It was originally designed with an open cockpit and with the cylinder heads protruding through the engine cowling in the interest of simplicity.

The design showed great potential for higher performance and so modifications were created to install larger, cowled Lycomings and a bubble canopy.

[4][5] These performance improvements made the T-18 one of the most popular homebuilt designs of the 1970s and early 1980s until the Van's Aircraft RV kitplane series came on the market.

Classic Sport Aircraft at one time supplied plans, parts, and kits for the S-18 and the S-18T tricycle gear version, but went out of business in 2014.

Taylor subsequently flew N455DT to the geographical North Pole, using a Sperry hybrid inertial navigation system.