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Builders :

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After briefly being out of stock, I have 10 plate oil coolers back on the shelf, in inventory, ready to purchase .

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2801 Heavy Duty Oil Cooler

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Builders

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Pictured below are a set of starter brackets, Part of my group 2400L starter system. I drove down to my Anodizer yesterday to pick them up.  They are made on precision CNC equipment, incredibly accurate and consistent.  It is interesting that after anodizing, if you hold them in the right light you can see the CNC machine’s tool path making them, however, to the touch, they are as smooth as a piece of glass. 

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These will be bagged and inventoried, and along with the new batch of starters, be available for purchase off my website early next week. 

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Builders.

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I took some time and made and packaged a half dozen #3501  5th bearing oil lines. Your conversion manual has a full description of this part.

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This line feeds oil from the Gold oil filter housing P/N 2601, to the 5th bearing. The hose ends are Earl’s Swivel Seal, the finest AN hose ends, the braided stainless hose is also made by Earl’s. 

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Above, the 90 degree full flow hose ends which attach to the 5th bearing oil feed fitting. 

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Builders,

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I came home today from a 200 mile round trip to my anodizer, and these boxes were waiting for me.

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In them are more Zenith Installation manuals and 2022 Conversion Manuals. For the first time I am having these two printed by the same Wisconsin company which Prints the MOP and the W&B manuals.  I opened the boxes, and the quality is excellent.  My local printer had recently changed ownership and the new owners doubled the price on manuals,  The solution to keep the manuals reasonable was to switch to  the Wisconsin shop, and order larger quantities. 

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Above,  In my carport today. Yes, we have Christmas lights up 365. 

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Builders,

The 12 building reservations for the October-November- December Supervised Engine Build dates are now up on my sales section of my website. There is one building weekend per month, and there are four slots for each date.

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Please read the blog story in the reservation description before putting a deposit on a date. If you have questions, i will be available by text or phone starting Monday 6/3.

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In the blog story I wrote a month ago on supervised builds, i said that I would publish the fall schedule on 6/1, and accordingly, the reservation slots became available at midnight last night. The schedule of winter 2025 builds will be available 9/1.

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WW.

Builders,

I came back from running errands today, and this box was in my car port. It is $6,400 worth of 10 row Oil Coolers. 

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I have already added these to the inventory.  The price I have been selling these for is $399.  This is $96 less than aircraft spruce charges for the same cooler. My shipping invoice showed that the price of these coolers has increased this year, not a giant amount, but enough that I’m going to increase the price on my site tomorrow afternoon.  For builders looking to get a deal, two conditions: 

• You have to buy the cooler off my site by 12:00 noon Thursday, which is also my pre-vacation shipping cut off. 
• If you want it shipped before I leave, please select “USPS Priority’ shipping, which is much easier for me to get out the door, and on this item, I believe it actually saves you on shipping.  

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Above, the box in my car port. These are “Aero Classic” Coolers, made in the US by Pacific Oil Cooler on the west coast. I’m pretty sure they are the number one producer of certified aircraft coolers. 

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Above, a screen shot of the identical part sold by Aircraft Spruce.  Tomorrow at noon I’m going to increase my price on the coolers to reflect the cost increase, but for 16 more hours, I will keep the old price. 

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ww.jr. 

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Builders,

I will be out of my shop from May24th -31st. I am taking a brief motorcycle trip through Vermont and New Hampshire.  I will not be covering builders calls, texts or emails during this week, nor will orders be shipped. If you are ordering a manual, the cut off for orders will be noon on the 23rd.  I have a handful of orders in the shop being packed now, they will ship before I leave. 

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IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING…..If you have a flying Corvair powered plane, and are experiencing a potential safety of flight issue, you should call or text me, all other contacts can be made after June the 1st. 

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Upon my return, I will have six sold weeks of pure shop production before my departure for Brodhead and Oshkosh.  This will produce a large influx in completed parts into the inventory, available for sale, before this years airshows.  If you have a question, I will be glad to cover it in a text or call upon my return.  Thank you in advance for your understanding. 

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Above, Last October’s New England ride: Ken Pavlou and I at Franconia Notch NH.  This was the first actual vacation I had taken in 16 years.  Now that I’m over 60 I’m going to stop pretending that I’m immortal and take two weeks off a year and limit myself to working just seventy hours a week the other 50 weeks, like any reasonable person would. 

