Builders:
Below is a photo from CC#17, the first College that Arnold Holmes was the local host of. He went on to host CC#25 and now CC#29, March 28-30 in Leesburg FL. You can read all about it at this link:
Corvair College #29, March 28-30, FL. , sign-up open
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About 65 of the 100+ people who attended the event are pictured in the photo above. You can see the whole story at :http://www.flycorvair.com/cc17.html.
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In the photo above are Steve Simms, Alan Yur, Dan Heath, Jim and Rhonda Weseman, Ron Lendon, Bob Lester, and Jeff Cochran. What do all of these people have in common? They were builders the moment the photo was taken, but today, they all have a flying Corvair powered plane.
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Also in the pictures are Corvair Pilots Mark Langford, Chris Smith, Brandon Tucker, Dan Weseman, Rick Lindstrom, Phil Maxson, Gary Coppen and David Vargesko and Steve Makish, who has successfully completed and flown their own Corvair powered planes before #17.
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The photos show many other builders like Gerry Scampoli, who ran their engine at CC#17, who are very close to flying today. With them are builders like Cliff Rose, Ray Fuenzalita, Pete Klapp and Dan Glaze who ran their engines at following colleges, and also have their planes at the ‘light at the end to the tunnel’ phase today. There are guys in the photos like Jim Waters and Larry Hudson who’s engines had already run before CC#17, but they came to the event to help out and have a good time. Today both of their planes are 95% done. There are several people in the pictures like Bill Zorc who will bring their engine to CC#29 for a test run.
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People who have never met me occasionally form the opinion that I admire myself. Ask anyone who is close friends with me, and they will tell you I spend the quiet hours contemplating how I could have done everything better, even when things are going well. I am rarely satisfied and never dissuaded from this perspective by praise. But there are times, where I can look back at a body of work with Corvair builders, like College #17, and be, well, pleased with it.
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When I look at all the names and faces and think about the learning and progress that has happened, that we were here to support in the long run, I will allow myself to be pleased with it now. Objectively, it is a very strong record of success in an industry that has far less than 20% of the people in it reach the finish line.
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Percentages are for groups to be analyzed, but to the individual who wanted to Learn, Build and Fly, success is all or nothing; it wasn’t 20%, it was he got there or he didn’t, 100% or 0% . I don’t look at our work as profit or loss, numbers sold or even percentage who complete the process. When I an speaking with a builder, my focus isn’t on the group, it is on “How can this guy get all the way through a finished plane?” Each builder is different, has different assets and challenges, resources and resiliency. If there is a single factor that gets many people to personal success, it is signing up for a College. It is the common element in a very broad range of diverse success stories. -ww.
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