McCracken Toady T-4

McCracken Toady T-4

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Built by McCracken, first flown in 1971.

09/26/2005. Remarks by Chad Rundell: "Bill McCracken from El Paso, Texas, USA, built four airplanes that I know of. They were, Toady 1, Toady 2, Toady 3, and Toady 4. The name "Toady" was a nickname Mr. McCracken had for his wife, I’m told. Toady 1 is in your collection and I’m told is owned by a fella in Washington state. I do not know if it is flyable. It was a modified Porterfield. Toady 2 was a highly modified Piper Tri-pacer converted to a taildragger with clipped wings and large spillplates on the end of the wings. I do not know what happened to Toady 2 as if fell of the registry some time ago. Toady 3 looked similar to Toady 4, but was a fastback configuration, low wing taildragger. Toady 3 burned in a hangar fire back in the 70’s. Toady 4 is built entirely from 0.032 in (0.81 mm) aluminum, but joined and flush riveted. The wings are two outboard sections of a Cessna 150 (from the strut attach, outboard. The wings were joined in the middle with a carry-thru and re-skinned with 0.032 in (0.81 mm) aluminum, but joined and flush riveted as well. My father says that Mr. McCracken built the plane within just a few months. The airplane is extremely clean and has no flaps, so you definitely have to pay attention during the approach. My dad (Lanny Rundell) owned both Toady 2 and Toady 4. He bought Toady 4 to use as fast transportation to and from work in north Louisiana back when he worked for Delta Airlines.

I’m the current owner of N11116 McCracken T-4. However I’ve changed the registration to N370CR. My dad bought this airplane from Bill McCracken back in 1973 or so. I was only 3 yrs. old at the time and barely remember the plane. I always kept track of the plane as it changed owners thru the years in anticipation of buying it back. In 1999 I was finally able to get hold of it as it was parked un-tied out in front of a trailer house back in the woods. Over the past few years, I’ve restored and modified the aircraft back to flying condition. It has an O-290 D2 (135 hp) engine and is currently cruising 180 mph (290 kmh) indicated without wheelpants installed as yet. I’m VERY impressed with the little plane considering it was built back in 1969. The little plane was way ahead of its time. Even back then, it had electric aileron and elevator trim on the stick (very cool, for the day)."


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Built by McCracken, first flown in 1971. 09/26/2005. Remarks by Chad Rundell: "Bill McCracken from El Paso, Texas, USA, built four airplanes that I know of. They were, Toady 1, Toady 2, Toady 3, and Toady 4. The name "Toady" was a nickname Mr. McCracken had for his wife, I’m told. Toady 1 is in your collection and I’m told is owned by a fella in Washington state. I do not know if it is flyable. It was a modified Porterfield. Toady 2 was a highly modified Piper Tri-pacer converted to a taildragger with clipped wings and large spillplates on the end of the wings. I do not know what happened to Toady 2 as if fell of the registry some time ago. Toady 3 looked similar to Toady 4, but was a fastback configuration, low wing taildragger. Toady 3 burned in a hangar fire back in the 70’s. Toady 4 is built entirely from 0.032 in (0.81 mm) aluminum, but joined and flush riveted. The wings are two outboard sections of a Cessna 150 (from the strut attach, outboard. The wings were joined in the middle with a carry-thru and re-skinned with 0.032 in (0.81 mm) aluminum, but joined and flush riveted as well. My father says that Mr. McCracken built the plane within just a few months. The airplane is extremely clean and has no flaps, so you definitely have to pay attention during the approach. My dad (Lanny Rundell) owned both Toady 2 and Toady 4. He bought Toady 4 to use as fast transportation to and from work in north Louisiana back when he worked for Delta Airlines. I’m the current owner of N11116 McCracken T-4. However I’ve changed the registration to N370CR. My dad bought this airplane from Bill McCracken back in 1973 or so. I was only 3 yrs. old at the time and barely remember the plane. I always kept track of the plane as it changed owners thru the years in anticipation of buying it back. In 1999 I was finally able to get hold of it as it was parked un-tied out in front of a trailer house back in the woods. Over the past few years, I’ve restored and modified the aircraft back to flying condition. It has an O-290 D2 (135 hp) engine and is currently cruising 180 mph (290 kmh) indicated without wheelpants installed as yet. I’m VERY impressed with the little plane considering it was built back in 1969. The little plane was way ahead of its time. Even back then, it had electric aileron and elevator trim on the stick (very cool, for the day)."