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Builders:

Please read these updated notes on contacting me, it will make communications much more effective and prevent delays. 

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BACKGROUND: When I started my business 35 years ago, the internet and cell phones were not part of peoples lives. 95% of my communications were done by hand written letters.   20 years ago E-mail was 95% of my communications.  Today, things continue to evolve, and letters and E-mail are a tiny fraction of my contact with builders. Today, nearly all communications are by text, calls and through my website. 

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THE MOST EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:  Sent me a text to 904-806-8143.

• Always include your name, first and last, and a good time to call you back in texts.  Do not assume I know your number.  If people forget this, I politely ask. 
• Most questions I can answer quickly, but many answers are better delivered on the phone, which also allows follow up questions. 
• Pictures are very helpful to my understanding of your question, but send them selectively, if I need more views, I will ask for them. 
• Texting works because I can answer when I have short breaks in my schedule, I can send links and photos back, and we both have a written record of the communication.
• Average response time on a text is about 90 minutes. 

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PHONE CALLS:  My Cell number is 904-806-8143.  This is a good way to get in touch with me.

• I don’t always answer, because I spend a lot of the day working, and I do not answer the phone, nor text while driving.
• Be prepared to take notes, I can share a lot of information in a call,  to get it all you will need to write it down.
• It is OK to call anytime, but if you don’t get me, please leave a voicemail on the first try.  People who call multiple times in one day, but never leave a message are problematic to a one man shop. 
• A text follow up message is more helpful than a voicemail. 
• I only speak with sober people, period.  I’m answering the phone because I want to share my experience with people who are alert and want to understand it.  I have no tolerance on this subject, whatsoever. 
• I answer about 50% of the days calls as they come in, I try to return all call by the end of the day. 
• In phone messages, ALWAYS tell me how late it is OK to call you back, most calls are returned after dinner. 

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E-MAIL: This was once very popular, but today is a tiny fraction of communications, to the point where I only look at it every other day.  My Email is WilliamTCA@Flycorvair.com. 

• Always include your name and phone number in Email, Otherwise I’m being forced to use only email to answer the question, and this slows the response greatly.
• Never send attachments. I have written countless stories explaining that I’m an IT troglodyte, by choice.  The reason why my advice on engines is valuable because at thirteen I bought a  Honda XR-75 instead of a  Radio ShackTandy TRS-80 computer.   People who send emails like ” I included a link to my googledrive docs cloud account this the spreadsheet of my portal pass codes and Jpeg files in the C++ language format so you can download it through your IPhone ICloud priemer club membership account” should understand the only thing I really know well on computers is the delete key. 
• My response time on most emails is a week.

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FACEBOOK COMMENTS: Although I answer some many general questions on my FaceBook Group “WW Flycorvair”,  It is the wrong place to ask a question about a specific order.  It works for basic answers many of my experienced guys can cover, but it isn’t a direct outlet for my guidance.  

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FB MESSENGER: The only people I have use this are overseas builders who have issues texting.  I don’t check it everyday.

• If you are in the US, just send a text instead. 
• I can go most of a week without looking at it, I don’t keep the application on my phone.
• Response time is typically several days. 

Above, Microphone and Morse key from a B-25, both more effective than a text without a name or an email without a phone number. 

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MAILING ADDRESS: My mailing address is: 

William Wynne 

5343 Airpark Loop West

Green Cove Springs FL.

32043.

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IN PERSON VISITS:  ALL VISITS HAVE TO BE APPROVED BY ME IN ADVANCE.  I live at a private airpark, and the sign out front explains the no self-invited guests policy. They are also safety reasons for this, you have to cross an active runway to get to my home/hangar. My residence and hangar are just 10 feet apart.  Just as customers from your work can not stop by your family’s home without invitation, the same goes here. 

• The only visitors I have are active Corvair builders.  I do not have enough hours in my day to entertain people who want to “See what Corvairs are about while the kids and wife go to Disney”  I’m glad to meet those people at airshows, but when I am in the shop, my job is to serve builders who have already selected the Corvair as their power plant of choice, not the people who might start a build ‘someday’. 

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MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Almost all payments go through my website. Some payments, such as deposits on engines, can be made with a check.  These Checks have to be made out to William Wynne not ‘Flycorvair’  The latter is my website and slang term for my work, but I do all legal and financial work in my own name. 

