Val Westedt’s Zenith 650 / Corvair at the 2018 Open House

Builders,

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Val and Craig Westedt brought their magnificent Zenith 650 back for another flying visit to the factory, where the kit was made. The plane captured a lot of attention, and Val was actually bringing to lose her voice by Saturday from speaking with so many Zenith builders.

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They are both first class people, the kind I hoped to meet when I started my work in 1989. In public they are friendly and outgoing, in small groups they are very helpful, and privately they are supportive, the best kind of friends you can imagine. They are the kind of people that make my efforts rewarding. They are special, but not unique, we have many good people in the world of Corvair building and flying, and if you prefer such company, you will fit right in.

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Val kept the cowl open on her plane all day long. She is on the far side of the cockpit, speaking with a builder. Note how much of our Corvair cowling is open with just a few 1/4 turn fasteners. It allows a full preflight inspection of the engine and systems. Our educational efforts teach builders to understand what they are looking at. The average  pilot’s preflight inspection isn’t impeded by only having a dipstick door to look through, no one trained him what to look for anyway.

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Above, Val’s rudder, with my Corvair sign on one side and the Zenith main hangar name on the other. It was a very well framed image, I later noticed that Zenith’s official event photographer framed nearly the same image for their website.

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