Flying Planes – Page 3

07/13/2014

The Bell Pietenpol, 3 generations of flyers

Builders:

I just read a note from Shad bell where he recounted flying one of his sons in the family Pietenpol today. Shad and his father Gary started the plane many years ago, got their Corvair Going at College#7 in Ohio, and have flew the plane from Ohio to Brodhead WI, for many years. But today is the first day flying for generation #3.

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I took a few minutes to comb through the files for a number of pictures of this plane. It is a special thing when a father and son share in the building and flying of a plane, but it is exceedingly rare that 3 generations get to share the spirit of building and flying. Hats off to the Bell family dynasty.

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Above, Shad and the Piet in flight. Aircraft is based in Ohio. It has made a number of appearances at Brodhead. Gary and Shad came to CC#7 to get started on their engine.

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Above, – 2008- Brodhead, Wisconsin. Gary on right, his son Shad on the left. I am pretty sure this was the plane’s first trip to Brodhead.

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2009 – Gary Bell lounges like a King, above. I like the transition from the year before. When your Pietenpol flies to Brodhead, you’re on top of the world. When you pull it off two years in a row, you own the world.

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Above 2009 s a close-up of Shad Bell with the plane. The plane sports a Tennessee Prop.

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Above, A great afternoon at Brodhead WI, 2009. R to L, the Piets of Gary and Shad Bell , Kurt Shipman, Randy Bush, all Corvair powered.

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A 2011 photograph from Brodhead showing the Bell’s Pietenpol in the foreground. Behind it is Kevin Purtee’s aircraft from Texas, and the far slot is Dick Navratil’s Rotec radial powered Piet.

Above, 2013 – The Bell’s Pietenpol makes another trip back to Brodhead. Randy Bush’s and Shad’s Air Campers joined Tom Brown’s Piet and Bill Knight’s Last Original at Brodhead this year. Some years at Brodhead draw more than 25 Pietenpols. 2013 was a light turnout, but Corvairs powered one-third of the Pietenpols on hand. -ww

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06/26/201406/26/2014

STOL and utility planes for Corvair power

Builders,

Below is an overview of STOL and Utility airframes that have been Corvair powered or are in excellent candidates for the engine, that we have already looked at closely. Included with many of the airframes listed are links to stories about them.

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This group of planes are all high-wing cabin monoplanes. There is a good selection of designs for builders to choose from. There are others that would work as well, for example Morgan William’s lite star http://www.customflightltd.com/aircraft-kits-1.html Has flown on Corvair power, but I have just written an overview of the planes most people ask about. If you have a plane in mind that you don’t see here, just send me an email.

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Zenith 750:

This is a good match for the Corvair. There have been a number of them flown in the last four years, and many more are in the works. The 750 has flown on 2700, 2850 and 3000 cc Corvairs. We make every part to install the engine on a 750 airframe and have a Zenith specific install manual. The last link below has a very complete over view.

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Above, the flying 2850cc Zenith 750 built by Gary Burdett of Illinois. It has our full complement of Zenith installation components and one of our production engines.

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Zenith 750 Flying on Corvair Power, Gary Burdett, Illinois

Flying Zenith 750, Tom Siminski, 2700cc, PA.

Flying Zenith 750 w/3000cc Corvair, Doug Stevenson, California

New “Zenvair-750″, Jeff Cochran, 2,850cc engine, N750ZV

Zenith 750 / Corvair reference page, October 2013

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Zenith 701:

We flew our 701/2700cc Corvair test bed aircraft in 2007. The combination works, and a few have been built, but the 750 has stolen a lot of the potential popularity. If anyone is looking at both airframes, they should pick the 750, because it has matched hole tooling and is far easier to build. It is a better match to a Corvair. Economically, a Corvair powered 750 will still cost a lot less than a 912 powered 701. The link below the photo has a very detailed look at the combo. The plane below was made of all our off the shelf engine components, and the entire plane and engine was built in our Edgewater hangar.

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Our Corvair powered 701 taxis out before its first flight, 2007. Gus Warren at the Controls.

