progressed on my remaining project,
Grade
COVER STORY
The Taylor Titch
Ultimate In Wood
By Jim L. Miller (EAA 6110)
4733 Harvard
Kansas City, Mo. 64133
Ithe'VETaylor
BEEN ASKED why I chose
Titch The answer is
simple. I wanted a machine that had
the performance of a midget racer, the
lean muscular look of a thoroughbred
race horse, and the individuality of a
Rolls Royce. The Titch has it all.
I first saw a drawing of the Titch
among the entrants in the 1965 Eng-
lish Rollison Racer competition. The
construction sitka spruce and ply-
wood was just like the models I
used to build as a youngster.
Inquiry brought out that plans were
only $35.00 so I talked several
fellows in the Kansas City area into a
group project four Taylor Titches
on a midget assembly line.
Two machines were actually started
in August of 1965 but it wasn't too
long before the second builder left
town for a new job. As construction
scheme and a finish to match.
several minor changes were made.
The landing gear was fabricated from
round titanium rod, and the wing spar
was made in one piece to save the 14
pounds of steel in the original wing
joint. The flap mechanism was
strengthened and all radio antennas
were buried within the vertical fin
and the left wing which illustrates a
major advantage of wood structure.
The most difficult problem was the
canopy. I wanted to maintain the
original shape but couldn't find a
ready formed piece of plastic that
even approached the necessary
dimensions.
The decision was made to fabricate
the canopy. An oven was quickly
made from an old electric stove in the
best EAA tradition Total cost
was only $8.00 and one day's work.
(That was the easy part). Eleven
months and ten expensive sheets of
plastic later, I had finally learned to
handle the tricky stuff and had a sat-
isfactory shape. Several more months
in designing and fabricating the
mounting linkage and the canopy was
finally a reality.
The engi ne a chromed C-85-12 shoulder straps held and only a couple
was hung on the fuselage and a male
mold was fabricated around it from
Styrofoam blocks, hot melt glue, and
ready-mixed wall board joint cement.
The complete cowl was laid up in one
piece on this mold using polyester
resin and three to five layers of glass
cloth.
The machine now began to realize
its inherent good looks and every
effort was made to contrive a paint
A cotton andnon-taughteningbutrate
dope were used, topped off with a
three-tone alkyd enamel color coat
after many, many hours in the gar-
age wearing off the bumps with sand-
paper.
The big day finally arrived Jan-
uary 9, 1972. T.W.A. Captain Bud
Wielt consented to test fly the air-
plane and with a feeling of indescrib-
able pleasure, I watched 7 years of ef-
fort lift off in 400 feet and climb like
a homesick angel.
After a few maneuvers, Bud
brought it back down and pronounced
it the sweetest little airplane he had
ever flown.
There were still 6 months before
Oshkosh to fly off the test time and
we set out to do this at an easy pace,
but in May, 1972, fate jumped in with
a near disaster engine failure from
carburetor problems while turning fi-
nal for landing! A plowed field
promptly became the supreme testing
ground for the airplane's structural in-
tegrity. It flipped over, breaking prop,
cowling, wheel pants, and canopy
not to mention my feelings! But the
of scratches were found on me.
Back at the hangar, a careful in-
spection revealed no structural dam-
age and it still looked possible to make
(Photo by Don Pratt)
The "ultimate in wood" says a justi-
fiably proud Jim Miller of his beauti-
ful Taylor Titch.
 (Photo by George Reynolds)
Jim Miller's Titch has a very distinc- (Photo by Jim Miller)
tive and tasteful paint scheme. This This shot taken in 1969 shows how
picture shows why. By constructing close Jim came to making a Rockford
a model, a builder can try out various Fly-In.
paint schemes and color combina-
tions and have the opportunity to
critically view his work from all
angles. Some paint schemes look
good from a side angle, but are awk-
ward viewed from others. Miller's
Titch looks great from any vantage
point.

(Photo by Jim Miller)

The familiar pause that refreshes
the homebuilders spirit and deter-
mination to make such "stick time"
a reality.
(Photo by Winston Golitz)
Finally! a good canopy after many
tries. At Oshkosh 73 Jim Miller held
daily workshops on the technique of
forming canopies sharing his hard
won and expensive experience with
fellow EAAers.

(Photo by George Reynolds)

The Titch was looking like an air-
plane when this picture was taken in
November of 1968, but a lot of work
(Photo by George Reynolds)
remained. Features of the all-wood
Jim Miller and the cowling for his
construction are obvious here.
Titch.
20 MARCH 1974
 (Photo by Don Pratt)
Jim Miller's Taylor Titch, winner of
the Mechanics' Illustrated Award for
Outstanding Workmanship at Osh-
kosh 72 and many other top awards
at fly-ins around the mid-west since
that time.
Oshkosh. Seven mad weeks later, it
was back in the air with only 10 hours
left in the test area. This was flown
off in a week and plans were made
to go to Oshkosh.
We scheduled the trip for Tuesday
which dawned with rain and fog down
on the deck. Wednesday was not much
better but by noon, it was barely VFR
and away we went! We got halfway
to Oshkosh before the weather closed
in again and grounded us for the rest
of the day. Thursday morning it was
raining but visibility was better and
we set off, breaking out into beauti-
ful sunshine only a few miles from
Oshkosh.
We were just in time for the judg-
ing and the Titch took several awards,
including the Mechanics Illustrated
Award for Outstanding Work-
manship.
The Titch has since been a con-
sistent trophy winner at regional fly-
ins as well as at Oshkosh. It has been
a total pleasure to fly, living up to or
exceeding all my hopes and expecta-
tions. Performance of this example is
as follows: Take off run 300-400 ft.,
R of C 1800 - 2000 Ft/min., top
speed 190 mph, cruise 175 mph
at 2600 rpm, stall 60 mph at alti-
tude and less than 40 mph in ground
effect, Empty wt. 562 lbs. Control
pressures are well balanced and all
aerobatic maneuvers compatible with
the standard fuel and oil system are
easily accomplished.
Is wood an "old fashioned" struc-
ture? Not on your life! For a per-
sonal airplane this is the ultimate!
SPORT AVIATION 21