Author: William Wynne

Builders,

A week ago, Earl Brown was here, and we worked on the gear for his Pietenpol. This is the fifth or six set of Pietenpol gear I have welded. to learn more, please read: Pietenpol CG and gear welding. and Pietenpol Products, Motor mounts, Gear and Instalation Components.

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Above, the gear on Earl’s inverted fuselage back home in Pennsylvania. It fit like a glove, because Earl had made a very exact wooden fixture, and because I have been welding since 1979, and aircraft parts since 1989, I understand weld sequencing to hold shrinkage and distortion to absolute minimums.

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Above the joint between the axle and the front gear leg. This is quality Tig welding. I am 56, and part of being middle aged is having a bit of difficulty producing the weld beads above at the same rate as I did when I was 36. I drink too much coffee, and my hands are no longer perfectly stead for hours at a crack;  I wear progressive lenses to correct my vision, but weld beads like the ones above require depth perception to 1/16″ of an inch on the height the tungsten is above the puddle, and this requires a bit slower work than uncorrected vision.  Even so, this gear was made in three casual days in the shop.

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I have heard some really stupid things said about aircraft welds, but the dumbest was a guy who said “These are like a gorilla, ugly but strong”.  If a weld is ugly, it wasn’t done correctly, and if it wasn’t correct, it isn’t strong. If you hear anyone talking about “Gorilla welding” be polite, its the classy thing to do around mentally ill people.

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To get a look look at Earls gear in video, look at our new youtube channel under “Parts”

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtg0vELIaWV7NoSEHNzpHwQ

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Builders,

I wrote the commentary below five years ago. If you are new to Corvairs or homebuilding, they are worth a few minutes of your time to consider.

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“A conspicuous consumer only has the admiration of the envious spectator. A craftsman, an innovator and a champion have the admiration of real aviators. I have not devoted my working life to experimental aviation to chase pointless trends and distractions. I am in aviation to find my place in the timeless truths that any real aviator since 1903 would immediately understand. Charles Lindbergh passed from this earth in 1974 having never seen a glass cockpit. His understanding of the awe inspiring beauty of flight was not diminished by the lack of a screen to stare at. This is a good way to evaluate the essential from the accessory.” -ww.

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The above is not judgmental about people with glass cockpits. It is simply this: The mastery of the same basic skills Lindbergh had is the foundation of all the rewards of flying. Without them, all the accessories of a plane are just another consumer experience. If you want to have a glass cockpit in your plane, good, but possession the nicest panel ever, or an award winning paint job,  isn’t a substitute for being a fundamentally sound stick and rudder pilot, or really understanding your power plant either. Real reward comes from the improvement of self, one’s understanding and skills, not the possession of things.

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Everyone should build the plane they really want, not the one they are told to like, either by magazines or by opinionated jackasses from Florida. Decide for yourself. These paragraphs are meant to be ‘thought provoking’ not ‘thought providing’

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“Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could you ask of life? Aviation combined all the elements I loved. There was science in each curve of an airfoil, in each angle between strut and wire, in the gap of a spark plug or the color of the exhaust flame. There was freedom in the unlimited horizon, on the open fields where one landed. A pilot was surrounded by beauty of earth and sky. He brushed treetops with the birds, leapt valleys and rivers, explored the cloud canyons he had gazed at as a child. Adventure lay in each puff of wind.

I began to feel that I lived on a higher plane than the skeptics of the ground; one that was richer because of its very association with the element of danger they dreaded, because it was freer of the earth to which they were bound. In flying, I tasted a wine of the gods of which they could know nothing. Who valued life more highly, the aviators who spent it on the art they loved, or these misers who doled it out like pennies through their antlike days? I decided that if I could fly for ten years before I was killed in a crash, it would be a worthwhile trade for an ordinary life time.”— Charles A. Lindbergh

Builders:

Fellow Floridian Mike January sent me the following pictures today. We had been speaking over the last few days about details of operation and his condition inspection on his aircraft. Mike’s Waiex was originally 2180cc Aerovee powered, which Mike found to be a good power plant. After Meeting Dan Weseman many years ago, and seeing the performance of Dan’s Wicked Cleanex” Mike made a long term plan to re-engine his aircraft with a 3,000cc Corvair. The work was completed about 18 months ago.

