Author: William Wynne

Builders:

Below is a fairly short video, highlighting a discussion of the importance of owning a New – M.O.P. Manual, a required technical document.  I give examples of how updated information matters, and how electing to follow it is the best way of taking advantage of all of my testing and teaching.

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There are links in the Video’s description which will lead you directly to my website where you can get your own copy of the manual.

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Builders, Here is our Carburetor Reference page for 2020. It is a collected index of stories and videos about Carb Options for Corvairs.

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It is my personal recommendation that new builders plan around using one of two carbs, either a brand new Rotec TBI or a new Marvel Shebler. MA3-SPA. You can read though the stories presented here to gain more insight, and understand what has historically been used, and how we get to the current recommendation. Here are the most current Stories:

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New video on Rotec carbs for Corvairs.

Information on why this is the new ‘standard’ recommended carb

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Stromberg carb procedures in 2020, With video link.

Outlines why these are no longer a primary recommendation .

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New MA3-SPA – Available from SPA/Panther

The source for new MA3-SPA carbs

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Here is a sampling of recent testing:

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Shootout at the Stromberg corral (2019)

This is how we identified issues

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Stromberg Shootout, Pt #2 (2019)

This was looking for solutions and retesting.

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MA3-SPA Test Runs. (2019)

Testing to verify the quality of overhauls.

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Safety Alert: Excessively Rich MA3-SPA Jetting. (2017)

Alert  about some rebuilt MA3-SPA carbs which were jetted richer than stock.

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Critical Understanding #10 – Carb Ice (2017)

An article which became part of the MOP manual

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Inexpensive carb testing (2017)

We still look for solutions which would keep flying affordable.

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Critical Understanding #4, ANY loss of RPM is Detonation. (2016)

Understanding that lean operation leads to detonation.

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The notes below cover the broad variety of Carbs that have flown on the Corvair, and some thoughts on why I choose simplicity when it is available, and the development of our intake manifolds.

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Above, an overhauled NAS-3. While a proven workhorse, I no longer encourage new builders to plan on this carb. 

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An intermission to remind that very little good comes from discussion groups:

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Internet speculation vs First hand experience….. . 

A drama filled example of people “Chiming in” on discussion groups, and how inane some of the comments are.

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Speculation vs Experience Pt #2, Actual issue identified.

How I understood the issue by having personally tested the builders engine at a west coast college…..It was a propeller adjustment.

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Below is a list of stories have written on Corvair carburetors. You can click on any color title to read the whole story:

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Air / Fuel ratios on Corvair carbs.  (2016)

A look at the range of air fuel mixtures we use, and how we test this.

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So you like the idea of auto gas…. (2018)

Corvair run on auto fuel, but you have to know stuff like this.

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New Ellison Carb supplier, NV Aero.com (2016)

Steve Glover bought the rights to and all the tooling for Ellison carbs.

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Ma3-SPA carb orientation, (2016)

A dumb story about how internet discussion groups miss the point.

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Carb Orientation Pt. 2: Internet Reading Comprehension Failures.  (2016)

A second example of why discussion groups are better for drama than tech info.

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Running your engine “Over-square”? (2015)

Info on why not to lug your engine and why 2700rpm is min. static rpm.

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How I became a genius in 6 minutes (2014)

Why you don’t use a British car carb on a plane

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Fuel Injection – Corvair flight engines reference page  (2013)

Because in any Carb discussion, someone will incorrectly assume I have never tried FI on a Corvair.

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Stromberg Carbs  (2013)

The world’s most prolific light plane carb, but this is an older story, read the update at the top.

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MA3-spa carb pictures, Wagabond notes.

The MA3 is the most popular carburetor on Corvairs today. Please read the more current story above.

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Carb applications, choices people make

A story of why builders professional background tend to choose carbs.

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Intakes and Internet myths

Notes on why the intake works so well.

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In Search Of … The Economical Carburetor

A story of testing a $160 carburetor.

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A question of Carb location…..

A warning about top mount carbs.

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Deal of the Day,simple MA3 carb. (Sold at 1 am, 9/1/13)

Good photos of a straight MA3.

