Builders,
I received a quick Email from Joe Horton of PA, saying that he was back on the East Coast. This year the KR gathering was held in Chino CA instead of it’s usual central US location. Joe, who is nearing 1,000 hrs. on his 3,100cc KR-2S, decided to fly all the way out and back to see friends, demonstrate the capability of good homebuilts, and to have another good adventure. Read more about Joe and his plane at this link: KR-2S at 700 Hours – Joe Horton. The note below is from Joe:
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William- enclosed is a brief caption of my flight to Chino. The engine performed flawlessly for the entire flight, not that I didn’t worry a bit while over flying some of the wildest country that you can find. I will write up an article when I get a chance. Best
Joe Horton
“Alrighty Guys,I arrived home by air at 3 pm eastern time. A few of the statistics
are (not exact as I am just figuring them out now) About 5000 miles flown over a five
day period. 13 airports and 9 of them new to me. 36 hours in the air. longest leg about 4
hours or nearly 600 miles. About 170 gals of fuel burned. average fuel burn about 4.7
gal per hour. average ground speed 139mph. I did not see a tail wind anywhere in all of
this flying.”
Above, Joe Horton, 3,100cc/ Weseman bearing – KR-2S builder from PA, with Grace at Corvair College #21 . This was the 8th College that Joe had flow to. He has also flown to Sun ‘N Fun, the KR gathering and Oshkosh several times each. In 2010, we awarded him the Cherry Grove Trophy at CC#19 for his work promoting Corvair powered flight.
In the above photo stand the four pilots who have their names engraved on the Cherry Grove Trophy. Left to right are Joe Horton, 2010, Dan Weseman, 2009, P.F. Beck, 2011, and Mark Langford, 2008.
Blast from the past, Corvair College #20: Pilots of Corvair College #20, from left to right: Lynn Dingfelder, Joe Horton, Mark Langford, and Dr. Gary Ray.
Above, Joe at CC#14. I have long listened to his counsel because he is truly a man In The Arena. His outgoing nature and his travels far and wide give him a valuable perspective on the movement. Many people new to Corvairs have the false expectation that the engine is another consumer product. Joe is living proof that you will get the most out of the Corvair movement when you regard it as an opportunity to learn, build and fly, in a movement which happens to have some very inexpensive hardware. His aviation focus on Self Reliance has a common thread that extends back through Lindbergh all the way to the Wright brothers.
Above, Joe Horton flew down to CC#16 in South Carolina. Many builders who have not yet met him in person still know something about his perspectives and values because they have read his article in our flight operations manual.
Above, Joe’s plane at Sun n Fun 2007. He won the long distance award for Corvairs with a flight of nearly 1,000 miles in N357CJ, above. Joe’s KR is a stretched S model with the new airfoils. His 3,100cc Corvair turns a 54×60 Sensenich. This gives him a top speed of more than 170 mph.
Here’s a shot of Joe’s KR-2S at AirVenture 2007
Above a warm but happy Joe Horton after his arrival at Sun ‘N Fun 2009 via KR/VAIR N357CJ. His KR-2S trip to Sun ‘N Fun was one leg of a 4,000 mile East Coast tour that he did in a few days of flying. He wrote a very nice summary of it upon his return home, pointing out he’d flown as high as 17,000’ on his way home to Pennsylvania. (He has O2) He noted that the plane would still climb several hundred feet per minute at that altitude and this is the definition of reserve power in a naturally aspirated airplane.
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Hats off to Joe Horton for the latest chapter in a long story of adventure.