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Thank You

William

 

Builders:

Here is background information on my very popular “Supervised Engine Build” program, which I run at my hangar in Florida, eight times a year. 

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DESCRIPTION:  Eight times a year, I have several Corvair engine builders at my hangar for a 3-4 day training session, where I supervise builders assembling  their own engines. When completed, each engine is run on my test stand.  I provide the setting, the specialty tools, the expertise and the supervision.  Builders do the actual work, hands on. I directly assist to teach work techniques, double check assemblies and to solve problems, but builders  are expected to be motivated to learn, and show up having pre-read manuals. The pace is adjusted to each builders needs, and no one need prior experience engine building. The willingness to learn is the only element the builder must have.  In the last four years, more than 60 people have gone through the build program here. Every single engine was completed and run.  I have recently expanded and reconfigured my hangar to optimize it for Supervised Builds.  From 2024 forward, I will be able to train twice the number of builders as previously  served. 

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WHAT ABOUT CORVAIR COLLEGES?  Between 2000 and 2020, I held 50 Corvair Colleges all over the US, even in Canada.  More than 1,200 individuals attended these events, they were fun and productive,  but required enormous expenditures of travel time and funds, and placed large burdens on local hosts.  These Colleges were free, builders only paid a modest fee to cover the catering. In the last years of colleges the increasing presence of people looking for free labor, with no learning motive, No fresh qualified hosts meant  two teams of local hosts ended up presenting  40% of all the Colleges, and my traveling thousands of miles with the equipment convinced me that the Colleges, originally planned to last just 5 years, had outlived their effectiveness.  I have said this numerous places since 2020, The era of Corvair Colleges are over, I will not host another.  We are now in the era of Supervised builds, which I will run from here forward. 

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SETTING AND WORK:  Supervised builds are done in my hangar in Green Cove Springs Florida, Just south of Jacksonville.  The build groups are 3 or 4 engines going together , the start is slightly staggered so the engines reach the test stand at 6 hour intervals.   I run the builds in the spring and fall, to avoid the harshest weather. My workshops are climate controlled, but my hangar is not.  We work from 9 am until 6 pm every day, with an hour off at lunch.  Even for prepared builders, this is the saturation level of learning.  At many colleges I worked far later hours, but experienced showed that engines were finished, but learning after 8 hours is minimal.  I generally check builders in on Thursday night, and start Friday morning. In most cases, everyone finishes on Sunday. If necessary,  I will work Monday and even into Tuesday to complete and test run engines. I do not rush builders, the goal is to learn, and all I ask it they focus on the work at hand.  The cost of the build is flat, if the builder takes extra time, the cost remains the same. There is no incentive to rush. 

Builders can bring their own hand tools, but it isn’t required. I have all specialty tools here . The test run stand has its own Intake, Carb, prop, cooling baffel, plug wires, coils and exhaust system. Builders do not need these ite,s. 

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SIGN UP:   Each  Event will appear on my “shop” products page as a  regular product, with an available quantity of 4.  Builders can look at the dates and sign up by selecting one of the slots and paying for it.  If you have questions, lets talk about it in advance, so when the Supervised Build date is opened, you already know what you are signing up for 

The Next Supervised build is A week away, May 3rd, But it is already full, and has been for several months.  I was considering a June session, but I have a lot to do before Oshkosh.  July will always be out because of Oshkosh, as September will be out because of The Zenith Home coming. August involves a lot of post Oshkosh follow up, and is very hot in Florida.  However, I am going to have at least one Supervised build session in each of October, November, and early December.  If necessary, I will add a second December  date.  The dates of these events and their sign ups will be announced and  available on June first.   

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LODGING:  At Colleges, we had many people camp on site, and it was fun, but didn’t serve learning, as people didn’t get enough rest to keep focused on day 2 and 3.  Now, at Supervised Builds, I direct people attending to the Holiday Inn Express Either in Fleming Island (12 mi.) or in Palatka (18 mi.) Well rested builders learn more, are more productive and are safer in the shop setting.  Starting at 9 allows getting up, and fed, and previewing the days plan, before picking up a wrench. Stopping at 6 allows the builders to get dinner, reflect on the day, and get rest.  

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COSTS: The cost for the Supervised Build reflects how much work goes into a particular build combination. Here are the costs for Supervised assembly and Test run,  in order: 

 Complete 2,850cc kit engine:  $1,000.

