Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Gentlemen
I had the opportunity to fly in a Thorp this afternoon and it triggered some questions. I was hoping you guys could shed some light on my question/concerns:
1. Very little room between my knees and the panel. The panel looked like a standard panel so I assume this is going to be an issue in all Thorps, correct? I am 6’0, 175#.
2. The push to talk is on the panel vice the stick, would this be easy and fairly inexpensive to move?
3. The aircraft rolls to the left. The roll trim is at the stops so it must be some type of rigging issue. Is this common? Can it be fixed relatively easy?
4. Are there generic checklist or maybe a POH that can be utilized and tailored to each specific Thorp?


Thanks in advance.

I've seen panels which are not bent toward the occupants near the bottom, they seem to have less leg room than mine. I'm 6ft and 215 lbs, and my legs fit fine. My shoes are a little wide for the rudder stirrups, but my back is long, so my head is close to the canopy.
Push to talk is nice on the stick, but I chose to mount it near the throttle when I built my RV-8. It's a home built aircraft, the builder put it where he wanted it. If you buy it, you can move it to where you want it. A bit of wire, drill a hole, some solder....and a lot of planning and forethought followed by contorted posture while making the mod.
You may soon learn to enjoy the original builders logic.
About the roll to the left, my ship does that too. I added (with double sticky tape) a small trim piece, which is a wedge shaped piece of wood to the top of the left aileron, and it helped quite a lot. You should look the wings and control surfaces over for any sign of bent parts, which could effect roll trim. I think a little "hangar rash" might have been a contributing factor on mine.
I just refastened my left cowl cheek, which was getting loose at the bottom, that had an effect on roll trim!
Some have split the trailing edge of a wing tip, and glued it back together with up or down deflection to affect roll trim.
About checklists & Pilot Operating Handbook, several samples are available on this site! So you came to the right place.
I bought my T-18 a little over a year ago. Yes I have had to work on it, but both flight and maintenance have been a challenge and a pleasure. It is small enough to avoid being overwhelming, but it's also a bit cramped for me to squirm in under the panel or into the baggage compartment to work on wires etc.

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Scott Emery
EAA Chapter 326
T-18 N18TE

Not all Thorps are created equal, I have flown in 4 different Thorps, 2 I fit just fine and 2 my knees hit the bottom of the panel. I'm 6'0" and 170#, it all depends on how the builder installed the panel. The bottom of my panel is at WL 42.

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Bruce Finney
N18JF T-18C #262
Yelm, WA USA

My Panel is at WL-42 also Bruce, I am 6ft 210LBs and have never had a problem with my knees being close to the bottom of the panel. I have had passangers that are close to 6ft-4" and had them fit in the cockpit without troubles. I have sat in Thorps that I literally couldn't see over the nose in a 3 wheel stance on the ground so I padded my seats up to get a very clear shot over the nose during takeoff and landing. I believe that the cockpit can be set up in such a way that will be accomidating for Various size persons. Roll to the left, This can be typical when there is a pilot only I have experience this, put in a passenger and things even out quite well. I installed the elec trim on the aileron for this condition and the slight roll I get when I am flying by myself is just simply adjusted out. Sometimes it can be adjusted out with the thumb screw on the flap handle, I have done this before also. I have flown the t-18, I have an s-18, so I have flown them both, there is no doubt they came from the same stable, both are rock solid. Matter of fact,I think it would be safe to say that whatever John Thorp Put his hands and heart into Probably ended up the same way, rock solid and timeless..............Dan

Wupps, Forgot,........Checklist: CIGAR is my checklist and it stands for: Controls, Instruments, Gas, Altimeter & Runup.................................then its funtime!!! This may not fit all Thorps please understand this, a lot of them have more bells and whistles than mine does......Dan

I think you can correct that also very easily by adjusting your aileron linkage at the control rod ends. Your ailerons may not be perfectly in line with each other, or they may require a certain amount of misalignment.

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John Evens
Arvada, Colorado
T-18 N71JE (sold)
Kitfox 7 SS N27JE

Knee adjustment ? With the older avionics (long black boxes) it was difficult to get good leg room as the panel had to be closer to the pilot and the longer rack hanged down to clear the fuel tank , (unless you notched the fuel tank) With the newer light weight and much shorter avionics it is possible to move the panel closer to the fuel tank and have some additional room . In my case I believe I gain a good six inches...yes I said six inches ! We can stop with the locker room jokes ! BADA BING , BADA BOOM !

RB