Category: Uncategorized

Builders,

We received a note from Andrew Pietenpol, Grandson of Bernard, that he has assembled a new official Pietenpol family website. I have spent a lot of time looking at it and it has a lot of information I had not seen before. Obviously, Andrew is the direct living legacy of his grandfather, and our best resource to learn more about the life, ideals and designs of ‘The patron saint of homebuilding”.

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Even if you are not a Pietenpol builder, an hour on the site will give you a much sharper understanding of the origins of homebuilding in the United States, which came at a time of extreme economic challenge. Of all the creative men involved, Bernard Pietenpol’s designs are the only ones still being built nearly 90 years later.

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 Pietenpol Aircraft Company – Official Air Camper site:

http://www.pietenpolaircraftcompany.com/

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Make sure you don’t miss the extensive photo gallery. It has many priceless Corvair-Pietenpol photos that I have never seen before:

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http://www.pietenpolaircraftcompany.com/historic-pietenpol-photo-gallery

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Builders,

We have just opened the on line sign up for Corvair College #34, September 15-17, Mexico Missouri, at the Zenith factory. If you are new to the Colleges, just about every question you may have has an answer that can be found at this link: Corvair College reference page, please take the time to review it. There is a lot of information there, but it also give a detailed, accurate picture of a learning and building experience that is far from the typical technical seminar.

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Before going to the sign up page, several points to understand:

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All builders of our style of Corvair Conversions are welcome, not just Zenith builders. Sebastien Heintz, president of Zenith, welcomes all homebuilders, not just his customers.

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Sign up is required to attend. I insist that we know who is coming to the events, and that they receive all the pre event communications. The fee for the college covers every thing builders eat drink, the workspace, tooling etc. In 33 previous colleges, we have had more than 1,000 people find this an excellent value. Success in homebuilding has many factors, but commitment to learn, following directions and spending some money are always going to be required parts. Someone who does not wish to pay their share, and just wants to look, can come to my Oshkosh display #616 in the north area, across from the Zenith display. But, attending Colleges is different, one must sign up.

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You do not need to have a motor to attend the College. Many people come to observe and learn, and they only get a motor after the College. We welcome anyone who is these to learn about how we build Corvair flight engines.

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The event is focused on teaching all aspects of building, operating and flying Corvair flight engines as I have taught people to build them since 1989. We welcome anyone who comes to learn in a friendly environment. The builders at the college will assemble engines to our design with parts from our specified suppliers such as SPA/Panther, Falcon machine, J.S Weseman, Roy’s Garage, Clark’s, and ourselves. However, we do not offer support or assistance to builders who are stuck with the products of now bankrupt LLC’s like Aeromax, Aerolite, Magnificent Machine, or anything that was/is sold from Valdosta GA. The small fraction of builders who made the decision to work with those short lived companies should have no expectation I will support them. They have to live their decision. This is called responsibility and consequences, Ideas that still matter in the America I choose to live in.

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Sign up Link:

https://corviarcollegeregistration.wufoo.com/forms/cc34-registration/

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Above, The builders who flew their Corvair powered planes to CC##30/The Zenith open House at Mexico MO; Shane and Phylis McDaniels (2,700/650B, MO), Lynn Dingfelder, (2,700/601XLB, PA), Dave Gardea (2,700/650B, IN) Ron Lendon (2,850 /601XLB, MI) and Pat and Mary Hoyt (2,700/601XLB with 650 canopy, MN). The picture above captures all 5 aircraft on the ramp in front of the Zenith Factory at The Mexico MO airport. The builders are standing between myself on one end and Sebastien Heintz, president of Zenith Aircraft on the other. This was one of the moments that make years of work in the hangar a very good investment.

Friends,

On this day in 1950, my parents were married. Words can not say how blessed I feel that I was able to pick up the phone and speak with them tonight, Knowing that 69 years after they met, they remain the joy of each others lives.

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Above, 4th and 5th from the left, My Father and Mother. I have long said that any qualities of character I may have are directly attributable to being their child. When I encounter anyone my age in a terrible position in life, my first thought has always been, and will always remain “Without the fortune of being born to my parents, that could be me.”