 2,700-2,850 engine, starting with a closed case and 5th bearing in place, $1,300

 2,700-2,850cc, built from the crank up with SPA Gen. II 5th bearing,  $1,600

3.0L  built from a closed case with 5th bearing in place;  $1,600

3.0L built from the crank up with SPA Gen. II 5th bearing, $1,900

3.3L  built from a closed case with 5th bearing in place;  $1,900

Notes:

Labor on engine builds is taxed in Florida at 7.5% This rate also applies to any parts the builder buys while he is present in Florida. 

Pricing based on heads arriving ready to “Bolt on”. 

Crank up builds  done with SPA Gen I bearings  are an addition cost of $200

Supervised build costs are NOT REFUNABLE.  At my discretion, I may allow allow them to be applied to a future build date , if I can find a builder to take the slot on short notice. 

Other than 2,850 complete kit engines, It is the builders responsibility to make sure he has all the parts necessary to assemble his engine. The back of my manual has a checklist, and the parts required are detailed in the text. These parts must arrive clean, and ready to assemble. I will work to fix any gaps in the plan, but builders can not assume I have every part they will need, such as bearings and gaskets, is on hand.  I am supervising Your build, prepare accordingly. 

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 FURTHER  QUESTIONS:  If you have questions,  call or text me. The evenings after 8 pm is a good time. If you text in advance, it will help the productivity of the conversation. 

 

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Davis Swartzendruber’s 3.3 going together for his Bearhawk LSA project. 

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Brian Manlove’s 2,850 for his flying 601XL

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Rod bearings going in 2,850 cylinder assemblies. 

 

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Earl Brown working on his 2,850

John McIntire running his 2,850 for his flying 601XL

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Going out to the local pub after the last day of the Supervised build. 

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Builders,

Here is a photo report on the Corvair Engine which mechanically failed after departing Sun n Fun. 

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EVENT:  Zenith 601XL-B with a 2,850 Corvair departed SNF and climbed to 5,200′, The engine experienced a sudden stoppage after running very rough for 2-3 seconds. Pilot declared and emergency and glided back to the airport to an uneventful landing with no damage to the airframe. 

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QUICK SUMMARY: Tearing the engine down showed the aftermarket billet connecting rods, set up for floating wrist pins had the bushings in the small ends set up incorrectly. The engine builder sourced them from a non-aviation supplier.  The bushings seized on the pins, rotated in the rods, and blocked the oil delivery holes. The #6 rod broke from this at the wrist pin centerline. The broken rod  destroyed the case, dislodged the starter, and stopped the engine from rotating by pushing the starter into the ring gear. Estimated cost of the replacement parts to fix the engine is approximately $4,000. 

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BACKGROUND: The engine was built in California in 2007. It had approximately 565 hours on it, and had been flown coast to coast several times. The builder was a highly experienced engine person, and had extensive contacts in the automotive racing industry. He elected to use new billet rods in place of the original Corvair forged rods. The Billet rods were a relatively new option for Corvair car owners. They were imported in s semi-finished stated and needed to have the bushings installed in the US. Because no aviation companies were yet doing this, the builder opted to have an automotive machine shop in his home state of California perform the operation. The pictures will show how the bushings became dislodged. with the #4 rod from the same engine as the photo sample.  At the time of the event, the new owner of the aircraft was flying it,  He has 275hrs TT, and 65hrs in the plane, including flying it from California to Florida 40 hours ago. 

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INFORMATION ON CORVAIR RODS:  GM made 12 million Corvair rods, The are a 4/5ths scale model of a Small Block Chevrolet rod.  They are forged, and just like the 400 million rods original small blocks, they use fixed, non-floating wrist pins. (Only very rare small blocks like 1967-69 DZ code 302cid Z-28’s had floating pins, no factory Corvairs ever had floating pins.)  Corvair rods have an excellent reputation, with only one known failure in flight, a 1999 event traced to a machining error when the rods were being rebuilt and modified for ARP bolts.   That aircraft was landed without damage.  Billet Rods became available through aviation suppliers approximately 2009.  There are hundreds of sets in aircraft with displacements ranging from 2,775cc to 3,300 cc, there are no documented failures.  Both the rebuilt original forged rods and the aftermarket new billet rods use new ARP fatteners. The GM rods have a bolt and nut set, the billet rods use a 12 point cap screw threaded into the body of the rod.  All billet rods are set up for floating pins. Virtually all GM rods are set up for fixed pins. ( with the exception of ‘dune buggy’ intended Corvairs with VW pistons, where GM rods were modified to accept the 22mm VW pins, run without bushings. It was a questionable system, and has not been promoted in nearly 20 years., very few are in aircraft. )