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Mike is a technical guy with considerable aviation experience.  His comparative evaluation comes across as simple factual numbers, and an analysis that the new power plant suits his expectations and mission very well.  The most dramatic difference is Rate of Climb; With the VW solo it was 750 fpm, with the Corvair it is a solid 1,400 fpm.  (If you are new to aircraft performance and wondering how a 35% increase in power doubles rate of climb, please read this story: Pietenpol Power: 100 hp Corvair vs 65 hp Lycoming.) Florida doesn’t have elevation, but it does have green runways of very thick grass, short fields, surrounded by trees, and very hot and humid days.  The extra power of a Corvair adds a great margin of safety to many operations down here.

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If you have a Sonex/Waiex airframe, and are considering Corvair power, Know that Between myself and SPA, we have complete compliment of parts for the installation, it has been flown in several dozen examples of the type, for many thousands of hours.  For an older look at the complete combination, read this: Corvair power for Panther and Sonex reference page. I wrote it in 2013, but it is still good info, and shows how long Dan and I have steadily supported the combination.

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Call Dan at SPA:  904 626 7777

or myself: 904 806 8143.

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Mikes plane, it has a very sharp finish.

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Out flying with a design sibling.

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Mike likes a bit more than average in the cockpit

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Very proud guy, and justifiably so. Mike is the man behind the Florida Sonex Association, check out his group: http://www.floridasonex.com/

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Hats off to a man who made a plan, stuck with it, and is out enjoying it, and sharing it with others.

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Builders

In the picture below, Phil Maxson’s Corvair/601XL ends the day my hangar in north east Florida. In the foreground is the tail of my Corvair/Wagabond. Both of these planes were finished in my old hangar in Edgewater Florida, 100 miles south of here. Their first flights were in 2006 and 2005 respectively.  For several months they were hangar siblings. The last time they were at the same spot was Corvair College #10 in November of 2006. Today, 13 years later, they are together in my hangar on a quiet day.

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Last night at sunset. 

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Phil was here last week. He flew down to Florida, spent a few days here, then drove his dad up north. He’ll come back in a few weeks and fly home.  I’m close friends with Phil, but don’t see him often. The relaxed time here was good, but it did draw the conversation to all the things which have changed in our lives in the 13 years.  The most profound element being losing parents.

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But this also required looking at what had lasted, stood the test of time, and proven to be undeniable asset agains the slings and arrows of life. Prominent among these: Real Friendships, Exercising your craftsmanship and skills, and a love of Simple Flying. 

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Please check out our new Youtube channel and subscribe:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtg0vELIaWV7NoSEHNzpHwQ

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Builders,

Something I have wanted to do for years, gets started tonight: I now have a youtube channel, a home base where we can share visual stories from the world of flying Corvairs. Below is the direct link:

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtg0vELIaWV7NoSEHNzpHwQ

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Above, In my front yard last week, some of the friends who helped launch “WW Flycorvair” my Youtube channel; Earl Brown, who’s landing gear is a subject,  Phil Maxson, who’s 13 years of flying his 601 is featured,  Ken Pavlou, who put all the videos together, and Ron the drummer, who’s band played the intro music. I have also had behind the scenes support from Terry Hand and Dan and Tracy Sheradin, and encouragement from many friends.

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Comments and suggestions: Please use the comments section here to share your feedback, input and suggestions. I will be very happy to hear it. I used the word “Our” at the start of this story because I would like be the sharing point for video on Flycorvair engines, events, planes and builders.

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Because elements of the general public compulsively say evermore inane things in Youtube comments, Ken has chosen to disable the comments section directly on the videos. He said he did this because he is a medical professional, and he is just protecting my blood pressure, but I suspect he was just saving himself from having to hear me complain after morons wrote in about their grandfathers 4 cylinder Corvairs, how Ferdinand Porche designed it in 1958 (seven years after he died) and how Ralph Nader was actually the second man on the grassy knoll.

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Builders,

At 6pm yesterday we stood in my front yard and listened for a smooth sound from the north; You could hear him before we saw Ken. A low pass and a trip around the pattern, and he was shortly in my front yard. Two fuel stops earlier he left the middle of Connecticut, his Zenith now brought him to north Florida in 7.25 hours aloft.

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Above, my front yard with two Zenith 601XLs, Phil Maxson’s and Ken Pavlou’s.  Combined they have more than 1,000 hours of Corvair powered flight. Phil’s represents a simple solid plane with a very good billet cranked 3.0L Corvair, Ken’s is a high end bird with a Billet cranked 3.3L engine and all the whistles and bells.  I serve both ends of the building spectrum.

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Seriously, if you want to read a really entertaining profile get a look at this: Ken “Adonis” Pavlou advises aviators: “Life is short, Live Large”. It will restore your faith that experimental aviation has some real characters.

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Above, a mischievous band of pranksters: Earl Brown, Phil Maxson, Ken Pavlou, Ron the drummer, and your humble narrator.