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Below are the Group numbers of our intakes and the numbers we assigned to the popular Corvair carbs. You can see how this is part of our Group numbering system by studying the complete numbering system on the “Prices” section of our main page, FlyCorvair.com. These are all discussed in my Conversion Manual

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Intakes and carburetors  group (3600)

3601(S)- Standard Intake manifolds

3602(A)- Marvel MA3-SPA

3602(B)- Stromberg NAS-3

3602(C)- Ellison EFS-3A

3602(D)- Sonex AeroCarb  –  38mm

3602(E)- Zenith 268

3602(F)- Rotec TBI 34mm

3602(G)- 1 barrel Carter downdraft

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Commentary on Carbs:

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When it comes to carbs, I have always liked Strombergs and MA3s because they have literally millions of hours feeding air and fuel into flight engines. I know them and trust them, but in recent years we have had trouble with rebuilt ones having consistent quality for builders to use them directly out of the box. In years past it was not this way, but today it is. These carbs were always my first choice to put on a plane because they are aircraft carbs, they are not just playing the role. They are doing the job they were designed to. Today, my recommendation is that builders focus either on a new Rotec, or a new MA3.  These are not the cheapest path, but without question, they are the most reliable.

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My father,William E. Wynne Sr. 1925-2017 was a lifelong military engineer who spent a lot of time working in places where the people who don’t like your project are literally going to try to kill you. He upheld that the piece of machinery that has the greatest reliability requirement is the combat firearm. In these tools, reliability is an absolute requirement. All other considerations about them – weight, accuracy, firepower, cost, etc. – all are meaningless if you ever need to use one and squeezing the trigger produces a soft noise rather than a loud one.

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Notice that the requirements of aircraft carbs are very much like combat firearms. When you push the throttle in, you really want to hear a loud noise, not a soft one. If your glide path leads to a place 200 feet short of the runway threshold, and pushing the throttle in gives the undesired soft noise, you will not be comforted by thoughts of how cheap, how light, how available, easy to tune or install it was, or any other factor that made it attractive in the hangar. Reliability alone gets you back to the airport.

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Consider this: The MA3 was designed about the same time that the Soviet Red Army adopted a device called the AK-47. Sixty plus years later, both of these devices have been used in countless numbers all over the  globe. Both are often criticized as outdated, inefficient, inaccurate and stone age. Notice that their continued use in the face of all criticism is justified by the same three word sentence, “It is reliable.” People who have held either one in their hands, stared at its metal parts and though about how they would need to count on it, will have some appreciation for that three word sentence. If I can teach you only one thing about experimental aircraft, let it be this: There is no characteristic more important than reliability. Anything you could get in trade for reliability isn’t worth it.

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Thoughts on ‘Alternative’ Carbs:

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It is my strongest recommendation not to use any type of motorcycle carb. This includes a Revflow, a Keihin, an S&S, an Altimizer, a Mikuni, a Harley-Zenith, and especially not a Bing. If I were required to list all the ways that a motorcycle or other non-aviation design carb could fail, I would have a long list. For example, the Bing throttle isn’t connected to the cable, and many CV motorcycle carbs have this “feature.” The two biggest failures  that I can name is  throttle systems that are operated by bicycle cables and the fact that most  motorcycle carbs don’t have any way in which you can attach a serious fuel line.  A piece of fish tank tubing and a hose clamp is not serious, and if it works on a Rotax 503 in a cowl-less pusher application, that doesn’t mean it will live in a sealed engine compartment in a traditional aircraft. Throw in that they have no mixture control, and often don’t fit where aircraft carbs do, and you get to a better understanding why there isn’t anyone saying how well the combination worked on the first 100 hours on his Corvair powered plane. My least favorite carb in this genre is the Bing. It has a tendency to lean out on long manifolds, and it will actually shut off if subjected to ram air. In 2012, we had a builder who insisted on using one and did $3,000 in detonation damage to his engine on the first flight. The same plane would have flown perfectly fine on a $500 Stromberg. I am sure the bystanders to this event were far more willing to see the issue as a Corvair problem than to understand that it was caused by a poor German motorcycle carb mis-applied to a proven engine. Carbs salvaged off snowmobiles, outboards, imported cars and lawn equipment are never going to have a good record on planes, and their advocacy is limited to people who wish to impress others with cleverness, but never actually impress people by going flying. Again, I don’t find it my responsibility to define all the ways that will not work for people who don’t wish to go with something proven. I spend my time trying to illustrate positive examples of how to do things that will work economically, but above all else, reliably.

