Taylorcraft Aircraft
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| Taylorcraft Aviation | |
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| Type | Corporation |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Headquarters | Brownsville, Texas |
| Key people | C.G. Taylor, Founder |
| Industry | General Aviation |
| Products | Light aircraft |
| Website | www.taylorcraft.com |
Taylorcraft Aviation is an airplane manufacturer that has been producing aircraft for almost seventy years in several locations.
The company builds small single-engined airplanes known for their speed and efficiency on limited horsepower engines. The Taylorcraft design is a conventional layout, high wing, fabric covered, two seat aircraft. Of interest is that the basic design has remained unchanged since 1936, yet this same design is still relevant and viable as a personal sport aircraft today.[citation needed]
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[edit] Company History
The designer, Clarence Taylor, can rightfully be called the father of private aviation in America, as he designed the original Taylor Cub in 1931. Taylor shared with a colleague William T. Piper a dream of making airplanes as common as cars for Americans. He designed an inexpensive and easy-to-build craft to compete with the heavier craft which were common at the time. The classic battle between engineer and businessman quickly 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 to be more attractive and marketable.[citation needed] Taylor returned from his illness and raised the roof in anger[citation needed] and left the company.
Taylor vowed to build a new personal aircraft superior to the Cub in all respects. Taylor formed his own company in 1935 as Taylor Aircraft Company, renamed Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation in 1939. Meanwhile, a disasastrous factory fire brought production of the Cub J-2 to a halt,[1] and Piper bought the company out. It was placed back in production as the Piper J-3 Cub,[2] becoming the iconic aircraft of general aviation in the '30s and '40s; to the uninitiated, any light plane might be a Cub.
By contrast, the Taylorcraft was faster, more comfortable, more attractive, and more modern. Piper and his updated Cub were also vindicated, selling far more aircraft and creating the icon of private airplanes for all time.[citation needed]
During World War II, many 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.
After the war, production boomed until the company reorganized in 1946, and produced few aircraft during the 1950s.[citation needed]
[edit] Ownership by the Feris familiy 1965-1992
In 1965, Charlie and Dorothy Feris purchased what was left of the company and started production again in 1970. Mr. Feris died in 1973 and Mrs. Feris kept the company going until her retirement in 1985.[citation needed]
New owners moved production to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania until business problems forced the company to close again in 1992.[citation needed]
[edit] Polychron & O'Rielly ownership
John Polychron, former CEO of Delmonte 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 scheduled Sheriff's sale in 1996.[citation needed]
[edit] Booth ownership
Taylorcraft was saved from extinction by Mr. Lee F. 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 53ft long truck trailers to Greensboro, North Carolina.[citation needed]
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 Mr. Dayrl Romick, former Chief Engineer of Taylorcraft Airplane Company and BF Goodrich. Romick was a close associate of Werner von Braun. Booth also hired a young Physicist and Chief Test Pilot Mr. Hooman Bahrani of Winston Salem, NC. Bahrani a graduate of Wake Forest University became a Minority Stockholder thus becoming the first American born Persian to become an owner of a US aircraft manufacturer in aviation history.[citation needed]
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 Mr. 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, DE at the Sussex County Airport. Booth and Patrick then formed Taylorcraft 2000, LLC and served as Co-Chairman. 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 Mr. Harry Ingram, with 100% financing.
The current owner, Harry Ingram, moved the plant to La Grange, TX in 2003 and on April 25, 2005 it was announced that the factory was moving again to the border town of Brownsville, TX and outsourcing the labor.[citation needed]
[edit] 2008 Repossession
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 is delivering struts to customers. The design's type certificates, drawings, jigs, templates and parts have been put up for sale.[3]
[edit] Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited
The Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company was licensed in 1938 by Taylor to produce Taylorcraft designs in the United Kingdom for the British market, beginning as "Taylorcraft Aeroplanes England, Ltd" which subsequently became Auster Aircraft developing its own range from a Taylorcraft design.[citation needed]
The Taylorcraft design, whether built in USA or UK, has logged millions of flight hours in every corner of the world in peace and in war, having served both roles admirably.[citation needed]
[edit] Aircraft produced (incomplete)
- Taylor Cub
- A
- L-2
- DCO-65
- BC-65
- BC-12
- BC-12D-1 ("Ace")
- BD-12
- F-19
- F-21A ("Sportsman")
- F-21B
- F-22A
- F-22B
- F-22C
- Taylor Sport
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Taylorcraft Factory website
- "The Taylorcraft Story" by Chet Peek - Book covering the history of C.G. Taylor's Aircraft Designs
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