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ENGINE MAINTENCE BEFORE EVENT: The engine was given a condition inspection in California by IA with Corvair specific experience 60 Hours previous. to the event. The compressions were in the high 70’s on all cylinders. The engine was in a continuous oil analysis program by Lab One, who maintains the largest Corvair comparative database in the world for oil samples.  The samples actually showed a slight reduction in wear particles before the event. The failure in the event was not detectable in advance by normal methods typically used in the Corvair fleet. 

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OBSERVATION:  Although the top of #6 rod was missing, The other rods in the engine were examined, and it was determined the original bushings were installed incorrectly. The common pin to bushing clearance is .0008″. The other examined rods showed no clearance between the bushings and the pins.  With spiral locks for the floating pins centering the pins, and the tight fit keeping the piston centered, extreme stress was being placed on the spinal locks on the other cylinders.  However, all spiral locks were still in place, even the ones in the #6 piston, which had its pin still in place. 

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CONCLUSION: Because of the original  source of the aftermarket rods, was an automotive shop, and comparing the perfect track record of aviation sourced aftermarket rods with correctly installed bushings, this event is considered to be a one time, non-reoccurring failure. Perhaps the only operators who should be cautious are second owners working with older engine build with aftermarket rods from an unknown source.  Such engines can not count on early warning from standard testing, and should strongly consider a top end tear down to inspect for proper rod to wrist pin clearance and fit. 

 

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Head on look at #6. Notice the top of the case, the small end of the rod, and the lifter bores are completely missing.  This damage was done by the small end of the rod moving free of the pin.

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Three Corvair rods, Left, Stock forged GM rod, right a billet rod. The center rod looks like a billet rod, but is actually a GM rod with polished beams. It can be identified as a GM rod by looking for the ‘bolt and nut’ fasteners. Notice the billet rod does not use nuts. 

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Number 4 rod from event engine.  notice position of oil hole.

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Same rod, slightly different angle. Notice the bushing oil hole does not line up with the oil hole in the rod, thus the pin was starving for oil. The tight fit on the bushing to pin is the cause of the bushing becoming dislodged and slightly rotated. 

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Same rod flipped 180 degrees. Note how the bushing is migrating out of the rod. In a correct installation the bushing is exactly centered in the small end. 

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Remains of #6 rod on crank, showing smooth motion of rod bearing on crank. Crank appeared undamaged and rotated freely after starter was removed.  Crank will be retired and scrapped on principle. It could be magnafluxed, but that process is best for discovering stress cracks developed over time. This engine made perhaps 150 revolutions after the rod broke. It is enough to have the crank stressed, but not long enough for cracks from that stress to develop and propagate enough to be reliably detected by magnaflux.  The $1,000 cost to replace the crank is inexpensive in comparison to other engines.. 

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Airframe with engine removed. I did the removal to inspect for any available clues to a possible contributing factor. There were none. 

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Engine transported to my hangar, in the process of being torn down. 

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Remains of #6 cylinder. This was a Clarks’s aftermarket cylinder. In spite of the damage, the top of the cylinder was still round, fit the head gasket area, and the piston smoothly moved in the bore. 

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Slot was cut in top cover by the motion of the big end of the rod, unrestrained by the pin. 

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Underside of the starter showing how hard the big end of the rod struck the starter. This dislodged the starter up and forward into the ring gear, stopping the rotation of the engine.  The top cover with the rectangular slot was between the rod and the starter. 

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This shows the piston still moved freely in the bore, and the rings were undamaged. If this failure and been detonation related, the piston would not be in this condition. Over the years, several  engines have been detonated to death, but no matter how much pistons damage they suffered, the rods never broke.  This was not a detonation related failure.

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View of #4 piston, where side loads on the stuck piston pin produced very high loads on the spiral lock rings. notice they are being extruded here. 

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Number 4 pin and rod. It should push out with your finger tips, but this was driven out with a brass drift. 

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A look at the condition of the #6  piston, note the pin still in place, both spiral locks in place. 

 

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Thank you,

William Wynne. 

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