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To our friends who’s parents were also members of the “Greatest Generation”, I hope the photo brings back many good memories of your own parents.

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-ww.

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To read more about “The real William Wynne”: William Wynne Sr. Turns 89 today

Builders,  Last night, the counter on this site went over 900,000 page reads. We are a little less than 100 days from Oshkosh. At the current rate of readership, the site will reach a million page reads before we leave for Oshkosh.

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This sight has strong readership because it strikes the right combination of information and tone that appeals to traditional homebuilders. It isn’t really a giant amount of hits, but it is plenty to show that the engine is an ever more popular choice for homebuilts, and that we are the source for proven information on building and flying the engine.

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The Corvair isn’t for everyone, but if you are one of the homebuilders served by the engines strengths and advantages, we welcome you aboard. -ww.

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Blast from the past: Pictured above in the 2005 Zenith display at Oshkosh, our 601XL, N-1777W, the first Corvair powered Zenith.  We showed our planes in the Zenith display  for 5 years straight. L to R in the picture, Sebastien Heintz, me with short hair, and Gus Warren. Gus and I had just flown up from Florida.

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For the last six years we have had our own Booth at Oshkosh. This year it is in the same spot, #616,  directly across from Zenith’s boothWe have been around experimental aviation a long time. 10 years ago, when the picture above was taken, I had already been building Corvair flight engines for 16 years.  In an industry where here today, gone tomorrow companies are the rule, We have earned a place as one of the longest operating companies in our industry.

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Builders:

Maybe you read yesterdays story on Sherpas and thought my central point, that no one should follow the advice of anyone who has never built a flying plane, was a little obvious, and that everyone knows that, it’s just a given.  If you are aware of that, you have probably been around planes for a while. On the other hand, a great number of new arrivals in homebuilding either don’t know this, or think I am overstating this. I am not.

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Above, the EFI 2,700cc Corvair in 2007, at power on my dyno. This was built as a joint project with Mark at Falcon. Conclusion: It offered little or no benefit while adopting a giant level of additional risk over a simple carb. Read more here: Testing and Data Collection reference page If you want to understand what successful people are doing, read this: Carburetor Reference page

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Case in point: A potential builder contacted today expresses an interest in EFI, specifically one promoted by a guy named Robert Haynes. New guy undoubtably read Haynes’s website, which clearly states that Haynes has been working on this project for 11 years, and it has never satisfactory run, far less flown. That  is the definition of a guy standing in the village for more than a decade telling people that he is going to climb the mountain real soon, just as soon as he gets his electronic climbing gadget to work. The new arrival is yet to understand why people who want to climb the mountain work with Sherpas.

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Haynes is at least direct and honest, if misguided. He says he doesn’t believe in 5th bearings, and he is so cheap that he assembled his engine with an old worn stock cam and gear. He changed the rod bolts and goes through an elaborate balancing routine, completely missing that resizing the rods is the critical element of rebuilding them, the one step he didn’t do. His basic engine is flawed, and represents an obsession with rationalizing not doing any of the advancements we have made in Corvair in the last 15 years. He then uses this as the basis of a decade long search for a way to make a cheap homebuilt EFI system. If you are thinking I am kidding about this, the site is: http://www.hainesengineering.com/rhaines/aircraft/corvair.htm. If you think I am judging harshly, read the part where he took apart a very filthy, internally rusty core, and he is actually going to use the same lifters again, because spending $3.60 each for new ones is a waste of money in his book.

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Now think that our new arrival looked at Haynes’s website, including his wooden motor mount and plywood disc in place of a test prop, the engine roughly running for 20 seconds in a video clip without a cooling shroud, nor even a rudimentary exhaust system, read descriptions of going through a series of batteries trying to make it run, even looked at Haynes welding skills like the photo below, and believes that this guy is on to something that negates my observations on EFI : Fuel Injection – Corvair flight engines reference page

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Above, a photo of the motor mount weld Hanes did for his VW powered Thacher CX4 project. If this was good enough to photograph and use, I contend that Mr. Haynes doesn’t know how much he doesn’t know about aircraft construction. If you are not familiar with the definition of the word “Hubris”, take a moment to look it up, it will enrich your understanding of a mindset that does not match well with building planes.