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Zenith 701- Corvair reference page, November 2013

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Pegzair:

Is a 20 year old Canadian design with automatic leading edge slats. It has a metal wing and a steel tube fuselage. We finished and flew the first Corvair powered on in 2007. the story is in the link below the photo. The engine has all of our conversion components. Every part ahead of the firewall was built in our hangar in Edgewater.

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Read the story at this link:

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Wagabond :

Below, our Wagabond, N707SV, flying over the Intercostal Waterway near the Atlantic Ocean in 2005. The airframe is based on a highly modified 1964 Piper PA-22-108 (Colt). The plane was built as a group project by “The Hangar Gang” between 2003 and 2005. It has been flown by a number of well-known Corvair pilots who all found it to be a well behaved work horse. In person, the plane is very large for an LSA legal homebuilt. The airframe is the size of a Tripacer, and sitting on the ground the spinner is as tall as I am, yet a direct drive 100 HP Corvair easily flys this plane, including a test flight where the plane climbed out with a payload greater than its own empty weight.

Originally flown to shows by David Vargesko, today the plane has been modified and refined by Grace and myself, re-engined with a 120 HP 3000 cc Corvair, and functions as our personal Corvair powered plane. It is a 5 gallon per hour, 100 MPH plane with a very large baggage compartment. With Grace, the dog, myself and 36 gallons of fuel loaded, it can still carry 275 pounds of equipment and stay in CG.

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Below is a youtube link to the plane flying:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7XhuWmqcPw

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Merlin:

Below is a link to film of Jeff Moore’s Merlin flying on floats in Newfoundland. The airframe has a strong following in Canada. This particular plane was originally powered with a Rotax. Jeff’s plane uses most of our Gold engine parts and one of our stainless U-2 exhaust systems. The engine is a 2700 cc motor with a Weseman 5th Bearing.

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Jeff and the Merlin with Corvair installed.

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Film:

Jeff’s story is at this link:

Corvair Powered Merlin Flying Over Newfoundland

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Buttercup:

The plane was originally Designed by Steve Wittman in 1937. It was vastly ahead of its time. Later modified to have full span movable leading edges. Grace and I worked on the Buttercup pictured below with the intention of finishing it for ourselves before we had a change in direction. Our standard intake and U-2 exhaust fits the plane, along with all of our gold engine components.

Above, the motor mount for our Wittman Buttercup. It is an intensely complicated mount because it incorporates Wittman’s tapered rod landing gear sockets (the modern Buttercup actually uses RV-6 landing gear legs). Earl Luce, the plans provider gave me all the operational data and weight and balance info for his O-200 powered plane, which I mathematically worked out to the Corvair installation. The Mount resembles the O-300 mount for a Tailwind. After completely welding it, I took it to our local powder coater, and had it done in U.S. Navy gray. It was the 40th different Corvair Motor Mount Design that I have built. Today two builders are closing in on finishing the Corvair Buttercup combination, but none have flown yet. The plane above is being finished in Wisconsin.

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Rebel:

The Murphy rebel is an all sheet metal Canadian design almost 25 years old. It is not currently in production. It is a complicated plane to build compared to other all metal designs like a Zenith. Below is a link to a story I wrote about how people who know nothing often say the Corvair will not work on utility planes like the rebel, in spite of all the evidence on this page that speaks to the contrary. The commentary and data in the story is worth reading for anyone looking at a Corvair engine for their homebuilt.

The case of the Murphy Rebel, “eyeball vs. testing”

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Bearhawk LSA:

I consider this plane to be the best flying plane in it’s category. I worked directly with the designer Bob Barrows to develop a Corvair motor mount for it. I flew Bob’s prototype, and it has excellent handling qualities. The design uses or standard intake manifold, and a stainless exhaust common to our Zenith installation.