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Thoughts on part #3601- Intake Manifolds:

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The Intake manifolds that we make for Corvairs evolved slowly over time and testing. Originally we made individual manifolds out of welded sections of mild steel tubing. We tested both 1.375” and 1.5” tubing, both on the ground and in the air. After a lot of evaluation, we went with the larger size from 2001 on.  In 2003, we started having the main tube of the manifolds bent by a CNC tubing bender as a single piece. This eliminated a lot of welded joints and gives the manifolds a much cleaner appearance. We looked at several different materials and selected thin wall 304 series stainless steel tubing. The primary reasons for this choice are that it is essentially immune to stress cracks when TIG welded and purged correctly, it remains clean on the inside and will not rust even if the aircraft sits for a long time in humid weather, and it is as light as an aluminum manifold because the aluminum would have to be made much thicker to have the same strength and crack resistance. After 15 years of continuous production, our manifolds still have a perfect track record.

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When first looking at the layout of the manifold, many people think that it will not have sharp throttle response, or the length of the runners will hurt the power output. A builder with a background in motorcycle racing confessed that he first thought of a steamship’s engine telegraph where the bridge swings a big lever on a pedestal that rings a bell in the engine room and makes a hand on a clock face point to the words “Full Ahead.” After he built his Corvair engine, he was surprised to find out that the throttle response on it was just as fast as a typical car. On aircraft, the limiting factor on how fast it can change rpm is the moment of inertia of the propeller assembly. On Corvairs, this is inherently low and the engine accelerates noticeably faster than other aircraft engines, even with a long intake tract.  Look at any modern car; designers are going to great trouble to make the intake runners much longer, not shorter. They are after more torque in the rpm range that direct drive engines fly at. A long intake tract doesn’t mean less power, and I am not sure where that myth started, but you can take a look at things as diverse as a tunnel ram with dual quads on a V-8 and see that even 7,500 rpm drag cars benefit from longer runners. But you need not be concerned with theory.

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I have years of dyno testing of most every type of intake length and carb configuration that conclusively shows that the length of the intake run has no effect on power output.  For years this was a favorite Internet debate topic among people who had never seen a Corvair turn a prop, but felt certain that the world needed to hear their impression of how it worked in their imagination. A number of these people also advocated putting the carb on top of the engine. I am going to flat out say that I have never found a single good reason to do so, and there are a number of very good safety reasons to have it on the bottom. I have seen people run every carb on top from Bings to Webers, and none of these installations worked nearly as well as even Bernard Pietenpol’s 1960s installations that featured tractor carbs mounted below the engine. I have seen more than one person plan on running an AeroCarb with a fuel pump mounted on top of a Corvair engine. Such a combination is virtually guaranteed to leak fuel onto the engine in operation. If a person is that interested in cremation, they should just find the professional service in the Yellow Pages and skip all the hassle of building a plane. I will not knowingly assist anyone who puts a carb on top of an engine or uses the leak prone stock Corvair mechanical fuel pump, and especially not in combination.

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There are always “experts” who claim that individual runners to each intake will make more power, that something is wrong with the offset intake pattern on the Corvairs intake log, or that the log should be removed. These are all myths that I long ago disproved with our dyno on back to back runs. In section 3700 look at the photo of Mark Petniunas’ EFI engine running on my dyno; it has individual runners and made no more power; the offset intake patter appears on many other aircraft engines such as Rangers and Allison 1710cid V-12s (good enough for P-38s P-40s and P-51Bs, probably good enough for homebuilts). The log part of the head is an important part of the mixture distribution, and it is structurally part of the head. If you mill it off you will weaken the head and blow the head gasket because the upper row of head bolts will no longer have a stiffener. Do not listen to anyone who suggests such modifications to the heads.

