Good Friday 2007. It's raining cats and dogs all over Switzerland. The airfield is deserted. The rain is drumming on the roof of the hangar.Small ponds are getting larger in the meadow. On the edge of the airfield area an airplane is standing. It's the only one in the rain. It's used to that. For more than three years it's waiting for the Final End. It's a Taifun 17 E.

Rain, dirt and vegetation each have left their trails on the dirtcover. On those spots where there's no cover, the plane itself is greening.
Although the Taifun 17 E is equiped with foldable wings, it is standing in wild nature with wings unfolded. Yet, the wings have not broken off, two concrete tires prevent the plane from taking off on its own.
It has all reason to do so. Its owner is overloaded with troubles. His general health can be described - in a polite manner - as groggy. His financial situation is even worse. For years the plane had been grounded as a pledge during a liquidation procedure. When the creditor asked the airfield management for an estimate of the value of the Taifun, he received a brutal but honest answer: "Worthless!"
The owner for instance has fixed holes in the wings with glassfiber matt and epoxy resin as a repair and simply sprayed the paint on top of that. He has dismantled several parts of the airplane, brought them to some ordinary workshop and after that got them repaired and remounted again. This way the cylinders have been removed from the engine years ago together with the piston. Supposedly they have been sharpened in a nearby mechanical workshop. Now the groggy Taifun owner is still searching for suitable piston rings. And he honestly believes he now only needs to replace the fuel hose in order to be able to run the engine with its one thousand hours after this "renovation".

 

Taking off the cover
After I showed interest in the wreck, I meet the owner on a sunny day at the airfield. For the first time in many years, he takes off the covers. One thing can be said about this cover which almost looks like it has been made by a bespoke tailor: quite contrary to my expensive Jaxida-all-weather cover, it seems to be rather isolated. While on the wing surface of my own Taifun humidity caused several bubbles and tears, the surface of this airplane which is standing in open air and marshy grass for three years astonishingly is unscathed. Except for the evils which have been caused by the owner himself, "weather damages" are barely to be discovered. The surfaces underneath the wings and fuselage even look cultivated and completely unscathed. However, signs of rust can be found at the switches and on the instrument panel as well as at the chassis. When the machine, registered in Switzerland, has been checked for the last time, the owner cannot tell. Apparently it has flown years after the last check-up. Overall he seems to have some troubles in providing concrete information, important details and keeping the right administration of things. He can or wants to remember little and of that little bit he can remember, apparently some things cannot be taken for granted.

Rescue or downfall
All in all the remaining facts: here the Taifun 17 E (nr. 1080, year of construction 1986, incomplete documentation) is either rotting away as a victim of amateur handicraftsmanship, or waiting for a Taifun admirer (and NOT a profit-oriented dealer) who is willing to rescue it from sure death. Forget about the obsolete and tinkered Limbach 2500 EB engine right away, it needs a new one. The complete plane should be renewed on the surface and above all it should be checked on structural weaknesses. In the years the plane has been standing in all weather circumstances at 7000 ft. above mean sea level, every now and then there has been half a meter of snow, like for instance in the winter of 2005/2006 !
At first glance the gear appears to be rusted only lightly. On the other hand the Becker instruments look perfect from the outside. However several metal parts like chassis crank or screws at the instrument panel are rusted.
The owner at least wants to get 13000 Euro for his wreck. "It's the minimum" het thinks. And he promises: "But, for that price I won't do any engine fixing".
Now the author is trying, together with Limbach, the German LTB's and eastern paint specialists, to prepare an estimation of costs needed for the restoration of the plane, transportation costs included. And after that to confront the owner with actual and correct facts.
Goal: to be able to offer a wanted Taifun 17 E to a Taifun admirer, sanitated as from factory, for a fair price. The future owner can even determine the colour combination.

Niklaus Wächter