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Corvair Motor Mount for Bearhawk LSA

Bearhawk LSA, Corvair motor mount in development

Bob Barrows to Fly LSA Bearhawk to CC #27, Barnwell, S.C., Nov. 2013

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Kitfox:

The only Kitfox model that has flown with a Corvair was the model 5. The builder had a number of issues, related to using a poor choice in carbs. Below is a link to a Kitfox 4 mount we made in my shop. The engine is slightly too big for the model 4, but it is a good match for the series 5 and up. The factory likes to promote engines they sell cowls for and have a dealership on. Kitfox has had three different owners in the last 25 years. The current ones did not sell the bulk of the unfinished model 5’s which are available second hand from internet sources like barnstormers.com for less than 50% of their original sale price. Combine one of these with a Basic Corvair, and it is possible to build a good plane for less than $18K, airframe and engine.

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Kitfox Model IV with Corvair mount

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Stits SA-7D Skycoupe:

Ray Stits, the man behind the fabric covering system designed a series of very successful planes in the late 1950s. The Skycoupe was once one of the most popular 2 seat planes in the EAA. Several hundred were built, and their was even a FAR-23 type certified model. It is a stout plane, but it is small inside by modern standards. We put about 200 hours of flight testing on ours, it is a natural match for the Corvair. Below the photo is a link to pictures of turbocharging the design.

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Above, the Skycoupe on the ramp in front of our Edgewater hangar in 2007. We made every component ahead of the firewall on this plane.

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Fisher Horizon 1 and 2:

Both of these designs have flown on Corvair power. I built the motor mount for them, and most of our off the shelf components fit the installation. The plane has strong appeal for builders who like wood, but it is not as rugged as steel tube designs or all aluminum ones.

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J-3:

The first plane ever to fly with a Corvair was a J-3 in 1960. The Corvair would make a very good power plant for any of the J-3, J-5, PA-12 family of airframes.

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Just Highlander:

Below is a photo of the first Corvair/highlander to fly. It was not a success because the builder insisted on using a left over cowl from a Jabaru 3300, and the Bing Carb from the same engine. He also ran the engine was a display without any form of cooling for a long period on the ground prior to the first flight. With the wrong cowl and carb, it should come as no surprise that the plane overheated. From the pictures above, we have plenty of evidence that the Corvair can easily power larger heaver and slower planes than the Highlander when it is equipped with the correct cowl and carb. .

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Christavia:

Is an older design that is somewhat similar to a champ. The plane has many fans, but it would not be my first choice in a utility plane. It is called a STOL plane, and it is by Lancair standards by not by Zenith standards. The plane pictured below was powered by a 2700 Corvair with a Rinker Gearbox, a design from the 1970’s. The gear box failed in 28 hours because the machinist employed by the builder decided to omit a keyway critical to the design. The combination will work much better as a direct drive plane.

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Taylorcraft BC-12D replica:

Below is a one of a kind plane, built from some BC-12D parts. Today the FAA has cracked down on this practice, but with a friendly DAR this could still be made. The plane below is powered by a 2700 and has clipped wings. It topped out at 130mph.

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This very slick aircraft is the handiwork of Gary Loucks of New York.

06/23/2014

Thought for the day: “Censorship” on the net

“If your reading this, and you have never met me, let me teach you one single important thing right now that most people don’t yet know: Censorship is the rank amateur way of controlling people. It is not effective at all, especially in the information age. However, it has three highly effective off spring that are the tools of the professionals. These are Disinformation, Self doubt and Fear. These three are far more effective, and they work even when you are later exposed to the truth. If you look at it, negative people out there do all three. They claim to know of failures, but have no names nor dates; They cite nameless “experts” who disagree with what has been shown to work; they make new builders doubt all the positive and factual reports, and gradually over years, they get you to be afraid to trust things that have been well proven to work. These efforts would have had little effect on our grandparents, but several decades of intense consumer marketing along the same lines makes all of us more prone to distrust, more likely to see some truth in the plausible lie. Unwittingly, many of the people who cry censorship are actually employing the tools of the real propaganda artist.”

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For a number of years I harbored the delusion that I could participate in on-line aircraft discussion groups, and write some things that would allow new builders to understand that we had pioneered very effective and reliable ways to build an operate Corvair flight engines. I freely admit that I was wrong. On any discussion group where people who are known only was “Flyboy26” or “RVguyCN” have the exact same size soap box as people with real names, specific experience, links to photos, there is no chance for new people to sort useful reality from dangerous fiction.

