Mail Sack 11-2-12, Panther engine, cooling systems.

Friends,

Here is a sampling from the mail sack.

On the running Panther engine, 601XL builder, CC#3 host Oscar Zuniga writes:

“It’s a beautiful thing, and November 1 will be a red-letter day on the Corvair calendar from now on. When I clicked on the engine run video and listened to a minute of monotony, at first I was disappointed but then I realized that THIS IS PRECISELY HOW WE WANT AIRCRAFT ENGINES TO RUN… monotonously, reliably, steadily, strongly, and without a skip or hiccup or a dip or blip of any of the needles on the instruments. Beautiful. After that crank runs enough hours to prove the engineering and concept, it should be made into a permanent display for engine lovers everywhere.-oz”

Pietenpol builder Harold Bickford writes:

“William, I’m glad to see the effort Dan and you have put in displayed with a running engine. It will be interesting to watch Dan’s flight test program with the new crankshaft. At the builder/customer level that means that as long as a good crankcase and set of cylinder heads are available that the Corvair has a long service life ahead with all of the other parts and spares readily available…See the USA in your Chevrolet indeed. (ok, Pietenpol/Corvair one day)-Harold.”

Zenith 750 builder and 7 time college grad Dan Glaze, aka ‘Dan-o’ writes:

“Very cool Dan, speaking of cool, where is your coat?? only 41 here is Ohio today CC-24 here I come, Dan-o”

Zenith 750 builder and CC#22 grad Blaine Schwartz writes:

“William and Dan, Congrats on the Panther first run! After working that hard, what a thrill for it to run so well. It sounds great! Thanks for blazing the trail for the rest of us! Now I can look forward to my next Corvair having a Gen 2 crank!-Blaine.”

Blaine, all the credit for the crank development goes to Dan, I just helped him bolt it together and run it. I have known Dan for almost 10 years, and he keeps getting smarter at a frightening pace. It reminds me of the original Star Trek episode “Where no man has gone before,” the one where Kirk’s friend becomes psychically all powerful. Fortunately Dan was born in 1975 and never saw the story so he doesn’t know that in the future I am going to maroon him on an asteroid to protect humanity.-ww

California builder Lauren Williams writes:

“Great Update! Really shows your enormous progress. Congratulations to Dan and Rachel as things are coming together.-Lauren.”

Prolific aircraft builder Tom Griesemer writes:

“Fantastic. Sign me up.”

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On the subject of cooling systems, Aero-engineer and 601XL builder and flyer Andy Elliott writes:

“I definitely agree with following the proven path whenever possible, and also deviating the minimal amount when not. Since every homebuilt airplane is unique in some way, some small deviations will probably always be required.
I recently gave a couple of well-attended presentations at the Copperstate Fly-In about Corvair flight engines, helped out by Woody Harris. During these presentations, I talked about lessons learned along the way to 500 hours on my 601XL and it’s very-Gen-1 3100. At the end of this lessons learned section, it was clear that most all the difficulties were caused by “less than optimal” operator choices , and I put this recommendation for up on the screen:

“If there is design, operational and/or maintenance guidance provided by
people who know what they’re doing, I strongly suggest you follow it!”

Like William, “I reserve the right to get smarter!”
Andy Elliott
Z601XLb/TD/3100
505 hours since 11/08