Aluminum dash, things were learned

[phaxtris]

I did an image search on "taylor monoplane" and some of the configurations are really neat. There was a Sea Fury, Spitfire. Hurricane and other warbird paint jobs and different themes. It's like the beetle of the air, fitting as it's VW powered.

I went with the recreational license, it was only 25hrs and the limitations weren't limiting for my " burning holes in the sky" type of flying.

yea there are quite a few variations that people have built, although not many built examples, and most of them in the uk. I considered the option of the rec permit, i dont regret the extra hours for the ppl, its to late now anyhow, im in the home stretch, i just need to nail down my steep turns for the flight test

Mine was $1720 back in 79, sorta hard not to say "time flies".

Phaxtris it's kind of hard to see detail in the pictures, did you relocate a fuel tank vent to just in front of the windshield ?

Unfortunately with flight training your kind of stuck with whatever is around and there are very few good schools or instructors around. One option would be a more senior (rating wise) instructor or older instructor. They will probably have been in the game longer and their motivation might be more aligned with yours. Downside of course is they are harder to find.

The DA 20 is hands down the best training platform going, so you're set there. Tail dragging is a little harder to find. Keep your eyes open for someone building hours in one, your dollars helping put hours in their logbook might be helpful to all.

If you have any questions or need help with the course, pm if you want. 17 years as a QFI, 15 of those as a class 1.

John

i believe the original builder made a mistake with the fuel vent, where it was the tank was only able to be filled just under 9 gallons because of the angle when its sitting on the ramp and the vent being at the back vs the front of the tank, he even had the tank levels marked up to 10 gallons, i dont think he considered the angle the tank would sit at on the ramp, i gained a gallon there, and i made the sump slightly larger gaining another gallon

your right, your kind of stuck with who ever is there, and its hit or miss with who is good at instructing and who is not, and of course there is the personality aspect, ive just gotten a new young guy who i am hopefully with until the end, wich is hopefully soon, booked for a mock flight test on sunday, hopefully that goes well and i get a recommend

 

[RobinHood]

i just need to nail down my steep turns for the flight test

your right, your kind of stuck with who ever is there, and its hit or miss with who is good at instructing and who is not, and of course there is the personality aspect, ive just gotten a new young guy who i am hopefully with until the end, wich is hopefully soon, booked for a mock flight test on sunday, hopefully that goes well and i get a recommend

Ryan, i’d like to offer my help to you, as did @jorogi, if you want. Was a Class 1 CFI a two flight schools in the early ‘90s. We can go for a coffee and chat about your upcoming flight test. PM me if interested.

 

[YotaBota]

Examiners all have their pet procedures they look for, when I did my flight exam it was "soft field takeoffs". I failed that part but passed the rest of it.
Ask around and see if you find out the flavour of the month with the examiners so you're not caught off guard.

 

[whydontu]

I spent a couple of days there. Most of the time going “how the heck did they get one of those? They only built two, how did it end up here?”

If you ever get to Washington DC a visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is a must. Seeing planes like the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St Louis up close and personal is a real thrill for any aviation buff.

 

[DavidR8]

I spent a couple of days there. Most of the time going “how the heck did they get one of those? They only built two, how did it end up here?”

I was exactly the same.
I was standing up in the second floor walkway looking at the Spirit of St. Louis and I started to ask a security guard “Is that the…” and the guard finished my question “the actual Spirit of St. Louis? Yes it is”.

 

[Former Member]

In Dayton they have a Valkerie XB70 (one of 3 ever built, one crashed during a publicity filming, flew several miles before the pilots realized something was wrong), 2 SR71's, 1 B2, a B52 in doors, a U2 and some stuff I've never seen before, oh and a few missles (big ones), not to mention a whole bunch of other stuff. Get there early and sign up for the x-plane, presidential plane tour (need to get clearance as they drive on the base).

 

[jorogi]

I spent a couple of days there. Most of the time going “how the heck did they get one of those? They only built two, how did it end up here?”

Kermit Weeks could answer that, check out his collection at Fantasy of Flight.

John

 

[trevj]

Well that certainly would have been out of my reach. I paid something like $1200 in 1982 to obtain my license and that was a stretch for us at the time.

