Yesterday’s Zenith 750 reference post is the first of a half dozen I am going to do over the next few weeks. The others will probably include the 601/650, Pietenpols, Cleanexes and KR’s. I am planning on utilizing much of the same format in each of these. This may seem redundant, but bear with me on this, I believe that it will prove to be a good use of writing time.
Here is the logic: The way we have presented the information up to this point is assuming that the person has already selected the Corvair and is at least some what familiar with our work and the Corvair movement. If you are reading this, that may be a good description of your arrival as a Corvair builder. However, I think that most people interested in building an experimental aircraft first select the airframe that interests them, and only later try to find a matching power plant.
I have concluded that many people with a specific airframe already in mind consider a Corvair, but on a first visit to our websites, have a hard time getting a complete picture of how the Corvair can serve on their chosen airframe. I am well aware that finding things, particularly on Flycorvair.com can be difficult.. Thus I have begin to develop the idea of the airframe specific reference page.
Now, Picture a guy who has just started his Zenith 750 project asking on a Zenith discussion group for information about engines. Any builder of ours can just simply reference the one link, where the new builder can read the information at any depth he likes. Same goes for people who send us a direct email saying they are considering a 750. It should also turn up on searches. In any case, it is no more difficult than just sending a new guy to the main page and suggesting he start there, but it should do a much better job of giving the interested person a more accurate overview of the possibilities of the Corvair.
It has the other advantage of being easier to update with more information and newly completed planes and fresh stories. This way links in older archives are tied to current information not just older posts. If you already know your way around the Corvair , have been to a college and the reasons for our approach make sense to you, all of this may seem superfluous, but it just says you are more motivated and better informed than most builders.
Today we get mail from and meet a lot of people at airshows that have heard about Corvairs, but are missing fundamental points like the fact you can build the engine yourself , that new parts are made, that we make installation components and we hold the Colleges. Standing at my booth at Oshkosh, the 20th time I have been there, with eight motor mounts in the tent with signs on them and having at least 5 people a day say to me “I read your website, and I like the Corvair for my plane, but I don’t know where I can get a motor mount for my Zenith 601” is a bit frustrating. I could get cranky about it or I can do something productive that re arranges the info that we already have to make it more accessible to people at first pass.
The same ‘reference page’ idea can work for topics that current builders are interested in also. The 3,000cc development story: 3,000 vs 3,100 cc Corvair engines. , was very popular, and it was essentially organized the same way, and when we have another good story on 3,000cc engines, I can just go back to the first story and insert the link to keep it up to date. I am open to hear any feedback on these ideas or hear of subjects for additional reference pages.-ww
