
Useful load: 405 lb
Max speed: 85 mph
Cruise speed: 75 mph
Stall: 30 mph
Range: 240 mi
Seats: 2

Taylor F-2 Cub
Engine: 40hp Continental A-40
Wingspan: 35’3″
Length: 22’5″
Useful load: 407 lb
Max speed: 85 mph
Cruise speed: 70 mph
Stall: 29 mph
Range: 195 mi
Seats: 2

Taylor H-2 Cub
Engine: 35hp Szekely SR-3
Wingspan: 35’3″
Length: 22’0″
Useful load: 406 lb
Max speed: 80 mph
Cruise speed: 72 mph
Stall: 30 mph
Range: 215 mi
Seats: 2

Taylorcraft A / Taylor-Young Model A / Alliance A

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Taylorcraft A NC19866

The birth of Taylorcraft came in early 1936 when city fathers offered C G Taylor the old Hess-Argo factory rent-free in order to encourage new industry. William C Young entered the picture as a partner in April 1937, and city support was dramatically demonstrated in late 1937 in the sale to townspeople of more than 35,000 shares of company stock for needed capital.

The Taylorcraft A represents the first model series of the line, and it is powered by the 40-horsepower Continental A40-4 engine, one of the first to use opposed cylinders. The engine came out in the early 1930s and was used on the Taylor Cub that later became the Piper Cub. The huge tachometer, oil temperature gauge, and oil pressure gauge were bought by Taylorcraft from the same supplier that sold the units to the Dodge car company, and relabeled. (They were used in the early Luscombes, too.) As the model numbers increased, so did the number of doors: one with the A, two with the B, and three with the 15A and 20.

The prototype, NX16393 c/n 25, was built by Taylor Aviation Co under (2-529) and subsequent planes by Taylor-Young Airplane Co under (ATC 643). Selling in 1936 for $1,495 and $1,595 in 1938. With company reorganization in 1938 it gained a “craft” and the Taylor-Young A became known and advertised as Taylorcraft A.

Taylorcraft production includes 100 prewar Model As, 1800 military L-2s, more than 2800 post-war BC-12Ds, and more than 120 F-19 Sportsmans.

A total of 606 were built. Prototype NX16393, NC15757-15763, NC15776, NC18301-18347, NC18349-18373, NC19000-19099, NC19600-19699, NC19800-19818, NC19821-19895.

Fitted with special cooling sheath 1938

Engine: 40hp Continental A-40
Wingspan: 36’0″
Length: 22’0″
Useful load: 420 lb
Max speed: 91 mph
Cruise speed: 80 mph
Stall: 32 mph
Range: 240 mi
Seats: 2

Taylorcraft Glider

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Piper was new to the airplane business but not to business principles, so he asked Taylor to design an inexpensive, easy to fly trainer that the average person could afford to rent. Most of the training planes of the time were older, relatively heavy biplanes requiring correspondingly powerful engines. The cost of learning to fly was therefore quite high. Piper figured that an airplane cheap to buy and operate might cut that cost in half, enabling more people to fly, which would require operators to buy more planes from him.

Taylor first built a glider that looked like a small Breezy. Those who later called the Cubs powered gliders were not far from wrong, because the E 2 Cub evolved from towing that glider behind a car up and down the Bradford runway.

Taylorcraft Chummy / Arrowing Chummy / A-2 Chummy

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Arrowing Chummy NX4203

The Taylor Brothers Company had produced two two-place, side by side, high wing monoplanes called the Chummy. Designed by C G Taylor it was a fabric covered high wing airplane with a price tag of $3,985 during the Depression. The planes were first known only as Chummy or Arrowing Chummy; numeric designations came in 1930.

First flown in December 1927 piloted by Gordon Taylor. The two built were NX4203 and N4901 c/ns 3 and 4, powered by 90hp Anzani and 125hp Siemens-Halske SH-12 engines.

