Builders,
This project is the work of a man who has been a close friend of mine for nearly 25 years. It is a one of a kind STOL plane. Vern and I went to my friend’s private air ranch in central Florida today, to drop off the engine for it. When we were there, my friend was busy with many things, but before we were back home 125 miles north, the builder had painted the mount and put the engine on it.
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“Who is this man? What are his goals? What is the expected performance? Will it be used in STOL competitions? ” These are the questions of a spectator’s perspective, people have become too complacent, who are watching too much and doing too little.
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When I get a call, and the person on the line tells me of some of some video he saw about what mike paytie is doing, before he tells me about the last part he built, I try to politely remind him that aviation isn’t a spectator sport, particularly not homebuilding. I myself watch videos, but they are specific to a task I’m about to do, with tools and skills that are accessible to me. I don’t watch videos about what the uber-wealthy are doing with their staff and turbine engined projects. If your plane is done, and you flew 200 hours in it last year, fine, watch what ever you want, but if you are not making real progress fast enough, stop wasting time on entertainment for spectators.
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I present these images as a simple lesson and pure motivation. The lesson is don’t be a spectator. My friend, in all the years I have known him, has never been content to be a spectator at any part of life, and part of this is never wasting a day and never being concerned with the opinions nor actions of others. My friend has impeccable manners, is very thoughtful and considerate, but I will assure you that he is more interested in getting his own plane flying than reading about yours. If you have gotten this backwards lately, change your priorities.
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If you didn’t work on your plane today, a genuinely hope that looking at these images makes you close your computer, and go out to your shop and invest at least as much time on your own project as you do reading through these notes.
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Your life, your choice.
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William.
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Above, STOL aircraft fitted with mock up Corvair. The air/oil struts have 16″ of travel. Prop is a 64×35 Sensenich from me, well proven as an outstanding Corvair STOL prop.
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I built the engine delivered today. It was in storage at my hangar for several years. It took 3 seconds of cranking on the test stand to run perfectly. I gave it a brief ops check, to look at the timing. It did not need an air duct because the engine is fully broken in and was only run for a minute.
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Engine on aircraft. This as the mount Vern and I fitted and welded last week. This is a “Hanging Truss” design. I have used this on several planes with long mounts and/or low thrust lines. This plane as been under construction for less than 6 months.
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Engine on the floor in front of the airframe.
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Side view of the plane. The perspective makes it look very tall, but it isn’t quite as tall as the Stearman behind it. in the 3 point attitude, the center the prop hub is about 6′ off the ground.
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Go work on your plane, don’t let this day slip away from you.
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