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On discussion groups I tried to advocate that people should use real names and they should never ‘recommend’ anything that they had not personally and specifically flown behind. I also advocated that all references to third party experts, require also stating that persons name, so people couldn’t say things like “A local expert here who has built 25 planes says that will not work.” These sounded like very reasonable ideas to me if we were going to talk about Corvair engines in planes for the purpose of getting people flying. I was wrong about that, and a number of very vocal people always claimed that I was “Censoring” them buy not supporting their ‘right’ to say anything.

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As you might imagine, I was quite a thorn in the side of people like ‘flyboy26’. I merely showed how things they advocated had long been proven by our testing not to work. Over time, these people hated me. They switched tactics to making wild claims about our products failing, they claimed to be in touch with ‘experts’ who assured them that a wave of failures was eminent, and they constantly tried to make people afraid to follow things we had long proven to work.

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These tactics didn’t win builders to their ideas, but they were very effective in getting a large number of new builders to do nothing. Probably without knowing it, ‘flyboy26’ and his buddies were employing real propaganda tools, Disinformation, Self doubt and Fear. Before getting kicked off discussion groups for life, I wrote the quote above in hopes that new builders would understand. I look back today and see that hope as delusional also.

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Left to right, Three Corvair powered Zenith 601XL’s. Ken Pavlou, Roger Pritchard and Louis Leung’s planes in a row. Ken’s plane had just concluded phase one, 40 hours without the slightest issue, or need for adjustment. Roger and Louis have already flown their planes to Oshkosh. The builders of these planes are all members of a private discussion group that I formed as an alternative to open internet groups that allow comments from ilk such as ‘flyboy26’. You can read about the group at these two links:

‘Zenvair’ Information board formed

‘Zenvair’ information board, part #2

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Ken had never built a plane nor engine before. The reason why his flight testing was without event, is because he followed our proven path, and took no advice from internet ‘experts’. The same week that Ken flew off his last hour, another 601 with a Corvair in it took it’s first flight. That builder chose to listen to many people, but follow very little that I had to say.

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His first flight lasted just 6 minutes, one trip around the pattern. Many of the things this man tried, like cooling plenums on the engine and a carb off an old British car, were championed by people on open discussion groups, the same people who called me a Censor for pointing out they had never tried what they advocated. When the builder got on the ground 6 minutes later, 1/10 of an hour, 1/400th of his testing done, perhaps he had greater respect for my efforts to ‘censor’ the speech of dangerous fools.

06/20/2014

Thought for the day: Being simple and done.

” The most simple flying Plane, even if it is not aesthetically pure, or record light, provides more satisfaction than any masterpiece that is over budget and years behind schedule, sitting in a garage, that will fly “someday.” We flew the Skycoupe and its funky looking trailer tires to many airshows. In the second incarnation we even had a turbo on it. Practical people loved it. The 1 of 500 who made a negative critical remark was treated to me getting “New Jersey” on him, and asking in front of everyone, to show us all his own plane, which invariably didn’t exist.”- ww.

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Above is a shot of the Turbo Skycoupe in it final test form. This was taken at Corvair College #9. It was our test bed from 2002-04 naturally aspirated, and made a second appearance with a turbo in 2005-07. The fabric was damaged in a windstorm, and after some storage the plane was bought by Craig Anderson of SD. It is restored to glory with a 2,850 engine Craig built at Corvair College #22. Note the 3″ turbo outlet pipe on the pilot’s side of the cowl. It was a lot quieter than people would guess, turbos work by extracting energy from the exhaust stream in the form of heat and velocity. They are natural mufflers.

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The trim on the plane above is blue and yellow, the earlier photos below and in the link shows the trim green and black. After dinner one night we stopped by walmart and bought $.97 a can spray paint and off-brand masking tape and changed the paint job for a $12 investment. After examining the results I said “A $12 paint job…that could easily pass for one costing twice as much.”