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We make several different manifolds for the Corvair. The most common is the 3601(S) which is the standard manifold for anyone mounting a Stromberg, MA3 or any other float type carb on their engine. This fits all the Zeniths, KRs, Tailwinds, etc. The second design is a 3601(E) which is the same manifold with the carb flange rotated 13 degrees forward. This is specifically made to serve Zenith builders who are putting a flat slide carb like an Ellison, Rotec or an AeroCarb on a tricycle landing geared airframe. The rotated carb flange provides clearance to the nose gear.  The 3601(C) manifold is specifically made to fit a Corvair into a Sonex or Waiex airframe using the Wesesman’s installation components. They have ones specifically for Panthers also. If you need further guidance, look at out parts catalog or give me a call or send a note.

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Builders,

When I mention getting a New MA3-SPA, I have not directly mentioned the source Corvair builders use: It is Sport Performance Aviation, the Panther people who provide Cranks, 5th bearings etc.

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Here is a direct link to the page on their site:

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https://flywithspa.com/product/marvel-schebler-carburetor-ma3-spa/

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Note how the appearance of a new carb is different than an overhaul pictured below. Not all overhauls are painted. The carbs are of identical mechanical design, but the one on my plane was actually made more than 50 years ago.

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Above is the MA3-SPA from my personal aircraft, when it was freshly overhauled. Notice this was $650 in 2013, and I already owned the core carb. A good condition MA3-SPA is often worth more than $500; add a $650+ overhaul to this and it is getting toward 75% of the cost of a brand new one from SPA/Panther.

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A number of Corvair Builders, particular Panther pilots, have selected a new MA3, because they make sense at a certain cost point, and they are not part of issues like this: Safety Alert: Excessively Rich MA3-SPA Jetting. which applied to 32 overhauled  MA3’s a few years ago.

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If you are interested in MA3’s, read the stories I share about them, but going forward in 2020, I recommend that builders use a new one.  We have lower cost options like the Rotec, and there are individual cases where builders will find a very good condition used one, where we can verify its operation with a test run on my engine stand, but if you like the qualities of a MA3-SPA, I personally think that getting a new one makes the most sense. You can Call SPA at 904-626-7777 and get price and availability on the phone, or order one direct off their site.

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Builders:

Here is a new video, discussing Rotec TBI carb applications to Corvair engines:

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Above, A Rotec TBI running a 3,000cc Corvair on may test stand last year. This is also an intake manifold evaluation, this is a special intake , it is for tricycle gear Corvair powered SPA panthers.

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.Click Here to Purchase

Builders,

These procedures come from extensive testing last year. If you want to know what my recommendations are based on, look at the testing in the two stories below. They are well worth reviewing, even if you are not a potential Stromberg user, because the stories show the extent of the practical evaluation I do to make Corvair powered aviation safer. Note that I have never sold Stromberg, nor ever made a dime off them, they are just a common carb that my builders have used, and as such, I take it as my responsibility to assist builders in doing so at lower risk. You would think every commercial person in Experimental aviation feels that way, but they don’t. I don’t need praise not a medal for doing this, its just the stuff that everyone should do.

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Stromberg Shootout, Pt #2 (2019)

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Shootout at the Stromberg corral (2019)

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There are two outfits in the US which are well known to work on these carbs. One of them touts being the best in the world, and claims understanding no one else has.  I spoke with them directly on the phone where they claimed to have built carbs to the Continental C-85-14F standard and they ran perfectly on a number of Corvairs. But, when pressed, they could not name a single customer, nor provide a picture, and admitted to no direct testing. As a pure test, Dan Sheradin and I set a carb up to the exact C-85-14F standard, and it hardly ran at all. Keep this in mind when people inevitably push back against my recommendations here: They will not be able to produce a single photo like the one below, of actual testing. Your money, your plane, your life, your choice of who to listen to.