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Few visits are complete without a trip to my back yard range. Phil was joking “Maxon Airlines” doesn’t mind if you have firearms in your carry on baggage. Ken Pointed out that “Pavlou Airlines” allows weapons and smoking on his flight.  We were teasing Phil because he had the most expensive 1911 I’ve held in a while, but he pointed out that if you build your own aircraft engine, you can use the savings for some really nice “hardware”.

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Ken is a very illustrious character who has been a fixture in Corvairs and a good friend for more than a decade.  Just one of the really good humans I found in my 30 years in experimental aviation.

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Builders,

Phil Maxson, flew down to my house in Florida today. Although I have seen his plane at a number of Colleges, airshows and visiting him in NJ, it has been 13 years since his plane was down at my place.

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In 2004 our Zenith 601XL was the first Corvair powered one to fly. It was a pretty big hit, but the second one wasn’t completed until 2006, when Phil finished his in my hangar. Since then more than 150 Corvair powered Zeniths have followed, each special, but you have a certain attachment for the “First Customer built” version of anything you are offering to homebuilders.

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The plane is a part of a story of service to builders and being here for the long run. Get a look at this story: 14 Years of Corvair Powered Zeniths. , and What defines ‘reputable’ in our industry?, for a better look at how long I have been at this.

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Tail of Phil’s 601XL in my front yard today.

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His very simple instrument panel with $120 ADSB

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Phil and Gus Warren in the Zenith Aircraft booth at Sun n Fun 2006.

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Above, Phil Maxson at Corvair College #24 in Barnwell SC.

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Parked in my front yard today.

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Want to know what the real reward of building Corvairs for 30 years is? Its having a friend like Phil fly down to your front yard, and wait impatiently for me to finish typing this sentence so we can head out to Ronnies, our local bar and grill for dinner.

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Builders,

Below are a few quick pictures of Ron Zilke’s 3.0L Corvair powered Zenith 750 STOL, now flying in TN. Ron and his son worked side by side thought the project, and it is now a proud moment for both of them.

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Above, Father and son with their plane.  Nearly everyone who buys a kit tells themselves that they will keep an ambitious schedule up and finish in short order. Reality is a little different. There is a lot to learn and do on even the most complete kits, and the reward of finishing a plane most frequently belongs to the builders who enjoy the learning and the creative process, and let the schedule develop as it does.

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The other key element of getting a plane finished and flying is choosing to work with companies who will still be around to support you. Zenith aircraft has been in Mexico MO for 25 years, but they have been in North America for 45 years, all under the ownership and data to day operation of the same family.  While this year marks my 15th year of putting Corvairs on Zenith’s , it is also my 30th year of putting Corvairs on experimental aircraft.  No matter what any new product claims, if the company isn’t going to last, they will shortly offer no support at all to the people who spent money on their products.

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The Zilke’s took 5 years to build and fly their plane. Consider this: About 1/2 the engine companies which displayed at Oshkosh 2014, the same year the Zilke’s bought their kit, are bankrupt and gone. Had they selected one of those companies, they would have had a much more difficult time finishing, if it were possible at all. Building airplanes is challenging enough without that kind of drama. Choose who you work with carefully.

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Above, an image of long term support:  We elected to hold Corvair College #34 in 2015 at the Zenith Factory. If you look closely, the man building his own engine in the red tee shirt at the right is Ron, his son is in blue. If it takes 2, 5, or 15 years for you to finish your plane, I will still be here to support you.

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To see more pictures from the College look here: Photos from Corvair College #34 at Zenith A/C.

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Above, a good side view of the completed and flying plane.  Many great adventures lie ahead for this father son team.

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Builders,

I took the picture below two days ago. The man pictured with me is Chuck Nelson, the person who taught Grace and myself how to fly. Way back then we were small potatoes, and couldn’t afford to insure the mint L-2 he instructed us in, far less monetarily compensate him for the things he taught us. Chuck didn’t care, he was a hard core old school instructor, and if you were there to learn, he was there to teach, and everything else was secondary.

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Over time, was our stock in aviation grew a bit, we never lost sight of Chuck’s initial generosity. For any success I have had in aviation, I can instantly name the person who played a quiet role in facilitating it. If we are speaking of flying, my debt is to Chuck. I have said before that people who do not attempt to repay such acts are worthless. This is one of the few things in life I see no gray area on, nor do I think anyone should get a ribbon for abiding by it, it should be so commonplace that it isn’t worth mentioning.  Perhaps every aviator reading this has their own Chuck, I have just been fortunate that I have had a chance to express my gratitude to him, many people wait to long.