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2005 at our Edgewater hangar: The Skycoupe with a complete turbocharging system retrofitted to its existing engine. The turbo was a Garrett TO-4B with a .58AR housing, no waste gate. It worked very well. Many people admired the cool custom stainless heat shroud over the turbo. It actually was a $7 ice bucket from Wal-mart that said “Made in Pakistan.” Grace’s polish job on our 601 stands out in the sunshine in the background.

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With the turbo in boost, the brakes couldn’t even come close to holding it. It’s chained to my blue pickup truck in the photo. It was a specifically modified Garrett turbo on a draw through Stromberg setup. The fuel didn’t even require a pump, it was gravity feed. The exhaust system was 304 stainless. The ignition curve was modified to restrict the total advance. It has passed all of its tests with flying colors and flew well (for a big boxy plane) It’s first public airshow in this configuration was Sun n Fun 2005. This installation was quieter than many aircraft sporting full mufflers.

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A glance at the instruments tells an interesting story. At 40″ MAP and 3,000 rpm, the engine turns its 66″ Warp Drive prop 400 rpm higher than it did when it was naturally aspirated. It was probably 120 hp in this condition. The second needle on the MAP gauge is reading the pressure between the carburetor and the turbo. Even though the intake air was being compressed from 25-40″, the evaporative cooling of the fuel kept the upper intake manifold cool to the touch. The engine ran smoothly without missing a beat. The Hobbs meter shows the 115 hours the airplane has logged on natural aspiration Corvair power.

(Historic Note: The first person to fly a turbocharged Corvair engine was Waldo Waterman in 1968.)

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for more old Skycoupe pictures look at this link:

Thought for the day: The Cost of Economy

” Historically, the biggest reason why people don’t build better engines is they are trying to “save money.” I am not wealthy, and I understand this. First, let me say, if your primary goal is to save money, the easiest way to save the most money is to get out of aviation. If your primary goal is to build a good airplane, there are times where you will have to spend money. There are many places where learning and putting in work can offset huge amounts of cash outlay, (Corvair vs Rotax 912) but there are very few places where you can significantly trim the budget just by using cheaper parts Learn this WW aircraft philosophy axiom, and your airplane building will be a lot happier:

**“Doing things the right way usually costs a fair amount of money, but doing them the cheap way always costs a fortune.”**

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Read the complete story at this link: Why Not the Panther engine?

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Above Lynn Dingfelder’s 601XLB with 2,700cc Corvair in the Zenith booth at Sun n Fun 2013. Lynn is an incredibly skilled mechanic and fabricator. If we were to have a contest, to see who could build a successful plane with the best value, Lynn would be my candidate. He can bring a lifetime of mechanical skill to every single part of a plane. Yet if you look at his personal plane, it is a kit with most of the parts right out of our catalog. This is the balance of time vs money, even to a guy with a very broad skill set.

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Notice that I didn’t say “who could build the cheapest” plane, I said the contest would be “a successful plane with the best value” I have seen 601’s that cost less than Lynn’s, but these planes were built by people who’s sole over riding goal was to not spend any money, and they ended up with a plane that either didn’t work or couldn’t be trusted. The value equation is what you get out of it divided by what it cost. If you don’t get reliability out of the project, then the numerator in the fraction is zero, and the value is pretty much zero, no matter how little was spent. -ww.

06/05/201406/05/2014

Thought for the Day: Aviation as an Endeavor

“At any real level, flying is not a sport, a hobby a pastime nor entertainment. It is an Endeavor, worthy of every hour of your life you invest; Those that dabble in it find only high cost, poor reward and serious risk. They are approaching it as consumers. Conversely, for those who devote their best efforts and their serious commitment, the rewards are without compare. The serious people alone will know the reward that was beyond the reach of any man who walked on this planet a mere 111 years ago. No matter how brilliant, how wealthy or how powerful, no man could fly then. Today, because of incredible luck of the circumstances of your birth, and the efforts you have made, you have a real chance of building a flying machine with your own hands and then being the master of it in the sky. It may very well be the ultimate expression of being an individual, the ultimate rejection to the tepid life to which others would consign you. In a world that is ever increasingly fake, this is an opportunity to do something very real. ” -ww.