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Here is a link to a you tube video where I explain how and why procedures have changed: 

https://youtu.be/L8Ahm52n5G8

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Above, Dan works on setting the float height, which is one of several mixture adjustments

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Categories of Stromberg users:

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A) You have a Stromberg on your Corvair powered plane, it has flown more than 50 hours, and you are happy with it;

Suggested action = Keep going, operate your engine in accordance with the New – M.O.P. Manual,  we have a long history of good service from Strombergs under these settings, and unless you alter the carb from its currently working settings and parts, logic suggests that it will continue to provide good service.

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B) You have a Stromberg, it is assembled to running condition or it has been overhauled, it may have flown, but it has not logged 50 hours of trouble free operation yet. 

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Suggested action = I highly encourage you to contact me 904-806-8143 and discuss sending it in to me, where I can test it on a running corvair at high power settings with excellent air-fuel meters and verify its operation. If there is something wrong with it, many of these adjustments can quickly be made.  There is a modest service fee for this, but it is small in comparison to the potential cost of operating an unverified carb.

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C) You are thinking about running a Stromberg, but you have not acquired one yet. 

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Suggested action = I’m steering builders away from these carbs unless you come across an fantastic deal on a carb you have previously seen work. When we started, lots of these carbs were around, unmolested, for. $200. Fifteen years ago overhauls were $400 and done with good US made parts, and primers were $25 used and $69 new.  Today the carbs are $350 needing a $600 rebuild, which can be done with parts of questionable origin and accuracy. The primers are $250. The “Experts” are changing $1,250 to overhaul a carb to a setting I know will not work on a Corvair. Under these circumstances, it makes a lot more sense for builders to use a new Rotec 34MM TBI for $850. it needs no primer. I am a dealer for these, and I run every single one before it goes out in the mail to a builder. Its just a much better value.

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For more info on carbs, look at this: Corvair Carb Reference page for 2020.

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To understand that carb testing has always been an integral part of my work, look at these links: 

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Stromberg Carbs (2012)

 

Carburetor Reference page (2013)

 

Ongoing Carburetor testing. (2018)

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Builders;

Below is a video, asking you to consider your personal 2020 Aviation plan. It’s theme is one of the favorite phrases of my late flight instructor Chuck Nelson; “Wake up, it’s Tomorrow!”

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Click on the link above, and if you have not yet done so, please take a moment to subscribe to our Youtube channel.

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Above, a 2009 photo. I stand between Bob Burbank, 20,000 flight CFIG on the left, and on the right is my instructor and mentor is flying, the legendary Chuck Nelson. You can read a story about Chuck’s perspectives here: Easter, an aviator on short final.

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They are both gone now. If you want to take a critical lesson from the lives of both men, try this: Make a plan, and go out and get your own share of aviation. The things which hold you back are mostly in your head, you can overcome all the obstacles but one, running out of time. 

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Thought for the Day: Time…..Your enemy.

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“Perhaps today is the day you should redouble your own personal efforts to experience more out of aviation, as a full on participant, not a mere spectator. Maybe today is a good day to shed all the things Sterling Hayden called ‘the cancerous discipline of security’, where men refused to take control of their own ship of life and allowed an endless series of consumer distractions to steal the days of life from their grasp.” -ww.

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Builders:

Pictured below is the most treasured single item in my hangar:  The light which hung over BHP’s work bench, in his shop in Cherry Grove Minnesota. Yes, it’s really the one, you can see it in the old black and white photos on the family website.

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It was given to me about 10 years ago by Will Minsink, who has made an exact replica of BHP’s workshop in his hangar in Preston Minnesota. You can see pictures in this story: Cherry Grove story, “The long way home” Will knows I consider BHP to the the “Patron Saint of Homebuilding” and he gave me the light, a very gracious act.

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Every homebuilder does it: Before turning in for the night, you pause to take one last look at what you have accomplished with the evening, and then turn off the lights. It’s very easy to imagine Bernard doing this countless times over the decades, with this very light. He lived from 1901-84. Although he turned the light out one last time three and a half decades ago, his reputation as the champion of flight for the working man, his belief that aviation is not a spectator sport, remains undimmed. 