A couple guys that I was deployed with in Honduras, 1989-1990 time frame, did their training there, and got qualified for under $4K, ground and flight school, plus rentals for the process.
It was a LOT cheaper than at home, even then.

Have a cousin who is a Professional Faller (cuts down trees). He say that to get up to marketable speed in that trade is going to cost you at least $60K right now, if you start from scratch!

 

[phaxtris]

Sorted out my engine monitor system finally...problems with noise and the max6675's, made a mistake in the pcb with the pin assignment for the voltage divider to read system voltage....took several hours to figure all this out, cheated the pin assignment (needed an ADC pin), and going to run a star ground for all of the thermocouples for the noise issue.

This will fill up that hole on the right side

Bent up a piece to mount the iPad on (velcro), bent up some pieces for to hold the sight tube,and filled in the rest of the gauges for a test fit, want to make sure everything fits before I powder coat it

 

[SparWeb]

Nice work!

I loved my time flying DA-20's back in the year 2000 to 2001. I blew a bit more than 10k on my PPL and the typical story - life happened and I haven't flown much since.

I couldn't help but look up C-FZRE just in case it's a DA-20 I've run across before. It isn't, but it was previously owned by another "Ryan" so it once had your name on it!

That Taylor is a fine aircraft. You will enjoy it, I'm sure.
Have you been in touch with the Calgary Ultralight flying club?
I think they took a break during 2020 and I don't know if they have formed back up again.

 

[phaxtris]

Have you been in touch with the Calgary Ultralight flying club?
I think they took a break during 2020 and I don't know if they have formed back up again.

no, not yet, i dont expect to be flying the taylor until spring, im close to the flight test, but the deep freeze is right around the corner as well

closer to spring i may start reaching out to some flying clubs, but now with facebook a lot of the fly-inn's etc are posted up there, red deer forestry (CFR7) has quite a few events, so thats on my short list....the dream of putt-putt-putting there at 80mph is in view...

 

[PeterT]

Not sure if this factors into your plans & logistics (published May-2023). They stated their sales intentions but not sure what's going on presently. I don't fly full size but became aware of it.

Indus/Winters Aire Park Airport up for sale

It's a unique property just south of the hamlet of Indus, Alta., and a short drive east of Calgary.

calgary.ctvnews.ca

 

[phaxtris]

Not sure if this factors into your plans & logistics (published May-2023). They stated their sales intentions but not sure what's going on presently. I don't fly full size but became aware of it.

Indus/Winters Aire Park Airport up for sale

It's a unique property just south of the hamlet of Indus, Alta., and a short drive east of Calgary.

calgary.ctvnews.ca

I've been aware of the sale for a while while now, I'm not exactly sure what is going on there. A lot of stuff has come up for sale from there recently so I'm not sure if people are loosing hangers, tie downs, etc


I should maybe reach out and see if anyone knows the score, it would be nicer to fly from there, being only 15min from my door

 

[phaxtris]

Into the oven it goes !

 

[jorogi]

Ryan,
I don't want to poop on your parade in any way, but....
You might want to check the regs with reference to your flight testing plans. You don't want to walk into TC all ready to fly that afternoon and have them shoot you down. The first a/c I flight tested was a Glastar back in the early O's. The owner did an amazing job but he just didn't have the legally required flight time to be able to flight test the plane himself (I'm guessing you have 0 hours tail dragging time)He was a licensed PPL.
As well as that I would question the wisdom of you doing the tests with your current experience, definitely no offense intended. Now is probably the perfect time to reach out to TC and find out exactly what they'll be looking for, it might help prevent delays and friction down the road.

Cheers,
John

 

[phaxtris]

Ryan,
I don't want to poop on your parade in any way, but....
You might want to check the regs with reference to your flight testing plans. You don't want to walk into TC all ready to fly that afternoon and have them shoot you down. The first a/c I flight tested was a Glastar back in the early O's. The owner did an amazing job but he just didn't have the legally required flight time to be able to flight test the plane himself (I'm guessing you have 0 hours tail dragging time)He was a licensed PPL.
As well as that I would question the wisdom of you doing the tests with your current experience, definitely no offense intended. Now is probably the perfect time to reach out to TC and find out exactly what they'll be looking for, it might help prevent delays and friction down the road.