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Haynes might be a very nice family man, clever with computers, but his value system and workmanship has not generated anything one would include in their Corvair with the expectation of trouble free reliable performance, but evidently the new arrival to village saw this and still thought that some of these ideas were better than what the Sherpas of the flying Corvair world are doing. In 25 years of homebuiling, I have met countless people who held the same perspective, yet I can’t think of any who built a reliable plane.

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There is a mindset that wants to believe that there are countless ‘un discovered’ improvements to any system developed over 25 years that can be revealed by an amateur who looks at it for a week, particularly if that amateur is going to apply high tech in the form of electronics. The root interest is almost always the promise of saving money, or not having to put in some type of work.  It doesn’t matter that they have thought this most of their life but can’t cite 2 example cases of it being true.  If any new arrival thinks that a guy with rusty old lifters in an engine he thinks he will fly with his kids, has discovered something about Corvair powered flight that I don’t know, he is working with a mindset that is common to many people who have not, and will likely never build and fly a plane. People can send me hate mail over that, but they can’t send evidence refuting it.

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It is important to me that Homebuilding find better ways of binging new people in, not just as a spectator/ EAA member but as real, active builders with an effective plan for success, which I define as finishing a good, reliable plane and really learning skills, traditions and ethics of aviation. That is transformative in a persons life, most other aviation experiences pale in comparison.

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So, How do we get more people into a position where they have a fair chance at success in homebuilding? First, you have to be honest with them. You have to tell then that the odds are against them going in, so before they look at anything else about it, they should me most interested in one single thing: Understanding the different approaches between the 20% who make it and the 80% who don’t. If they are focused on anything else, but have not even considered this, they are almost certainly in the 80%.

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In reality the new builders don’t divide into neat groups of reasonable and unreasonable. This division and the percentages actually exist inside each new builder, and I believe that you can appeal to the reasonable side of each builder by articulately explaining why he might want to invest the real effort in transforming is abilities and knowledge, and how merely finding a short cut to a finished plane is not synonymous with this. You will not reach all people, and some will take time, but after decades of hands on teach in writing, I still think it is worth the effort. -ww.

Builders:

In public forums, I have often compared completing a homebuilt to trying to climb mount Everest. The comparison is a valid one. Both have these things in common: Very few people in society try it; It takes several years of prep work; It costs about $45K; It has an 80% failure rate; It has a significant risk of fatality.

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The analogy is effective because it allows builders to look at a similar task, but one that they are not emotionally invested in, and they can get a better look at their own plan, and see how it needs to be improved if they are to be in the 20%.

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When I bring up the topic at Oshkosh forums, I often ask new potential homebuilders to imaging us walking into a base camp village in Nepal, and finding 10 different storefronts, each offering assistance from their Sherpa to climb Everest. I challenge each new builder to tell me what the #1 question you have to ask any Sherpa before hiring him.  Most people get this wrong by guessing “What will it cost”. I point out that the litmus test question is “Have you ever been to the top?” Unless the answer is “Yes” only a fool would use the man’s services or advice.

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Here is the homebuilding connection: When new builders go on line to discussion groups for answers, particularly any group where people don’t use their real names, They have no idea if the guy offering the “answer” has ever built and flown a plane, or even done the specific task he is speaking of.  Listening to such people is hiring a Sherpa who no one has met before, and has probably never been to the top.

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Same goes with taking in person advice at the airport. Most people speaking of homebuilts, and often offering advice, have never built one. You name the sub topic in homebuilding, particularly alternative engines, and the unqualified advice pours forth. Challenge any one of these people, and they will quickly respond that their experience, although it isn’t in our branch of aviation, or aviation at all, is valid. I simply ask you, If you were hiring a Sherpa  to climb Everest, and he told you he had never been to the top but “All mountains are the same” would you bet the outcome of your work dreams and money on his guidance? Not if you were sane.

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I have known perhaps 500 people who have completed a homebuilt. But I have also been to Oshkosh more than 20 times, a listened to maybe 10,000 people who claimed to love homebuilts, but had never finished one. Perhaps 5,000 of the people got started once. If asked, they could only offer the reason why they quit, and their answer would likely be defensive and inaccurate. Having the ‘benefit’ of  being subjected to the other 4,999 stories of failure, I am in a better position to see common threads in the approaches that didn’t work.