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Today is my 57th birthday.  I share the date with my neighbor Wayne. I was born exactly 30 years after him.  I have lived directly across our grass strip from him for nearly 15 years.  We have shared many great moments, and he is a first class human being, particularly on matters where it really counts. He has accomplished a lot in aviation, and he still flies his RV-7A actively. It’s not really logical, but due to our shared birthday and passion for planes, I have long had him as my personal yard stick of what I could or should accomplish in flying before I turn out my own shop light one last time.

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This birthday, we are planning on marking the occasion with a little more thought a good time. This is brought on by a very hard cancer diagnosis Wayne got a few weeks ago. He is a tough man with a stoic outlook, and he will go down fighting, but the tone and tense of our conversations are different, as we acknowledge that the number of times he will turn out the lights in his hangar is suddenly finite.

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It’s 4 am and I can’t sleep. Too many questions. Will Wayne and I share open beer on our 58th/88th birthday next year? Why do I childishly believe I will get as many days as he has? For all the good things we did in the last 365 days, why did I settle for that little? In 15 years will anyone at the airport feel the way I did about Wayne when I moved here? There are no good answers at this time of night.

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I won’t think about those questions in daylight tomorrow, I’m always optimistic in sunshine. But late at night in the coming year, they will come back. On quiet nights I sit on the front porch, sip beer and look out at the grass runway. The questions all return then, familiar, but unwelcome visitors, tolerated company, because I long ago learned that it is the treasured people who can’t stay, and the questions about what you should have done that never leave.

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Builders,

Chuck Campbell, senior Pietenpol builder and fixture at the Barnwell Corvair Colleges, has passed from this life. In a world were many people succumb to pessimistic outlooks, Chuck would have none of it. He made really great progress on building his plane every year, and he got about 95% of it done before time caught up with him. His outlook was contagious, perhaps fueled by being a member of “the Greatest Generation”, he kept things in perspective. Things that derailed or slowed other builders half his age, we not serious issues to Chuck. In his youth, he had flown F-6F Hellcats into combat against the Empire of Japan, and maybe he understood what a really daunting challenge was.

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A few days ago, Chucks son Joel, sent the note below:

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I’m saddened to tell you that my dad developed some medical issues and is now at a Hospice House on his last “final approach”. We’re hoping that his final landing will be a soft one and know that he has many waiting for him in the “pilot’s lounge” to welcome him home.

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What is especially hard is that he wasn’t able to see his Pietenpol project completed but I know he wouldn’t have traded the build process for anything. It gave him so much joy and kept his aging mind and body young far longer than some.   Hopefully one day it will fly and he’ll surely smile down from Heaven as it lifts off. 

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If you’re so inclined, please pray for Blue Skys and Tailwinds for my dad. 

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Thank you. 

Joel

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Word came from the family yesterday that Chuck was gone.  Although I has read Joel’s note a few days before, Chucks passing felt like something small but very important, broke inside me. I spent a lot of the day thinking about a handful of men of Chucks generation, men I was very fortunate to know, all of whom I will never speak to again, my own Father among them. They carried themselves with a humility and dignity, a direct reflection of their lives built on Meaning, having stood for important ideals. I know many good young people, but we will not see men quite like this ever again, and when our first hand memories of them are gone also, the world really will have lost something irreplaceable.

Builders,

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Above, earlier this year, my sister speaks with the Father of her close friend. The man is nearly 100 years old. He piloted a Dauntless at the Battle of Midway. People think of Midway as a great, decisive US victory, but did you know the Navy lost 150 aircraft, most with their complete crews?  75% of the torpedo planes were shot down, every single one in Squadron Eight. Cdr. Waldron, skipper of VT-8 confessed in his diary the night before the odds of survival were not good. His men went anyway, and when the day was over, 35 of 36 of them, including Waldron, were dead.  The man in the wheelchair above, is one of the last eyewitnesses to Midway, and I’m guessing the carnage didn’t feel like a ‘victory’ the next day.

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What did Waldron and all the others who perished get for their lives? They got nothing, but they provided us the free world we have lived our whole lives in. It was provided to us by such men, 99% of them, my father included, are gone now. This is the idea I was trying to share, as a spent an hour with my father in 2015: Thought for The Day – Have we squandered the great gift?.

