Day: July 16, 2015

Oshkosh:

In the next 12 hours, Grace, the dog and myself will be getting on the road for Oshkosh. We will be out of the shop for 14 days. It is about 1,300 miles from our grass strip, this is my 22nd year of going to Airventure. It has changed a lot over the years, but to me this remains constant: I always like going to see friends, both old and new. That single factor more than makes up for all the annoyances, including always getting stuck in Atlanta road construction traffic, even if it is 3am.

.

Above, myself, Grace and the legendary Chris Heintz, at Oshkosh 2014. One of the best things about Airventure is being able to speak in person with many of the most creative people in homebuilding, it is a great learning opportunity. While it has formal moments like the dinners, during the day it is casual.

( Note to the guy who told me I should “Make your wife dress conservatively,”  Oshkosh is America, not Saudi Arabia, and my marriage vows were about supporting my wife, not “Making” her do things.  )

.

Some common Questions:

.

Our booth is the same one every year, #616 in the north aircraft display area, across from Zenith aircraft.

.

We have over 5,000 pounds of stuff packed in the truck and trailer; Yes, we have manuals and parts for sale

.

I am giving several forums, you can check the EAA program for dates and times, or stop by the booth for info.

.

I will always make time to inspect core engines and parts. Bring them, photos and questions, we are going to Oshkosh to share what we know, Helping builders is our #1 priority at the event, I am there to teach builder not entertain spectators.

.

—————————————————

.

Colleges:

We have given  33 free colleges in the last 15 years, and builders have built hundreds of engines at them. This is the most unique aspect of Corvairs. There are plenty of engine options for people who don’t want to learn anything nor get their hands dirty. If you are in aviation to find out home much you can learn and build, not how little, you may be a Corvair builder Learn more about colleges here:

Corvair College reference page

.

Sign up for College #34 At the Zenith factory in September has been open for almost 90 days: It is 80% full, and will undoubtedly fill by the first 2 or 3 days of Oshkosh. If you were planning on going, sign up here:

Corvair College #34 sign up – Open now

.

Corvair College #35 will be at Barnwell South Carolina for the 6th time in November. The sign up is now open, Here is the link:

https://corviarcollegeregistration.wufoo.com/forms/cc35-registration/

.

Please note that we do not work on unicorns at corvair colleges. I am an aircraft mechanic, not a magician, I can not turn a unicorn into a hard working pony in one weekend. If you want to build an engine, start with good information and a plan. I do not offer help to people who really wanted a unicorn.

.

————————————————-

.

Unicorns for sale:

.

To learn what a ‘Unicorn’ is read this story: Unicorns vs Ponies.

.

To understand how potential builders waste their days looking for a unicorn, read this:

Waiting for the bus from Unicorntown to Cyberville

.

There will be a number of Unicorn salesmen at Oshkosh this year, and some of them will be offering great tales of imaginary creatures you can buy. Unfortunately, some of these salesmen will be trying to work with potential Corvair builders. I would like to think that I have taught Corvair builders better, but experience has shown that a percentage of builders will always listen to a line of BS, just because they want it to be true. In years past, this bothered me, but today I am a much happier person because I accept that there are stupid people in the world, and I can’t change that fact, and these people will believe what the want regardless of what facts and tests you show them.

.

Common Characteristics of Unicorn Salesmen:

They have a ‘New’ LLC: If a guy is there with a new LLC from the same town he was in with his last 2 LLC’s that went bankrupt, chances are, his new unicorn sales operation is going to fail also. Yet people will write them checks for unicorns without even Googling their name to learn anything about them. People who assume that just because a company has a booth at Oshkosh they are good people are fools. Jim Beede took 3,000 EAAers money in the 1970s, yet he almost always has a booth at Oshkosh. 80% of the companies displaying at Oshkosh 2005 are now bankrupt, and I am going to guess that 90% of the new LLCs debuting at Oshkosh 2015 will be bankrupt in 36 months.

.

If a guy tells you that he has discovered a magic 25% HP gain with a special secret modification, He is a unicorn salesman.  If the same guy tells you the engine has a torque peak at 2500rpm, he is a unicorn salesman. If he tells you he can make a 2700cc engine make the same power as a 3000 or 3300, he is a unicorn salesman.  If he claims to build the best Corvairs is spite of having no A&P license, no pilots license and having never owned a Corvair powered plane, or any plane for that matter, he is a unicorn salesman. You can not advance your progress in aviation by listening to unicorn salesmen, but many people try every year. Don’t be one of them.

.

ww.