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Think running out of money was the main problem? Not by a long shot. I contend that taking unqualified advice, both from the internet and in person, and particularly adopting beliefs and practices of these ‘advisors’ is the #1 problem. Often running out of money is simply a symptom of having taken a series of very wild goose chases, all on the advice of people with no first hand experience.  If I an offer only one piece of advice that you follow, make it this: Pick your advisors in homebuilding as carefully as you would pick your Sherpa in an Everest attempt. Your success depends on it, and in some cases so does your life. -ww.

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Above, Tenzing Norgay. 1914-1986. The best known Sherpa who ever lived. He and Edmond Hillary were the first two humans to summit Mt Everest.  He was named as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time. The iconic 1953 photo from the summit, is of Norgay, not Hillary. Although he had just accomplished what no human before had done, it was a triumph of planning, conditioning, good decision making, courage, and will, not a technology breakthrough. Norgay didn’t take Hillary’s picture because he had never used a camera before. In the Sherpa’s arena, possession of technology was a currency of comparatively little value. Most great adventures are stories of the human spirit, consider this when planning how complex to make your aircraft.

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Below is an allegory I wrote to a Pietenpol discussion group, looking at the question of what to do when a constant flow of new people show up on the group who don’t understand the scope of the task of building an 85 year old plans built design, and they don’t believe in listening to the advice of “Sherpas” if they can find the answer they want from “tourists.” Many of the people are fixated on “saving money” and what their paint scheme will eventually be.

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The allegory element about the price of ropes relates to the discussion on 4 main bearing Corvairs vs ones with 5th bearings installed. The comments about selling stuff relate to junk being sold by people who quit, like these stories: Built by William Wynne? Built according to The Manual? . Like most of the stuff I write, some people ‘get it’, most people don’t , and some people send me hate mail. All outcomes are fine, as long as some found it thought provoking. -ww.

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“If we were Sherpas at the base camp to mount Everest, and a new person came into camp with the stated plan to climb it, and all they talked about was the colors that they had picked for their tent and then complained about the cost of quality ropes, what would you tell them? Are you being a better ambassador to mountaineering by just being polite and welcoming, or is it a better idea to explain to the new person that a successful summit is made of long and careful preparation, learning and work, and it will cost money, and by the way, your best guidance is going to come from Sherpas who have lead climbers to the summit before. You would also explain that the 10% who make it to the top follow this not just because they want to summit, but also because they want to live through it.

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After the new guy is done telling everyone in the village, who are mostly tourists, all about his color coordination and objection to rope that cost more than $4/foot, you politely say that color doesn’t matter, physical fitness and conditioning does, and although it was once done, no one climbs on $4/ft rope anymore, it is all done on $5/ft rope, that is why the book says use $5/ft rope. That once you are up on the mountain you will see strains put on the rope that you can not understand by looking at the price tag in the village, and he should just listen to you because you have been to the top, and you have also seen people killed by cheap equipment. It doesn’t matter now anyway, because he is in terrible conditioning, and it will take several seasons to get in shape, and in the long run the cost of $1/ft on rope will be meaningless then.

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The reasonable new climber will understands this. He remembers that when he became fluent in a second language, became a working musician, and when he was in competitive sports, the common thread to find the reward, was long preparation, and following the guidance of a coach who had been there before and had long demonstrated the path to many others. He understands that the goal in each of these was to “Become” something greater than he was, a word that means there was a transformation of how he felt about himself.

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He understands that his actual goal is to “become” a skilled climber, and then use these skills to summit Everest. Summiting is not the primary goal, and people who don’t want to put the work into the training and transition to being a climber, people who just want the trophy as cheap as possible, will never make it.
The Unreasonable new arrival doesn’t like to hear anything about this. He comes to the village unable to differentiate between bureaucratic rules and accepted and proven wisdom of experience. He can’t tell the difference between garbage like cliques, pecking order and blind dues paying, and the very different situation of working for something for a long time and later understanding it earned you the respect of people who had done the same. Unable to differentiate these things, he rejects it all, and honestly believes it is all negotiable and interchangeable. He does not understand that he has left suburbia, the office cubicle, and world where repeated broadcast babble is substituted for understanding. He is in a new arena, and he is just getting acquainted with the idea that his home currency isn’t very valuable here.

