About two weeks ago, a well known Zenith builder and flyer who has already logged 502 hours on his 2,700cc Corvair powered Zenith 601XL, came down to Florida, picked up all of his previously ordered 3.3 liter upgrade parts from SPA/Panther, and came over to my hangar to assemble and test run the engine. It took him about a day, as he had previously built his 2,700 that ran flawlessly.
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A fez and wrap-around shades are the hallmarks of the man I often introduce as “Kamal Mustafa, my attorney”.Although he has impeccable manners and a gregarious nature, he is truly a 300 pound bull in life’s china shop of timid people.
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The engine features all my gold system parts, along with a Weseman Billet long stroke 3.3 liter made in USA crank, cylinders pistons and rods. Kamal’s engine started at the tap of the key, and laid down a perfect 45 minute break in run. We tested it with both E/P-X and DFI ignitions. After cool down it was loaded in his car and driven home with haste. This engine will fly to Corvair College #39 in Barnwell SC next month.
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The engine is already mounted on his airframe and ready for its first flight with 25 more horsepower and 14 pounds less weight (the crank is lighter and he upgraded to a 2400-L Starter ) This is a very potent engine: When Dan and myself tested the 3.3 prototype on a professional dynamometer last year, it put down 99HP at 2,700 rpm, The identical full rated output of an O-200 Continental, but it did this as an intentional test running on 5 cylinders. Running on all cylinders, this engine comfortably exceeds 125hp, with no reduction in reliability.
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For more information, Call the SPA/Panther Corvair engine parts hotline at 904-626-7777.
I’ve tried to figure out where your airfield is, don’t recall where in any of the communications it is. Where are you located so I can see it in Google maps, or Foreflight?
Mike, we have a residential airpark, so I don’t do general business out of it, and it is a non-standard airport that some people with rusty or poor skills find hard to fly out of, so we don’t invite people here who have not seen the place from the ground first. This is why out of the 39 colleges, 0 have been held here.
Great job Ken! I will be upgrading my cranks to 3.3L sometime over the next few years also. Always nice to get some extra HP. Ken, can you please email me the contact info for the DAR that you used when you received your Airworthiness Certificate? I’m getting close… Thanks. Jimdc8@optonline.net
I’d be careful about calling him Greek. His name and the fez say to me that he’s Turkish. In their native lands, the Turks and Greeks aren’t exactly friendly. Here, it’s different. 😉
Kamal smoothed over Greco-Turkish relations years ago. Today, the Greeks and the Turks are almost friendly.
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A big thank you to William, Dan, and Rachel. I enjoyed this build very much. The best part was the company and friendship. Excellent parts and service, but most of all, first class folks.
Ken, as soon as I saw the name, I realized we were being put on. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (The last name was added after he became the President of the Republic of Turkey) was the person who stopped the British Invasion at Gallipoli during WWI. He later became the first President of Turkey. I figured Kamal Mustafa was a play on the name.
What a BEAST, I bet the engine is bad ass too!
I’ve tried to figure out where your airfield is, don’t recall where in any of the communications it is. Where are you located so I can see it in Google maps, or Foreflight?
Mike, we have a residential airpark, so I don’t do general business out of it, and it is a non-standard airport that some people with rusty or poor skills find hard to fly out of, so we don’t invite people here who have not seen the place from the ground first. This is why out of the 39 colleges, 0 have been held here.
What is Kamal using to keep his fez on in the propwash?
Trade secret.
Great job Ken! I will be upgrading my cranks to 3.3L sometime over the next few years also. Always nice to get some extra HP. Ken, can you please email me the contact info for the DAR that you used when you received your Airworthiness Certificate? I’m getting close… Thanks. Jimdc8@optonline.net
Kamal sure looks a lot like the Greek speedo fashion model…
I’d be careful about calling him Greek. His name and the fez say to me that he’s Turkish. In their native lands, the Turks and Greeks aren’t exactly friendly. Here, it’s different. 😉
Kamal smoothed over Greco-Turkish relations years ago. Today, the Greeks and the Turks are almost friendly.
A big thank you to William, Dan, and Rachel. I enjoyed this build very much. The best part was the company and friendship. Excellent parts and service, but most of all, first class folks.
Ken, as soon as I saw the name, I realized we were being put on. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (The last name was added after he became the President of the Republic of Turkey) was the person who stopped the British Invasion at Gallipoli during WWI. He later became the first President of Turkey. I figured Kamal Mustafa was a play on the name.
William the 14 lbs, 3 lbs from the Starter and the other 11 are from? VW Cylinders? Dan’s Crank? How many per? Thanks in advance.
The crank is 4 pounds lighter, the rest is the cylinders