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From Oshkosh 2009: “The above photo shows Kurt Shipman and I standing next to his Corvair powered Pietenpol at Oshkosh 2009. After the event, we found out that he won the Bronze Plans-Built Lindy Award, in recognition that his plans-built aircraft was in the Top 5 in a very competitive field at the 2009 show. It is difficult to overstate this achievement. In the past 20 years, I have seen a number of Grand Champions from the EAA’s regional shows, magnificent aircraft, have a difficult time winning one of Oshkosh’s highly coveted workmanship awards. The Corvair movement can be very proud that one of its own earned such a significant honor. It’s fitting that it goes to such a laid back, modest guy, who built his plane for his own enjoyment, not the pursuit of external recognition.”

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06/02/201406/02/2014

Zenvairs ruled the skies over the northeast!

Builders,

The title above was sent in with this photo by Ken Pavlou. He now has just about completed his phase one testing, and it has gone without a single flaw. Ken organized two other Corvair/Zenith pilots to fly in a formation around his area over the weekend. Below is a photo of all three on the ramp.

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Left to right, Three Corvair powered Zenith 601XL’s. Ken Pavlou, Rodger Pritchard and Louis Leung’s planes in a row. Ken said the flight was a lot of fun and a nice way to conclude phase one.

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All three of these Northeast builders attended Corvair College #14 in Lowell MA. Both Rodger and Louis have flown their planes to Oshkosh. All three of the planes are powered by 100 HP, 2,700 cc standard Corvair engines, all assembled, maintained and mastered by each of these builders. There are many engine options available to Zenith builders, but the Corvair offers a unique combination of affordability and the opportunity to become an expert on your power plant, not just it’s owner.

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Builders,

Note: The columns in the chart are shifted over one heading, it is a discrepancy between how excel and the wordpress format here presents printed data, wordpress automatically tries to center it, look past this and understand the story, I will try to reformat this and get a link to the full sheet later today-ww

Below is a chart of CHT data taken from Ken Pavlou’s 2,700 cc 601XL, which now has about 20 flight hours on it. The layout of the data Ken gathered is particularly interesting. Ken’s engine and installation is nearly 100% done according to our manual. His data collection is fed through his Dynon panel. His data is a very good representation of what any builder can expect if he is willing to follow our recommendations.

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First let me say that Ken is a very experienced pilot and astoundingly talented electrical engineer who really understands computers and instrumentation, so that eliminates a lot of variables right there. But keep in mind that Ken was no ‘motor head’ before building his Corvair. I am pretty sure it is the first engine he ever built, thus it also represents what anyone willing to follow the proven path can expect.

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I have long told builders that 1) CHT temps measured under the plugs read far higher than if they are measured in the stock GM location on the Bottom of the heads. That is counterintuitive because the cool air enters on the plug side, but it is reality because CHT measurement under plugs tends to measure the plug temp, not the head temp. (this is not just a Corvair thing all Lycomings have the CHT port on the bottom of the head also, they are not correctly measured under the plugs either) I have long pointed out also that 2) the baffling style that we recommend for Corvair planes, with aluminum baffles with a rubber strip sealing it to the cowl, just like 95% of certified planes use, works period.

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I can not spend a single day at an airshow with out having at least one person tell me that I am not right about both 1) and 2), and they are sure of this because they read it on a website somewhere. At least once a day a guy will tell me that he is going to build Jabaru 3300 style fiberglass ducts because “they will work better and cool evenly.” Below is data that refutes such internet lore. I am not sure why anyone would be tempted to copy a cooling design from an engine known for running hot, but my field of expertise is engines not psychology.

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Ken is not the first guy to perform this test. 601HDS-TD builder Rich Whittington was one of the first. Rich’s plane is a 3,000 cc Corvair fed by a Stromberg, a good but slightly off the mainstream combination. Ken’s 2,700 cc MA3-SPA tri-gear plane is more typical. Get a good look at the data and see that the CHT in the GM location is running 80 to 100 F cooler than the plug reading; Also note that the L-R cooling spread on the engine is about 5 degrees. Does that sound like a problem? I doubt that there is a single certified plane that can beat that, yet I have had an army of people eyeball the baffling we use and proclaim it a defective design.