Wingspan: 34’0″
Length: 22’0″
Max speed: 110 mph
Cruise speed: 100 mph
Stall: 38 mph
Range: 500 mi

Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation / Taylorcraft / Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corp

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Taylor Aircraft Company
Taylorcraft Aviation Company
Taylor-Young Airplane Company
Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation

C. Gilbert Taylor and his brother had first established the Taylor Brothers Aviation Corporation- slogan; “Buy Your Airplane Taylor Made” – in Rochester, New York, in 1926 to market the Taylor Chummy lightplane, a two-seat high-winged monoplane, priced at $4,000.

The Chummy failed to sell, and after Gordon died flying another Taylor design in 1928, Clarence moved to Bradford, Pennsylvania, where the townsfolk had offered him a new factory at the local airfield plus $50,000 to invest in the company. One of the investors was William Thomas Piper, who had made his money from oil wells.

More concerned about solvency than perpetuating his name, he re-organized the assets into the Taylor Aircraft Com¬pany, giving C. Gilbert Taylor half inter¬est in the new enterprise as an induce¬ment to stay on board. Piper handled the finances as the firm’s secretary and trea¬surer, while Taylor served as president and chief engineer.

After continuing with the Chummy for a time, Taylor abandoned the design and began work on a new inexpensive aircraft to compete with the heavier craft common at the time. A battle between engineer and businessman caused a rift between the two. Piper took advantage of Taylor’s absence during an illness, and instructed Taylor’s junior engineer Walter Jamouneau to modify the Cub, in Models E-2 and F-2, to be more attractive and marketable. Taylor returned from his illness and left the company in 1936; and Walter Jamouneau took over as chief engineer.

A disastrous factory fire brought production of the Cub J-2 to a halt. When the company ran into financial difficulties, manufacturing and marketing rights for the Taylor Cub, which had first flown in September 1930, were acquired by W. T. Piper in 1935 for $761, who in 1937, formed Piper Aircraft Corporation to continue production of this aircraft. It was placed back in production as the Piper J-3 Cub.

Taylor vowed to build a personal aircraft superior to the Cub. Taylor formed his own company in 1935 as Taylor Aircraft Company at Alliance, Ohio, renamed Taylor-Young Airplane Company, then Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation in 1940. In 1936 Taylor rented facilities at Pittsburgh-Butler Airport and first manufactured the “Taylorcraft” plane. Main pre-war lightplanes were Models B, C and D, of which C and D formed basis for formation of Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Ltd. Taylor gave his airplane a closed cabin with doors and a control wheel instead of a stick. The fat, side by side T Craft was faster than a tandem Cub. It set speed, distance and altitude records for light airplanes. No Taylorcraft has a number below 25. They figured nobody would want an airplane from a company that had built only three or four.

During WWII, light aircraft were used for training, liaison, and observation purposes. Taylorcraft’s DCO-65 model was called the L-2 by the United States Army Air Forces and served alongside the military version of the Piper Cub in WW2. Built over 1,900 similar L-2 Grasshoppers for USAAF, TG-6 training gliders based on L-2, and components for Consolidated PBY, Curtiss C-46 and Douglas A-26.

In November 1938 the company established its Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Ltd as its British subsidiary, based in Thurmaston, Leicestershire, England. British production was mainly of the Plus C and Plus D models, and in 1939 the Royal Air Force impressed 24 of the 32 aircraft for evaluation as observation and artillery spotter aircraft. The evaluation confirmed the soundness of the concept, and a derivative of the Plus D was ordered into production as the Auster Mk 1. This entered service in August 1942. The military chose the name “Auster”, which translates as a warm or gentle breeze, possibly from the south. Thus Taylorcraft Plus D built for the army became Auster Mk 1. After the war, Auster Aircraft Ltd was formed and commenced a series of variations on the basic theme until 1960 when it was absorbed into Beagle Aircraft Ltd.

Taylorcraft Aeroplanes Ltd developed the Taylorcraft Model ‘D’ and the Auster Mk. I through Mk. V, which became the backbone aircraft of the British AOP (Air Observation Post) and the three Canadian AOP squadrons, No. 664 Squadron RCAF, No. 665 Squadron RCAF, and No. 666 Squadron RCAF.

