The case for Simple Machines

Builders,

Mike Quinn, who has attended many, many Corvair Colleges, drove this 1966 Ford Pick up to CC #43.  It makes a very visual case for simple machines.  Mike is a very interesting cat who owns more than 50 cars. His choice to take this vehicle on a casual interstate trip comes as little surprise if you know him. A common thread in his taste for people, plans and machines is simplicity.

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While not everyone wants to have 50 year old truck as a daily driver, the example is well worth considering how it could apply to your plane, and what you would like to do with it.  Builders who select the Corvair as their engine already understand mechanical reliability comes from simplicity, the appeal of Machines vs Appliances Part #2, and that technology isn’t a substitute for an intelligent operator.  But the general philosophy bears application to your plans in aviation more than any other aspect of your life.

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Above the engine compartment, a 300 cid Ford six. Note the absence of PS, PB, AC, etc, and how clean it looks. Your Corvair, in comparison to say a Rotax 912 has this same appeal. Beyond the visual aspect, you can not inspect what you can not see, and what you don’t have can not break. The truck has selected technology applied, it has a hybrid electronic ignition and a 5 speed manual, but neither of these lose the point of the exercise. Notice how much of the ground you can see in the picture.

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Holley four barrel on a Clifford Research manifold. Original oil bath air cleaner. Tell me if you would prefer to change a heater hose on this truck or on say, a current Toyota Tundra?  Its easy to say that you would rather have an accident in a modern vehicle, but its just as easy for me to point out that thats not a factor in planes, and even in cars, to some of us who live in rural areas and have become too old to drive like we are still in high school.

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A very simple instrument panel. There are aviation comparisons like:  Inexpensive Panel……..part one., and Inexpensive panel…….part two.. To me, there is an inherent appeal to the simple, getting away from things that you own but don’t understand, things where you are completely at the mercy of others to keep going, often very expensive things.

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Last month I saw photos of an 80 mph day VFR homebuilt, with perhaps $20,000 in glass cockpit stuff. Plane had less than ten hours on it, and was severely damaged because the builder didn’t learn much about engines. It was an example of daydreaming about flying around looking at computers, ( on flights anyone with a plain  J-3 could have made ), but putting almost no effort into learning  much about how to install an engine and operate it. Your plane, your life, your choice, but perhaps getting the priorities right matters.

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Mike Quinn’s truck outside the terminal at Barnwell Airport.

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Wewjr.

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