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I have many better pictures of the two of us, but I share this one because it captures his smile, even when his flight is almost over.  Chuck is 85, and his doctor gave him some hard news last week. He is a classic tough guy, he thanked the doctor and headed home.  As a teenage infantryman in Korea, he got a first hand look at human mortality, and 68 years later, no discernible sentimentality has crept in.

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Any man with a life of challenge and adventure behind him, if he is being honest, will have plenty of things to regret. Chuck certainly has his own share, and they are private, and not the subject here.  The focal point here is a lesson that is far more easier to appreciate and integrate into your remaining days.

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Chuck has more than 10,000 hours of pure stick and rudder flying in his logs, and as we sat and spoke of his life, he was very clear that he didn’t regret any hour he had ever spent aloft, nor the years of work he put into earning the title ‘aviator’.  He has had many passions and accomplishments in his life, but only flying has no reservation attached to it. Think about that when you are choosing how to spend the hours of your day.

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Additionally, understand this: While Chucks logs include lots of time in HU-16’s , Beech 18’s T-6’s , P-51s, B-25 and -26 time, and a wide array of heavy radial stuff, he would gladly tell you his three favorite planes ever are SGS 1-26, L-2, and a Pitts S2A. Note they are worth $10, $25 and $50K respectively.  These plane, or a homebuilt of the same value can provide adventure and challenge that an aviator of Chuck’s experience and caliber found richly rewarding.

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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.

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Make this decision today, because each of us will have his own ‘short final’ one day, and you deserve to have the same smile as Chuck does above. To have it, you must have done something worthwhile to reflect on. Your life, your choice, make it today, or it will certainly slip away. 

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Builders,

Below is a look at the “Sheradin Special” a Parasol being built by Dan and Tracy Sheradin. While the plane is inspired by the Pietenpol, it shares very few part in common. Dan has taken the time to design and build a unique plane to suit his taste. He has two years of part time work into the plane. They are visiting my place in Florida, and we took the photos below in front of my hangar yesterday.

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Above, a rear quarter look at the fuselage. While it may look very much like this plane: Steel tube Pietenpol fuselage with landing gear and 12 x 4.8″ tires., Terry Hand’s Pietenpol, in person the fuselages are different. Dan’s is a foot longer, and has  a lot more room in the cockpit.  The gear and tires on both planes are similar, but Dan’s has disc brakes and Terry’s has drums.

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Above, a frontal look at the plane. Dan made the gear following this story I wrote: New die spring landing gear on a Pietenpol, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.. The carb shown is a Stromberg we tested two months ago: Stromberg Shootout, Pt #2.

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Above, the plane has a generous passenger door. The pilot is about 4″ further back than a long fuselage Piet.  Dan was able to build with confidence because using this information: Pietenpol CG and gear welding, he could calculate the location of the wing, gear , motor mount and seating and have the CG turn out correctly, rather than  just guessing.

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We didn’t have the wing present, but it uses a Riblett 13.5% airfoil and aluminum spars. The plane has very little wood in it.

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The tail spring is a stainless rod and an ACS swiveling unit. This adds significantly to good ground handing by extending the wheelbase, getting the tailwheel horn geometry in correct orientation with the rudder horn, and having quality operation. You can admire thrifty Piet guys who are rebuilding shopping cart wheels for tailwheels, but you would really prefer the operation of a normal tailwheel.

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Ahead of the firewall, Dan’s installation is identical to our Pietenpol parts. The mount is on of our off the shelf units. His engine is a 2,700 with all our gold parts which ran at Corvair College #39 at Barnwell SC. Dan and Tracy attended four of the Corvair Colleges there.  For a look at some of the parts common to Corvair/Piets, look here: Pietenpol Products, Motor mounts, Gear and Instalation Components.

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Above, the tailwheel from a different angle. It is mounted in an .058 x 1.0″  tube. Many Piet builders switching from the plans tailwheel to a more traditional leaf spring or a rod type forget that the fuselage needs a reinforcement to the front of the spring, because it will be in tension when the spring is deflecting. On Dan’s plane this task is being accomplished by the two small 1/2″ tubes. For a look at a lot more Pietenpol and Parasol information look here: Corvair – Pietenpol Reference page

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Above, a nice overall view of the fuselage. The plane is tall, the center of the prop hub is 63″ off the ground. It will be a very impressive plane on the flight line.

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Hats off to Dan and Tracy Sheradin, to very fine people, traditional homebuilders, people we are very glad to have in the world of Corvairs.

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