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The reasonable man gets to work on the task of 3,000 hours or so to transform himself into a climber. The progress of each week is self-rewarding, because the goal is the transformation, not what one might do with the skills once he has them. The unreasonable man, focused on possession of the trophy, does not start training, he starts bargaining. He wants to know if there is some way to turn 3,000 hr into 1,500 hr. He gets attached to any story that seems to be about cleverly reducing the ‘cost’ of getting to the top. He likes fir ladders instead of spruce ones, and latex tents instead of doped ones. While these ideas all have merit when selectively applied by experienced climbers, the unreasonable man’s attraction is purely about short cutting the system. He doesn’t understand that having Google translate on his I-phone isn’t the same as being able to speak a few words with the Nepalese natives.

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Completely missing the point that it costs what it cost to climb the mountain, and the real side of the equation you control is if you become a climber or not, and being an understood and respected climber is about what you know and can do, and not where you have bought tickets to, the unreasonable man is stuck on the price of things, particularly that $5/ft rope. Because he can’t tell the difference between random rules and wisdom, and because he has never operated in an office with the death penalty for small mistakes on the job, he comes up with the brilliant idea of taking a poll of the tourists in the village to find out if the Sherpas are full of shit. If 51% of the tourists say $4/ft rope is great, then this confirms what he ‘knew’ that people who want you to use $5/ft rope are just salesmen (even though they don’t sell rope). He believes in polls because they are surveys fill his internet world and are the basis of his illusion that corporations/neighbors/ politicians care what he thinks.

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To his surprise, the first people who speak up after the poll are not tourists, but climbers who have been to the top. They all tell him to use $5/ft rope. Some of them even have tales of almost falling when the previous standard was $4/ft rope. There are some people in training that say they are still thinking about climbing slowly and using $4/ft rope, but the unreasonable man, who is really just seeking any affirmation of his belief that he can save money and get the same goal, misses the point that none of the people who are in favor of $4/ft rope have been to the top, and that the original climbers on $4/ft rope were using new rope, not rope reconditioned in Pakistan. The only people who were qualified to inspect ropes and treat them were 2 shops in the US, and that costs money.

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The unreasonable man concedes the $5/ft public debate for the worst reason: He is concerned what other people in the village think. Still, at heart, he really isn’t convinced. He will revisit this exact same approach on every single aspect of preparation and training. Because most people are polite, he will not have others point out that he really isn’t getting in better shape, nor is his real knowledge of climbing increasing. Over time the progress he makes will not yield satisfaction because he can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, which to him is getting to the top of the mountain. Because no one takes the time to say he has the wrong mindset, he ends up wasting 5 years living in the village, learning little, conducting the same type of poll over and over again.

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One day he gets fed up, declares that he would have been to the top long ago if he had been in a village of friendly Sherpas and supportive townspeople. It is all their fault. He puts up a notice on the bulletin board saying he is selling his gear, but no one wants it because it was all cheap stuff built around a $4/ft rope collection, assembled by a guy who wasn’t really into the work.

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As he is carrying the gear to the dump outside the village on his way back to suburbia, he meets a new guy walking up the trail. He makes him a great bargain, and points out that the gear includes a well known book on climbing written by a Sherpa named W. Nguyen*. Unreasonable guy has a very believable sales pitch saying the gear was great, but he didn’t need it anymore because he had decided to go back to suburbia and drive around in a three wheeled RV. New guy is very excited, because just like the unreasonable guy, his goal is to be able to tell people he climbed the mountain, not become a climber. To his perspective, he just saved a bundle of cash, and he is appreciably closer to having a summit photo on his face book page. The deal is struck and the cash exchanged just outside the entrance to the dump. The new guy carries the gear into the village, and walks into the town square where he stands on a box and introduces himself, and in short order tells everyone what decorative color he is going to paint his tent.

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* Nguyen is actually a common Vietnamese name pronounced ‘win’ just like ‘Wynne’.