Cheers,
John

I understand what you are saying, and there is a pic time requirement for AC that have not been through the initial flight testing hours, however this AC has 230hrs logged, it's passed its initial flight testing, there has been no structural changes, no changes to flight surfaces/engine that would warrant it going back to initial testing phase, im not concerned with the legality's as to my understanding of major and minor modification there has been no "major" modifications (meaning a change that would adversely affect flight characteristics).

i do plan to get some tail wheel instruction before flying it (although not legally required), as well as the new fuel flow test, new w/b (ballast as required), etc

 

[jorogi]

I understand what you are saying, and there is a pic time requirement for AC that have not been through the initial flight testing hours, however this AC has 230hrs logged, it's passed its initial flight testing, there has been no structural changes, no changes to flight surfaces/engine that would warrant it going back to initial testing phase, im not concerned with the legality's as to my understanding of major and minor modification there has been no "major" modifications (meaning a change that would adversely affect flight characteristics).

i do plan to get some tail wheel instruction before flying it (although not legally required), as well as the new fuel flow test, new w/b (ballast as required), etc

Ryan,
I looked back at your earlier posts after my post last night and saw that it had been through its flight test program, and thought ooops, sorry. Relocation of your vent might be a debate but probably won't cause any problem.

Cheers,
John

 

[SparWeb]

I've been aware of the sale for a while while now, I'm not exactly sure what is going on there. A lot of stuff has come up for sale from there recently so I'm not sure if people are loosing hangers, tie downs, etc


I should maybe reach out and see if anyone knows the score, it would be nicer to fly from there, being only 15min from my door

Wayne Winters, owner of the land and airport in the early 00's when I flew, is getting up in years and probably hasn't found family willing to hand it down to. Land in that area is gaining in value rapidly, so even if there's interest in running the little airport, the economics probably dictate moving farther away from both Calgary and Chestermere. And there are always new guffermint rules that make running a little airport harder every year.

There's a little airport just north of the trans-canada highway if you're looking for a quiet spot. Closer to Chestermere so it has similar geographic/economic pressure on it.

Don't forget that De Havilland is starting bulldozers in this area, too! Don't know how friendly they will be to local recreational flying, but the corporate use of that airport is expected to be very low.

 

[PeterT]

This one? Comes complete with a home LOL

https://www.jamesedition.com/real_estate/all?property_feature_ids[]=39&map_coordinates=-113.92787100869182,50.612189695061886,-113.58660819130878,50.29654579608922

 

[phaxtris]

Wayne Winters, owner of the land and airport in the early 00's when I flew, is getting up in years and probably hasn't found family willing to hand it down to. Land in that area is gaining in value rapidly, so even if there's interest in running the little airport, the economics probably dictate moving farther away from both Calgary and Chestermere. And there are always new guffermint rules that make running a little airport harder every year.

There's a little airport just north of the trans-canada highway if you're looking for a quiet spot. Closer to Chestermere so it has similar geographic/economic pressure on it.

Don't forget that De Havilland is starting bulldozers in this area, too! Don't know how friendly they will be to local recreational flying, but the corporate use of that airport is expected to be very low.

i reached out on one of the facebook groups, the sentiment is that there is no long term plan, no one knows if it will be in operation 5 years from now. So for obvious reasons its making people nervous

i agree with you that land value has surely gone up tremendously over the years, and without some kind of development plan it may just get swallowed up, and I think for someone to fork out the 5.9m asking price it would need another few mill of development in order to attract the traffic to make it a viable buisness. In my opinion It would be an "If you build it they will come" kind of venture

it will be interesting to see what happens with the airspace around that new dehavilland field, it could be a real pain in the butt if it gets anything more than a E control zone, i imagine it will be a private "prior permission required" deal anyhow, its also pretty far from indus, probabaly about the same distance as yyc. I have also heard they may be doing some of the "advanced drone pilot" training stuff out there as well, so that should put up another ?......probabaly like "just steer clear of dehavilland"

im ok with driving out to high river, it would just be nice to fly from indus, its half the distance, and probabaly even cheaper given its all grass, Okotoks also has a field as well, but honestly it doesnt seem to inviting, and expensive, 200$ a month for tie down + landing/facility fee's, i dont even want to know what a space in there only hanger goes for