Light Aircraft Association

Hi Y'all
I'm a new member and I'm looking to start a homebuild.
I was thinking along the lines of a Tailwnd,but is there anything similar with less metalwork involved.
Can I have suggestions please?
My name is John McKenna and I live on the Wirral,Cheshire.
Johnhatyai

Have a look through the data sheets I produced which cover most approved plans built aircraft for which plans are still available.

http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co. ... heets.html

just a quick note,

viking dragon fly isnt available as far as im aware,


the Long ez is missing from your list, its available in the form of the OpenEz http://opencanard.com (also supported on the canardzone forum, although down at the moment, it will be back soon)

Thanks for the data sheet Stuart but basicly whats happened is way back in the early 70s I got my PPL and I saw an article in the popular flying magazine of the time about the Tailor Tailwind. I may have been mistaken but I thought it was constructed of wood and fabric. If this was the case would it be possible to build a Tailwnd to the original specs instead of welded steel tube as is this later version?
John McKenna.

Are you sure you don't mean the Taylor Monoplane or Titch as opposed to the Whitman Tailwind John. I don't think the Tailwind was ever a wood and fabric airvraft

Hi John, welcome to the LAA. There is no earlier version of the Tailwind I'm afraid, it has always had a steel tube fuselage and empennage, and wooden wings. There are at least a couple of guys up northish, possibly not too far from you, who have built Tailwinds. One is at Yearby near Redcar and has built two, one of which was quite recent and John Whiting and his brother - up Thirsk way - built one each some years ago. I can get more details but I expect somebody on here will know how to make contact.
These guys may well have ideas/jigs/help to get the fuselage and tail built. With the right help building a steel tubb fuselage can be a lot quicker than building a wooden one. If you've always yearned for a Tailwind, you'll never be happy with a substitute, and to finish a build you really do need to love that aeroplane.
Good luck.

There was a version of the Tailwind in fact it is a look alike called the Daphne SD-1a that I think is all wood. It is of little help to you since I doubt whether plans can be sourced and it is not approved in the UK.

As Brian says if you want a Tailwind then a substitute made with wood is bound to be heavier and not what you would learn to love.

I looked up the Daphne-SD-1a on Google and it looks like a blatent copy of the Tailwind.Wow!How can they get away with it? Anyway it too is constructed of tube and fabric.
However, Paul HS had a good point on the welding thread.He claims that one can prep and tack the metalwork for a welder to finish. This would be the way to go if it's valid. After all when one is constructing a homebuilt, one would hope to build it oneself,or as much as possible.
So yes I think the Tailwind is going to be my baby and if someone could put me in touch with 'The guys up north' it would be much appreciated.
Cheers,John McKenna

Hi
Take a google search on "Tailwind build" you will find a blog from Peter Mather who is building a W10 Tailwind over the last two years. Lots of very good build pictures.

I dont know who was building it, or if its still there, but there was a Tailwind being built at Blackpool in the "LAA hangar" there. It was 3 or 4 years ago I saw it and unfortuantely the hangar access is airside, so you need to get airside and hope there is someone there to be able to see it. Maybe some of the guys in the Blackpool area know about it.
There is another that should be close to you G-BPYJ is owned by someone in Stockport, maybe its at Barton? This is flying.
Great aeroplane, I think there are about 15 that have been built in the UK, most are still around.

Could it be this one?

http://www.afors.com/index.php?page=adv ... 812&imid=0