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Fewer and fewer people in our world have any connection with someone like the man in the wheelchair or my father. They feel little if any gratitude for the world, still with many faults, which was given to us on a silver platter. They never stop to consider the western civilization of today was far from inevitable in 1942.

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What is so great to be thankful for? OK, I’m the first person to point out everything hollow about modern consumer life, example: Welcome to the 24/7 Anxiety Machine, but that isn’t a reason to throw in the towel. Unlike many others, I do have a direct connection, my fathers memory, to the people who gave me the world I live in. All my Father asked of his children was treat others fairly and do something valid with our lives. Even though he is gone, I still measure my life by his standard.

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For anything I may bitch about, it has really been my personal mission to do something of meaning in with my days. Even if a lot of society is drifting and getting lost, I’m not in charge of their lives, just my own. I don’t offer an example to anyone,  save the example of things not to do. I personally find understanding, creating and flying light planes, and sharing this with others, an endeavor worthy of what it will, and also what it might, cost you. For 30 years, even on some hard days, I have not faltered in this belief.

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In a few weeks I will be 57, and we will all start a new year, and in a few short months another flying season will be upon us. What will you make of it? 2019 has been pretty good to me, but I’m just using it as a spring board into 2020, and there are many ambitions I have in aviation which I will advance this year. What each of us will, or will not do, will be mostly determined by ourselves, not external circumstance. For those who decide this will be their year, I look forward to playing a role in both your productive success and the good times you will share with friends.

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WEWjr.

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Builders:

Last weekend, a little army of tireless friends showed up at my place at sunrise on Friday, and set to work on a project that was a decade overdue: My hangar was skinned of it’s roof, extensive structural repairs were made, and it was completely re-roofed in modern R panels. It was a tremendous amount of work, spanning three days. I put it off for years because the commercial estimates were not affordable, and the work was beyond what an individual could do. At the end of this season, a few friends quietly said to get the materials, and we would all go after it in a single weekend.

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We had really nice weather, and the work went better than I guessed it would. I actually had slightly more help than required. The mood was fun, but several times in the process went in the house, ostensibly to make more coffee, but really I didn’t want anyone to see that I was fighting off tears.

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Through the decades of my adult life, I have suffered some very lonely times where I would have given anything to have just one of the friends I have today. For reasons that defy easy explanation, I kept many friends I should not have, and lost a handful of ones I really needed. Today in my fifties, I have a blossoming of great human beings in my life, but there are times where I still don’t believe I deserve them, and at those times it is overwhelming to be the recipient of their kindness and devotion.

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I can rationally say I’m a good friend to people, and recognize that its a two way street, but emotionally, there is a part of me that can’t brush off all the times I was capable of ignoring the emotional plight of other people. I can be roofing with friends having a great time one minute, but if I pause to really take in the outpouring   of friendship, I have a hard time not thinking about people like Mr. Carter, our emotionally scarred  neighbor, a survivor of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. I drove past him many times when he was raking leaves without saying anything.  Years later he told me that his one big hope each week had been that someone would simply stop and talk to him.  Almost no one, including me, ever did. I’d like to apologize to him for it, but he is long gone now, and I’m left with just writing this story and going inside to ‘make coffee’ when I have to.

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I don’t mean to have a somber tone, its really gratitude that I feel. If you have not met me in person, but think my stories and videos always seem to have a lot more people than engines in them, understand that I really find my work to be a story about people, not the machines. If you were to take a look and any week in 2019, you would be very surprised at the number of people who make a contribution, both large and obvious and small and critical, to making my life and work possible. Whenever someone has something nice to say to me, I never forget all the friends who actually make it not only possible, but fun and rewarding.

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Above, the new roof and support structure. My hangar was one of the first structures at our airport, its almost 40 years old, the old roof was original. Kitti Politti and I welded the 24″ deep gray steel truss in the spring, it supports the doors. The hangar is now set for another few decades of supporting good seasons in flying. In the 14 years I have been here, a great number of parts, engines and builders have passed through this hangar. I’m looking forward to a whole new era in the rebuilt hangar.

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