 Builders,

I got a note from Tim Shupert, saying that he and several guys from his EAA chapter are putting together a plan to finish Ralph Carlson’s Corvair powered Pietenpol. I assured him that I would be glad to help, as I have a special connection to Ralph. He bought the first conversion manual I ever sold.

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Above, From Brodhead, 2005, the Pietenpol gathering. Tom Porter on the left shows his land based Corvair to June and Ralph Carlson on the right.

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Below is a letter I wrote to the Pietenpol list last year, speaking of the value of sharing flights with those still building, encouraging those now flying to share the experience.  It contains the story of how Ralph Carlson bought the first conversion manual I ever sold.  In an industry dominated by companies with 36 month lifespans and little respect for traditional homebuilders, I still care about assuring that we keep a place where the dreams of common men matter, and are not subjugated to ‘industry trends.’ 23 years later, I am still here working for this.

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” I wrote my first Corvair conversion manual when I was 28. When it was done, with some hesitation, I put a little ad in the back of EAA’s “light plane world”. I didn’t expect anyone to want one. Ancient engine brought to you by long haired college student. I was somewhat stunned to find the first letter in the mail box, from some guy named Ralph in Wisconsin, building a Pietenpol.

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I spent a long evening sipping a beer and looking at the short note from ‘Ralph’ and manual #1 on my desk. I started to write an apology letter to ‘Ralph’ several times, explaining that I was just an Embry-Riddle student, and he had obviously mistaken me for some real person in aviation. Really, he was going to get manual #1, not very confidence inspiring. After several hours I decided that this was mostly my issues, not ‘Ralphs’. I did cave in and write 10 in front of the #1 to make #101 and at least look like he wasn’t the only guy on earth read my advice on building an engine. Not much of a crime, but in the years that followed, I often wondered what kind of a guy he was to blindly get a book from another person he never heard of.

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Fast forward to Brodhead 2000. We had a very long day of giving rides there, something of a small payback for years of feeling that Pietenpols were my home in Homebuilding. We went from sun up to sunset, maybe 25 flights, easier with a ground crew of friends and an electric start plane.

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Having flown up from Florida the day before, we were zapped by the time the sun was sinking. I very nice quiet woman walked over to me while Arnold was flying the last person and asked that her husband might have a flight. She understood that we were tired, but her husband would never ask, so she was doing this for him, he had been building for many years, but had never flown in a Piet. I was just about to apologize and say maybe next year, when she added the sentence “My husband Ralph and I drove over from Eau Claire.” I politely said “Mrs. Carlson, it would be a pleasure.” She was some what mystified on how I knew her last name……..

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After the flight I was compelled to confess to Ralph Carlson that he had the first conversion manual I ever sent out. Several times he insisted he didn’t, saying “it’s number 110 or 111” I told him there was a very good reason why I knew it was #101, and yes, it was really #1. I try to explain that in the intervening years I have worked hard to try to be the person he thought he was sending the letter to. He is a super nice guy and he doesn’t really get this. He just had a great moment in flying, and was totally motivated to go home and build for another year. He said he thought about asking someone for a flight over the years, but didn’t think he had ‘earned’ one, that he was ‘just another builder.’ I told him contrary to what anyone might guess, I completely understood that feeling.

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Over the years Grace and I got to know the Carlsons, both Ralph and June, much better. We were part of the regulars at the Sutherland’s B&B in Brodhead. They were the absolute genuine article, salt of the earth Americans. They sent Christmas cards and notes, and June used to call sometimes. Over many years her health failed slowly, and we got to see that Ralph understood that when you say “in sickness or in health” in front of God, good people live up to it. He did, with great patience and care.

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June past several years ago, and we don’t see Ralph at Brodhead every year anymore, but in the quiet late hours in the shop, I still think about them from time to time, and how their lives crossed with ours. At Corvair Colleges I take the pilots aside and encourage them to share flights with those still building. I give them good reasons like how it gives builders a seat of the pants understanding of correct operation and running, teaches procedures and methods. Logical reasons, sure, but they are just a rationalization, what I really want to say is that many of the best parts of life are small chance encounters and what you do with them. I want to say that my life is richer for having known June Carlson, and it all happened because one small flight at Brodhead. Think it over, you have the rest of your life to live with the answer. -ww.”

