Builders;
Pictured below is the first start of a brand new, no expense spared, 3.0L Corvair engine destined to power a Zenith Cruiser in Texas.
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.Here is the video: https://youtu.be/0Q_PvskZdLI
Above, Greg Crouchley, the engine builder, in my front yard at the airport this morning. He is in the white shirt. Next to him is Ken Pavlou, 800 hour Corvair/Zenith 601XL pilot. Greg and Ken are old friends, if you have been around my Oshkosh tent after hours, you have likely seen their version of tough love friendship, which involves Italian vs Greek pride jokes, immodest drinking and great story telling. Corvairs are not new to Greg, eight years ago he built a 3.0L engine for his Waiex. Today he is a Zenith guy, in the home stretch of his Cruiser. He has built a number of planes, previous ones were powered with Jaibaru and Continental engines. He can tell you the merits of each, but for the last decade, he has been a Corvair guy.
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The new engine came to life in 2 seconds of cranking. It put down a perfect break in run, and after just 30 minutes on my run stand, the cam was broken in, and it had excellent compression on all cylinders. He had one tiny oil leak, that turned out to be an oil fitting that needed another 1/2 turn. The engine is a clone of his Waiex engine, a first class power plant built around an SPA billet crank. Nearly every single part in this engine, including the crank, is the product of American craftsmen. This is not an imported engine. Every person should be proud of the work of the skilled craftsmen of his homeland, and the Americans who buy products from me can be assured they are supporting good manufacturing jobs here.
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We will have a video on the break in run shortly.
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William