Builders:
Word came yesterday that Vance Lucas flew his 3,000cc Corvair powered Zenith 750. It was a start to finish 36 month build, including Vance building his own engine at our Corvair colleges. Hats off to Vance, for a job very well done. His personal reward is amplified by being the master of his power plant, not simply it’s owner. He invested the extra measure of his own effort to achieve this. Corvairs are not for everyone, but if your individual path is driven to find out how much you can learn, not how little, you will find the engine and our program to offer a depth of understanding for those unwilling to settle for less.
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Above, Vance and his 3,000 cc / 120 HP engine during the perfect break in run. I took this Photo in Portland Oregon last year. If you are not a Corvair builder and wonder at times why we have a very strong following, this is an easy example to follow: I drove out from Florida with a trailer of tools and the test stand to cover colleges all over the west. (read: Back in Florida after 7,380 miles on tour.) The trip included a 1,000 mile extension to cover just 3 Zenith builders in Portland who were ready for a test run. Total Price I charged these builders for travel work and test run? Zero dollars. The great majority of companies in experimental aviation measure ‘success’ solely based on how much money they make. Since 1989, I have measured success by what builders have learned, and how they use this to safely operate their aircraft
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Vance drove down from Canada to Portland for his test run. He is a first class guy and good company. He also attended the Corvair College #30 we held at the Zenith factory in Mexico MO. For a look at the Portland story, read: A tale of three Zenith builders.
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From Vance: “Three days short of three years since I picked up the tail kit from the freight depot I have a flying airplane. Everything went according to plan, no surprises, thanks God.”
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Congratulations, Vance !! William, thanks again for CC 38.5 in Portland. I very much appreciate the effort you extended to Vance, Spence and myself to get our engines running.
Congrats Mr. Lucas from a fellow Canadian builder!!
My Zenith Cruzer kit will be in my hangar soon. I am continually building time on my 3L which is installed in my Merlin but will be transplanted in to the Cruzer once completed.
Jeff
Congrats Vance, its a wonder full achievement.
Congratulations on a job well don!! Hats off! Currently I am at 4.5 years of a 3 year build. Broke in 2850 sitting on the mount. 7 Corvair Colleges attended Marching on!