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Builders,

This is an important notice for Builders signed up for Corvair College #33, April 17-19. The event was planned for EAA 534 hangar at Leesburg airport, same location were CC#25 and CC#29 were held. With 19 days to go, the EAA chapter sent me an Email, backing out of the event. While this may sound like an issue, it isn’t because the ownership and management of Mid Florida Airport at Eustis, a privately owned, open to the public airport, immediately welcomed the opportunity to host CC#33. I have met them in person, toured the site in detail, and we have all the arrangements made for the college to move forward smoothly in a very supportive setting.

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Above, Grace’s Caddy sits at the main entrance to Mid Florida Airport at Eustis, Although this airport is just 14 miles from Leesburg, it is a world away in setting. Leesburg is county airport, and has all the excessive security layers, the chain link fence, swipe cards, barbed wire and automatic gates that are required at most airports run on Federal money. Additionally, Leesburg has a tower, and all the required radio protocol  I understand why some airports have to be that way, but for a College, and anything I do in aviation, I much prefer the traditional simple welcoming of a simple grass strip in a friendly setting. This is exactly what our new location, Mid Florida Airport at Eustis, is all about. This late change in location is turning out to be a blessing, where we have found the location and local hosts that best suit the mission of the college: Learning in a friendly comfortable setting.

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Above is a look down the runway at Mid Florida Airport at Eustis.  (For all our northern friends, that green stuff is called grass, and it happens spontaneously when something called sunshine strikes the earth at temperatures where H2O is no longer a solid.) Seriously, this place is a green paradise in comparison to almost any county airport. 18/36 is the turf runway, and it is in excellent condition. The owner and manager gave me a full tour of the airport, and pointed out several hangars we were welcome to use, their shady 6 acre green camping area complete with adjoining lake, and support items like a large dining tent, golf carts, and rest rooms.

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As much as I like the airport setting, the people there were the real attraction, even people just walking by stopped to say hello and introduce themselves. I ended up spending two hours with the airport manager Rex Wyatt, a real old school aviator. The airport owner shares Rex’s extensive background, but Rex is modest and down plays this. But in the course of conversation it is revealed he flew F-84F’s, Helicopters out of Pleiku, has done a lot of teaching, and is still an active corporate pilot of complex jets like Hawkers. He is also a grass roots guy with an extensive collection of US classic light planes, and he is a long time EAA member, flying to every Oshkosh between 1970-83. Rex proudly told me his grandchild was about to start at Embry-Riddle, another generation of aviators from his family.  While to seems that the sole requirement to be an airport manager at most municipal airports is having some sort of business degree and perhaps having flown on an airliner once,  Rex offers the polar opposite, the judgment and knowledge that comes with a lifetime of personal experience in the arena of aviation. CC#33 was the original topic, but I later realized that the whole afternoon was time very well spent. -ww.

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Please remember that Corvair College #33 is an Event that requires pre-registration. The event is planned in detail, and fully catered, and to attend, signing up is required. The link: Corvair College #33 sign up closes Sunday 3/29, 9pm EST.

The Airport ‘s identifier is X-55. It is located just off Route 44 in Eustis, FL 32736 It can be seen on Google maps at this link:

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https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mid+Florida+Air+Service+Airport/@28.844731,-81.6324075,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88e7a3b74e67a3cb:0x211c8fc6d9e9df7f

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Sorry! The dead line to sign up for #33 has now past. Our next college will be in Mexico MO, in September. We will have notice on this site when the sign up goes active. -ww.

The sign up for Corvair College #33 closes this Sunday night. If you were putting off signing up, don’t wait longer. for more information, read this link:

Corvair College #33 sign up now open:

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Sign up is required to attend the College. The Learning, assistance, specialty tooling and my time are free as always, but there is an $89 fee that goes directly and 100% into providing all the food for the three days and the facility. For a direct link to the sign up page:

https://cc33.wufoo.com/forms/cc33-registration/

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Above, Tom Cummings of LA, on the left, stands with me in front of my Pietenpol at Corvair College #1. The event was in May of 2000. Tom was the very first guy to show up at the very first College.

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