The enclosed data for this little aeroplane is a very serious attempt to produce not only a high-performance aircraft with an outwardly attractive appearance, but also to blend these two desirable features with a structural layout of the simplest possible type, thereby bringing this machine within the grasp of almost any enthusiast possessing a normal handyman’s kit of inexpensive tools, and requiring only the minimum of technical knowledge and skill on the part of the constructor. Whilst the aircraft itself is still aerodynamically modern and equal to any other machine in its class, its design is the result of a very careful study into the difficulties which may beset the amateur working alone, and based on the designer's own past experiences of constructing in a confined space with the minimum of equipment and storage room. No constructor, for example, is capable of turning a one-piece wing over unaided whilst work is in progress, and very few, if any, have mothers or wives prepared to see the dining-room table and television set straddled with a completed wing assembly for even the shortest period, whilst further timber is cut to pieces (together with the odd chair lying momentarily forgotten beneath the sheet of ply) and glue, always glue, splashed over everything. The skinning of a wing, or curved fuselage, with a few square feet of ply, looks a simple task in a repair shop, but can quickly turn into a nightmare when you find your piece of ply won't bend like theirs did, and in no time at all, a job seeming to require only two capable hands, suddenly requires twenty-two, and that, with a glue giving what appears to be a ridiculous 'shuffling time' of twenty minutes! That's using the slow hardener? Who the hell uses FAST? The wing structure, therefore, provides for the application of ply in two separate operations instead of the usual and difficult single wrap round method. Metal fittings are kept to the bare minimum, the tailplane is, in fact, attached to the fuselage without metal fittings at all. The design caters for varying tastes with regard to choice of undercarriage, different canopy shapes, optional flaps, frame and stringer, or ply covered fuselage, etc., and therefore offers the constructor some reasonable scope in developing the model to suit his own particular taste or style. A great many footnotes are added in order to help the constructor as much as possible, as are the full size wing rib sheets and a comprehensive materials list.

The aircraft is entirely of wooden construction with Ceconite covering the control surfaces and part of the wings. The remaining ply surfaces are covered with Ceconite or similar attached directly onto the wood. The whole structure, which is very robust, is stressed to plus and minus 9g.

The wings are made up in two separate halves and are joined together on the center line of the fuselage with simple plate and bolt fittings, instead of the more usual outer panels attaching to an integral center section. The main spar attaches to the main fuselage frame with four bolts, which also locate and hold the fuselage-type spring blade undercarriage or gear. The rear spar attaches direct to a fuselage bulkhead with four bolts, there being no metal fittings required at this point. The wings are built up on two spars, the front spar being a box spar comprising two spruce flanges boxed in with ply shear webs on either side. The flanges are straight tapered, there being no laminations to worry about, and the spar tapers in one direction only, despite the fact that the wing is tapered in plan form. To simplify the manufacture of this important component even further, the N .A.C.A. airfoil section has been very carefully modified in the region of this spar, so that practically no shaping at all is required in order that the top and bottom surfaces of the flanges conform to the airfoil shape. This modification also serves the dual purpose of rounding off the stall and at the same time giving a slight increase to the maximum lift coefficient. The rear spar is a simple plank spar, again tapering in one direction only. This spar is situated to carry the half span differentially operated ailerons, mounted on short length alloy piano hinges which you can obtain by the yard, instead of making them up. The hinges are also used on the simple manually operated flaps which occupy the remainder of the span. The flap mechanism, operated by a hand lever on the right-hand side of the cockpit, consists of a lever directly connected to a torque tube running in four dural block bearings bolted to the rear seat bulkhead. Two small levers are mounted each end operating via half-inch push-pull alloy tubes inside the wing fairings directly on to the inboard end of each flap. Whilst the incorporating of these flaps in the construction is a matter of the individual constructor's choice, the mechanism involved is of such a simple straightforward nature, that little excuse could be found for leaving them off. The wing ribs maintaining the airfoil profile require no jigs and no steaming of flanges. Each full-size rib drawing, clearly showing exact positions of spars, lightening holes, and web reinforcements, etc., need only to be cut out and pasted onto the ply. The rib flanges, which are glued and tacked to one side of the web only, finish where the curvature near the nose becomes acute. This is taken care of by a small spruce or ply piece glued into position after attachment of flanges. As already mentioned, the nose ply, which forms the torsion resisting 'D' box, is attached in two operations. This is achieved by building up the leading edge top and bottom, to provide increased glueing area whereby the top can then be skinned first, scarfed-down on the outside of the leading edge, and then the underside is attached and again scarfed to a 'feather edge' from the outside. A detailed sketch on the drawings clearly illustrates this point.

The fuselage is built up on four main longerons, and four secondary longerons carrying curved formers on all sides, and entirely ply covered. The eight-gallon fuel tank (9.7 U.S. Gallons) is mounted between the dash panel and engine bulkhead, covered by the 18 s.w.g. aluminium top decking which is screwed in position and can be removed for tank inspection or replacement. The cockpit has a folding seat for easy access to controls and floor and a full aerobatic harness. The streamlined cockpit cover comprises of an aluminium frame of ½” tube, supporting the 18 s.w.g. aluminium cover to which is fitted a 'bubble' perspex canopy, the whole unit being hinged on the right-hand side with a check cable to limit opening through approximately 100 degrees. A suggested dash panel instrumentation layout is also included. The forward cockpit area carries the main fuselage frame to which the main spar is bolted, and the rear cockpit area carries the seat bulkhead to which is attached the rear spar and flap operating gear. The rear fuselage tapers down to the stern post with integrally built fin and tailplane box. A small locker can be built into the top decking behind the cockpit.

The tail unit is of normal construction, consisting of plank spars carrying plywood and spruce ribs. The fin and tailplane are ply covered, with Ceconite covered elevator and rudder. There is a choice of three hinge arrangements. The tailplane is attached to the fuselage by four bolts, and careful design has enabled this to be accomplished without the need for any metal fittings. The assembly of this unit is described in detail.

The controls consist of push-pull alloy tubing from the base of the control column, direct to the aileron quadrants, and to a pick-up lever mounted centrally on the flap torsion tube, from whence a further tube connects to the elevator. The rudder has direct cable operation.

The constructor has a choice of two undercarriage or gear systems. The first is the spring leg attached to the fuselage main frame (a popular type in the U.S.A.) and the second being the normal telescopic spring leg attached to the main spar by two steel plates clamped over the spar depth. The first is usually the heavier of the two, but has the advantage of simplicity plus leaving the fuselage 'on wheels' after removal of wings. The second is more reliable in operation, but requires the additional making-up of a couple of scrap-iron legs, blade type, in order to keep the fuselage mobile' after removal of wings with under-gear attached. Either type can be fitted with fibreglass wheel fairings, and preferably braked wheels operated individually by heel pedals, or a single lever on the control column operating both wheels together, cable operated. The tail-skid is a two blade spring steel skid on the lower powered model, but a steerable tailwheel assembly is to be recommended for the higher powered version.

The aircraft is stressed for any engine from 65 to 100 h.p. Less than 65h.p. and V.W. engines are not recommended for this machine. The accompanying cut-away drawing depicts the Titch in typical form but without flaps. The Titch was originally entered into a light aircraft design competition and was awarded second prize out of more than forty entrants. In conclusion, it may be stated that the 'Taylor Titch' is considered one of the easiest to construct aircraft of its type on the market today.