Built some 2,800 Model B-12Bs in 1945-1946, but in the fall of 1946 production was halted following a fire in the Taylorcraft factory at Alliance, Ohio and the company went into bankruptcy. Re-formed in 1947 as Taylorcraft Inc, producing models BC-12D, Ace, Traveler, Topper, Ranch, Wagon, Tourist, Sportsman and Special de Luxe.

In 1949 C.G. Taylor bought the assets from the former company, and started a new company Taylorcraft, Inc. at Conway, Pennsylvania. The company restarted production of the BC-12D Traveller and the BC-12-85D Sportsman. The company produced few aircraft and the type certificates were sold to Univair and production was halted.

The factory moved to Pittsburgh in 1954 but then ceased manufacture four years later. It was re-formed again in April 1968 as Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation, and from 1973 resumed production of an updated two-seat Sportsman 100.

In 1971 the Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation, owned by Charles Feris put the Model 19 back into production as the F-19 Sportsman and added the F-21 model. Feris died in 1976 and the production continued at a low rate until 1985. Charles Ruckle bought the company in 1985 and he moved the operation to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where the company produced 16 aircraft before it went bankrupt in 1986 and the company was offered for sale.

Company ceased trading 1986, and in 1989 was purchased by West Virginia based Aircraft Acquisition Corporation, developed a series of two/three-seat lightplanes under the F22 designation. From 1992 operated independently of AAC and took name of Taylorcraft Aircraft. The assets were sold to key investor East Kent Capitol.

1990: Taylorcraft Aircraft corporation, PO Drawer 3350, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA.

John Polychron, former CEO of Del Monte Foods purchased Taylorcraft and operated it for approximately one year until he sold it to Philadelphia Attorney Phillip O’Rielly. O’Rielly never reopened and the company became deeply in debt resulting in a Sheriff’s sale in 1996.

Taylorcraft was saved from extinction by Lee Booth, a former Marine and an engineer from Seaford Delaware. Booth renamed the Company Booth-Taylorcraft Aerospace, Inc. Booth-Taylorcraft Aerospace paid all creditors in full and relocated the entire company in 88 53 ft long truck trailers to Greensboro, North Carolina.

Booth, as Chairman and President, directed the Corporation through an extensive recertification of all type certificates, engineering, FAA audits up to the Aircraft Certification Office level, production procedures, complete re-tooling and certification of tooling and work processes. Booth enlisted the assistance of Darrell C. Romick, former Chief Engineer of Taylorcraft Airplane Company and of BF Goodrich. Romick was a close associate of Wernher von Braun and worked for Goodyear Aircraft in the 1950s.

Booth-Taylorcraft Aerospace, Inc became a contractor to numerous governments for military aircraft, weapons systems and firearms. Booth was the first Taylorcraft owner in the company’s history to keep the company debt free the entire time he operated it. In March 2000, Booth formed a strategic partnership by selling half of the Civil Aircraft Division to Harvey Patrick of Pats, Inc. Booth retained all military items, UAVs, several type certificates, designs and patents. The Small Aircraft Division was moved to Georgetown, Delaware at the Sussex County Airport. Booth and Patrick then formed Taylorcraft 2000, LLC and served as Co-chairmen. Booth eventually sold his half to Harvey Patrick and Taylorcraft 2000, LLC was owned by the Harvey and Vera Patrick Foundation. In 2003 The Harvey and Vera Patrick Foundation sold the company to Harry Ingram, with 100% financing.

Harry Ingram, moved the plant to La Grange, Texas in 2003 and on April 25, 2005 it was announced that the factory was moving again to Brownsville, Texas and outsourcing the labour.

On February 21, 2008 the company was repossessed by its former owner, Taylorcraft 2000 LLC. The previous owners had taken orders for new struts for existing aircraft to alleviate a repetitive inspection Airworthiness Directive and was delivering struts to customers. The design’s type certificates, drawings, jigs, templates and parts were put up for sale.