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Builders:
It has taken a little while to regroup after SnF and CC#25, but here is a pack of photos from CC#25 for everyone to enjoy. It was a very positive event. We had 55 builders pre-register, and many more stop in for part of the event. Arnold’s crew from EAA Chapter 534 did an outstanding job as our local hosts, and they did the lion’s share of the work on making the event logistics go smoothly. Hats off to every one of them.
We had four pilots bring in their Corvair powered aircraft. Ron Lendon flew his 601 XL in from Michigan, Lynn Dingfelder flew his 601 XL in from Pennsylvania, Chuck Custer flew his Cleanex the “Corvex” from the Florida panhandle, and Bob Lester flew his Pietenpol in from North Central Florida. We had a number of different engines run on the test stand, we had a lot of builders get a good start on an engine build, and we had many people on hand learn a lot of detailed information on the engine. On the fun side, we also had a number of builders, veterans of several Colleges, who just came to have a good time with fellow builders. By any measure it was a successful event. Before it was over, builders were already speaking of making this an every year event, always a sure sign that people really enjoyed themselves and had a productive time. -ww
Above: Every College is a mixture of individual supervised work and group learning, shown in the scene above. In the photo, I am giving everyone a detailed look at, and Corvair specific training, on a differential compression test.
Above, the engine we are instructing on is Larry Magruder’s (in the maroon shirt at right) 2700 cc/Weseman bearing engine. It is going into his Zenith 650.
Pietenpol builder and veteran of several Colleges Dave Aldrich with a high thrust line Pietenpol motor mount we made for him. It is powdercoated white. He saved $80 on shipping by picking it up in person. We are always glad to ship mounts, we do it all the time, but it is nice to head to a College also.
Bob Lester strikes the “Intrepid Aviator” pose with his Pietenpol. He is good at this because he has seen every old aviation movie ever made. He built his 2,700/Weseman bearing engine at CC #17, and flew it back to CC #25.
Ron Lendon’s 601 XL, flown in from the Detroit area. His engine is a 2,850 cc/Roy bearing engine, also built at CC #17.
Above, several of us get a detail session in on setting valves. Larry Magruder multi-tasks with Scoob E sitting duty while Grace takes photos.
Spencer Gould, Embry Riddle trained, Pratt and Whitney engineer, sets his 2,700/Weseman bearing engine on the run stand. He is getting close to the finish line on his original design, composite, single-seat plane, the SP-500.
William Dominguez of Miami strikes a pose with his 2,700/Weseman bearing engine. He started with parts that he had prepped before the College, and did the complete assembly at the event in two days. The engine ran beautifully. It was the first engine he ever built. He had previously brought a core to CC #23, had a good look at how things are done, and then took action to make things work for him. The engine will power his 601 XL.
Spencer with his engine. It is the only Corvair I have seen that not only has gold parts, but is also painted gold. It ran great.
Joe Sarcione with his 3,000/Weseman bearing engine on the last day of the College. He also started with just raw parts. His prep work consisted of doing a lot of reading, including all the on-line installation directions that are in our parts catalog. The engine is destined for his Zenith 750.
Father-son team of David and Bryan Walker from Arkansas stand behind their freshly torn down core engine.
Roy Szarafinski and his lovely daughter Liese made a brief appearance at the College. They were on the return leg of an international trip and detoured over to spend much of Saturday at the College with builders. In between getting his display set at SnF and conducting the first flight of the Panther on Sunday, Dan Weseman also had a chance to assist builders at the College.
Many friendly hands made short work of getting William Dominguez’s engine ready for the first run.
Mike Schwab (black shirt) and Michelle Tomalo were in attendance. They started their 3,000/Weseman bearing engine at CC #23, finished and ran it at CC #24, and returned to help others at CC #25. Mike is the best source for alternators and voltage regulators. His email address is info@mikessynoil.com
William Dominguez’s engine during break in. It went from ice cold, never started, to live and running in less than 3 seconds of cranking.
The Redditt family works on their 3,000/Weseman bearing engine. It is destined for the family Zenith 750.
Lynn Dingfelder’s 2,700/Weseman bearing 601 XL from Pennsylvania. Lynn had previously flown the plane to CC #20 in Michigan. After the College, Lynn took a short tour of southern Florida and then headed to SnF, where his aircraft was on display at the Zenith booth all week. Lynn is very mechanically inclined, and he has very good judgement, but he is relatively new to flying. He got his sport pilot license four years ago and has slowly and carefully accumulated a few hundred hours, gradually expanding his personal flight envelope. His experience and path is an excellent model for anyone new to homebuilding and flying.
Larry Magruder and his lovely spouse Diane enjoy the prop blast from Larry’s engine on the run stand. The engine briefly ran at CC #24, but Larry decided he wanted to return to CC #25 and reset the valves and do some detail work under my supervision to make it run perfect. It worked according to plan, exactly. I have great respect for any builder who sets his standards high and sticks with them until his work is outstanding.
Wittman Buttercup builder Daniel Kelley from California flew in commercial for the event and stayed for most of SnF also. He has attended many Colleges. His plane will be powered by his 3,000/Roy bearing engine.
EAA Chapter 534 had a Pietenpol project in the hangar that was the work of a very nice older gentleman who has a Ford Model A for it. They are assisting the man with the completion of the aircraft. I took a photo of the project’s cabane strut arrangement. There is nothing wrong with using aluminum lift strut material; the loads on the vertical cabanes are not that high. However, no one, ever, should use this type of arrangement for the diagonal cabane going down to the top of the firewall. This would fold up like cooked spaghetti in the most minor of mishaps, and could even injure or trap the front seat occupant. The diagonal cabanes should be at least 7/8″-.049″ 4130 tubing, preferably welded to the front vertical cabane tubes.
The Redditt family with their packed van at the end of the College. Charlie wears his ceremonial Corvair College tie for the photo.
A close up of the Redditt’s 3,000/Weseman bearing engine. It started as a pile of parts before the event, all the way down to the case halves. They attended CC #24, made a plan, and followed through with it. Above, they are most of the way to an outstanding, first class engine.
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