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The data is taken from a large sample of a whole flight with a climb to 6500′ and a decent and landing. The sample here is typical of the climb data. In the decent phase the L-R temp difference went down to one degree F.

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Below, a revised chart I am having a hard time making bigger:

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Original chart with shifted column headings:

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Left Bank Stock CHT Location	Average Left Bank (2,4,6) Plug Temp	Average Right Bank (1,3,5) Plug Temp	Difference L vs R Bank Plug Temps	L Stock Location vs L Plug Temp
Average	277	365	369	-4
Min	241	272	270	-9
Max	302	406	405	7
288	376	372	4	-88
288	379	375	4	-91
288	383	379	4	-95
288	387	383	4	-99
290	391	385	5	-101
292	393	388	5	-101
293	395	390	5	-102
294	396	391	5	-102

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Great internet answers: I was looking for the make and model of a specific truck that appeared in a movie from the 1980s. I Google searched the question, suspecting the truck to have been a 1960s Kenworth. There were about 6 answers, all of which I knew to be wrong, all posed by people who claimed they were experts, including one guy who said he worked on the assembly line. At the bottom, one guy who writes in saying it was an Autocar A64, like the one pictured below. The 5 experts jump on him and call him a fool, several people chime in to confirm this, one even questioning if there was such a thing as an “Autocar,” The guy writes back with pictures of the actual truck that was in the movie, it’s current location, the name of the owner, and a link to it being for sale on Ebay. Doesn’t matter, they still think he is wrong. The internet, an endless chance to wonder about the sanity of mankind.

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Builders:

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Above, Shad and the Piet in flight. Aircraft is based in Ohio. It has made a number of appearances at Brodhead. Gary and Shad came to CC#7 to get started on their engine.

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Above, – 2008- Brodhead, Wisconsin. Gary on right, his son Shad on the left. I am pretty sure this was the plane’s first trip to Brodhead.

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2009 – Gary Bell lounges like a King, above. I like the transition from the year before. When your Pietenpol flies to Brodhead, you’re on top of the world. When you pull it off two years in a row, you own the world.

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Above 2009 s a close-up of Shad Bell with the plane. The plane sports a Tennessee Prop.

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Above, A great afternoon at Brodhead WI, 2009. R to L, the Piets of Gary and Shad Bell , Kurt Shipman, Randy Bush, all Corvair powered.

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A 2011 photograph from Brodhead showing the Bell’s Pietenpol in the foreground. Behind it is Kevin Purtee’s aircraft from Texas, and the far slot is Dick Navratil’s Rotec radial powered Piet.

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Builders,

Below is an overview of STOL and Utility airframes that have been Corvair powered or are in excellent candidates for the engine, that we have already looked at closely. Included with many of the airframes listed are links to stories about them.

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Zenith 750:

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Above, the flying 2850cc Zenith 750 built by Gary Burdett of Illinois. It has our full complement of Zenith installation components and one of our production engines.

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Zenith 701:

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Our Corvair powered 701 taxis out before its first flight, 2007. Gus Warren at the Controls.

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Pegzair:

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Read the story at this link:

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Wagabond :

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Below is a youtube link to the plane flying:

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Merlin:

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Jeff and the Merlin with Corvair installed.

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Film:

Jeff’s story is at this link:

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Buttercup:

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Rebel:

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Bearhawk LSA:

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Kitfox:

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Stits SA-7D Skycoupe:

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Above, the Skycoupe on the ramp in front of our Edgewater hangar in 2007. We made every component ahead of the firewall on this plane.

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Read more at this link:

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Fisher Horizon 1 and 2:

Both of these designs have flown on Corvair power. I built the motor mount for them, and most of our off the shelf components fit the installation. The plane has strong appeal for builders who like wood, but it is not as rugged as steel tube designs or all aluminum ones.

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J-3:

The first plane ever to fly with a Corvair was a J-3 in 1960. The Corvair would make a very good power plant for any of the J-3, J-5, PA-12 family of airframes.

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