41 Taylorcraft BF 12-65 rebuild

Hello all,
This is my first post probably not in the right place but I have some questions and have to start somewhere ?
As the title says 41 T Craft I plan to rebuild into a STOL aircraft. Basicly I have a fuselage and empenage with all the hardware from the wings and a firewall to start with.
I am currently stripping the frame and empenage and will be applying an epoxy primer to everything.
I have a couple O-235 engines that I plan to rebuild one for my engine and would like to know if anyone could help and let me know what needs to be done to use this engine for my project
I know they use the O-320 for the clip wing T Craft and have looked for what mods are done for that but have not found it here ?
If anyone could get me started on what direction to go it would be greatly appreciated.
I would also like some input on wing design keep the Taylorcraft wing ? or do something different I have been looking at the D&E wings and was curious about there riblit wings.
Thanks

Okay, so I'm a bit confused.

If you're rebuilding a '41 Taylorcraft, you have to follow the design of the aircraft, allowing for STC's. In fact, one doesn't rebuild certified aircraft so much as they restore them.

If so, time to dig into those STC's that have been approved and see how they were done. They're very specific and will guide you.

If you're thinking of taking a '41 Taylorcraft fuselage and inventing a new wing for it - or putting non-Taylorcraft wings on it, you may wind up with something other than an aircraft.

I've long thought that restoring an aircraft is probably more difficult than building from scratch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frank Giger

Okay, so I'm a bit confused.

If you're rebuilding a '41 Taylorcraft, you have to follow the design of the aircraft, allowing for STC's. In fact, one doesn't rebuild certified aircraft so much as they restore them.

If so, time to dig into those STC's that have been approved and see how they were done. They're very specific and will guide you.

If you're thinking of taking a '41 Taylorcraft fuselage and inventing a new wing for it - or putting non-Taylorcraft wings on it, you may wind up with something other than an aircraft.

I've long thought that restoring an aircraft is probably more difficult than building from scratch.

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Thanks Frank
I myself do not know ? I am looking at all possibilities of what is possible and what I would like to have for the end result. I have a nice fuselage but that is about the extent of what I have. No papers what so ever I do have the serial # for the fuselage.

I have contacted D&E aircraft and spoke with them about wing options and what it was I am trying to accomplish he said that the Ribblet wing could work and would accomplish my goals as to shortening the Take off and landing distances and general handling of the aircraft on landing reducing the float that you would get from the Taylorcraft wing. However I would compromise on air speed reducing the cruise speed but with engine and prop variations I could minimize that as well as increase GW

As to the engine it is used in the F19 models I believe there is an STC for that have not looked it up yet.

Any more thoughts appreciated

Unless you have paperwork showing you're the legal owner of Taylorcraft serial number such-and-such N-number such-and-such, you don't have a Taylorcraft, you have used parts, and you can't register it as a Taylorcraft. If you did have the paperwork, you would have to rebuild it exactly according to the original type certificate, you can't just slap on different wings or a different engine, unless there's an STC for that specific modification.

You may be able to use your used Taylorcraft fuselage as part of a new experimental aircraft build, if you build wings and other parts to fit it. In that case you can (legally, at least) change the design any way you want or you can make an exact Taylorcraft clone. As far as the FAA is concerned it's not a Taylorcraft, it's a "Buckman 12" or whatever you want to call it, serial number 001. If you buy prefabricated wings, whether new or used T-craft wings, you're unlikely to meet the so-called "51% rule" to qualify as experimental-amateur built.

The original Taylorcraft wing design is a large part of why it performed so much better than its competition. Of course, if you want to built a specialized STOL plane that just looks like a Taylorcraft, that's fine... but realize that it's a completely new aircraft design then, and you need the engineering skills to evaluate the new design both aerodynamically and structurally.