Buckeye Corvair College #7 June 19-20, 2004
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Barber Airport in Alliance, Ohio
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Friends,
As incentive to attend Buckeye Corvair College #7, we're presenting this brief overview of what's
now known as Corvair College #6 1/2, which went into the history books May 19-31, 2004. As you look at the photos, picture yourself in
the engine building stories. We're here to help you realize your dream of flight.
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It's all smiles at Corvair College #6.5 in May. From left, above, are Corvair/601 builders Jean and John
Kearney of Nevada and mechanic Kevin "The Mangler" Fahy. The Kearneys arrived at our hangar in Florida with
their parts in tow Wednesday, May 19, 2004. Frequent visitors to www.flycorvair.com might remember that our
first flight on the Zenvair 601 was May 12, 2004.
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They left Tuesday, May 25, after a successful hour of test running their engine Monday night. You can see the
test run and celebration in the photos and video above. Visit
QuickTime to download the movie player.
"We drove 5 days and more than 3,000 miles to William's facility to build up and run my
engine. Then 5 days back," said John, at left in photo above. Next to him are his wife, Jean Kearney, Steve Upson,
Grace Ellen and Kevin Fahy. "Mine ran on Sunday evening 5/23/04 in the afternoon and I would challenge
Phil on who has the sweetest sounding engine. [You'll read about Phil when you scroll down.]"
"William's team - Grace, Kevin, Steve and Gus not to mention William himself - went way out of their
way to help us complete the assembly. Outstanding help and support guys. Jean now believes that we may
get flying one day in the next year."
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That Thursday, May 20, I was the guest speaker at our local EAA Chapter 288
meeting at Spruce Creek, our former airport. (We also gave an update at the April meeting, which you can see at the Chapter 288 April Meeting Page.) Gus flew in our 601, below, and Chapter members were excited, enthusiastic and somewhat
amazed at the beautiful bird we put together in four months. In the photo above, I'm accepting an award
commemorating the succesful completion and first flight of our airplane, on behalf of "The Corvair Cartel," as
read off the plaque by Chapter President Keith Phillips, on the right.
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Back at our hangar, Friday, May 21, eight Corvair/Pietenpol builders also arrived to
learn how to convert a flight engine, below.
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And they left with a longblock Sunday, May 23, which you can see they're very proud of in the photo below.
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They were followed by 601/Corvair builder Phil Maxson, who arrived from New Jersey with a truckload of
Corvair parts Monday, May 24. He left with a test run engine, which you can see running in the photo below. A&P extraordinaire
Steve Upson is at the controls of the test stand, with Phil as backup.
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Phil wrote this to his fellow homebuilders:
"I have just returned from William Wynne’s Hangar in Florida and I have to
say, it was the BEST experience and learning that I have had during the
homebuilding of my Zenair 601XL. William, Grace Ellen, Kevin, Steve, Dave and Gus
are some of the nicest people you will ever meet anywhere, especially in the
world of aviation egos. These are first-class people; I am proud to have
met them and look forward to seeing them again soon."
"This is a team of experts that has been doing Corvair conversions for many,
many years together. William has been doing this for more than 12 years and the
group has been a team for about 6 or more. Any problem that came up they
were able to handle it in a matter of minutes! They worked VERY HARD over
several days and the short story is: MY ENGINE IS RUNNING! The test run
took place on Thursday night – and I’m still in shock. No engine ever
sounded so good. I did not think so much could be accomplished in so little
time."
"If you are interested in an engine in the 100 horsepower range I would give
you this advice:
1. Contact William by phone or e-mail.
2. Buy his Conversion Manual and read it. It is the cheapest good advice
you will ever get.
3. Do what it says. Even if you think he’s getting on a soap box – do what
the Manual says. Who else has done this much research on Corvair engines
and who else has done this much flight testing?
4. Go visit his hangar in Florida. I drove 17 hours from New Jersey to
Edgewater. It was worth the time off from work, the expense and the drive
time."
"This experience has given my project a tremendous boost forward. Many, many
thanks to William and team. Well done."
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Above is Grace Ellen, opening a congratulatory bottle of champagne for Phil and the crew.
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Another collection of parts leaves our shop as a running motor, above. From left are proud engine builders
Phil Maxson, myself, and Kevin Fahy. We also extended our congratulations to
That's three Corvair engine conversions that got their first test run or first flight in May right there.
As a grand finale, Corvair/Sonex builder Dan Weseman arrived at the shop to put together his engine.
He left Memorial Day, May 31.
Dan wrote this to his fellow builders:
"This weekend I went down to WW's hangar and built my engine. I called on short notice, and even though
they had been building engines for almost two weeks continuously, they said come on down. First I want to thank
William, Grace, Kevin, Steve, Dave and Gus."
"I had just planned to get a good start on it and finish it up at home, but everything went so well that
I stayed and finished it. William and Steve did the Low Profile Intake Mod, while Kevin and I worked on the
bottom end. Even though we worked well past our bedtimes, when little problems came they
keep a "do it right" attitude and worked through it. Kevin stayed up all night Saturday, canceled a hot date,
insisted we finish the engine. William isn't the only person with a lot to offer and I will gladly work with
any of them."
"It looks really great and I still can't believe we finished it in two days. It was hard work but we had a
great time," Dan said. "I almost beat William's record for donut eating. I ate 10 in 8 hours. I think he said he ate 11?
Maybe next time!!! And I'm very sure Kevin and I broke the worlds' record for saying "dude" the most time in
30 hours."
"I also got a chance to watch the Zenvair fly!!! It sounds great and I cant believe how well it performed.
It seemed to fly with authority and climbed really well. All I can say to the 601 guys is build fast,
you're gonna love it."
"Thank you all very much. Thanks again William, Kevin, Steve, Dave, Gus And Grace," Dan said. "I'M A LOT CLOSER to flying and hope I can help them someday."
This weekend, June 11-13, 2004, we'll be at Frasca Field in Urbana, Illinois, for Paul Poberezny's
SAA Fly In. I'll be giving a forum on Corvairs 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
Saturday. We always look forward to seeing lots of old friends and old airplanes at this event, and we're
proud to have participated every year so far.
So, we're primed to build engines, and we're on a roll. We're looking forward to seeing many of you
at Corvair College #7 in Alliance, Ohio. Read on for CC#7 specs.
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When Is It:
June 19 and 20, 2004
Where Is It:
Barber Airport (2D1 on the Detroit sectional), Grass Field, 13820 Union Ave. NE, Alliance, Ohio. Barber Airport in Alliance is the home of EAA Chapter 82, as well as the site of the annual Taylorcraft Fly-in each July. Owner Forrest Barber is the Chapter 82 Tech Counselor, as well as an A&P and former Taylorcraft test pilot. The event will be held in the Chapter’s newly renovated clubhouse and workshop.
If the rain continues, pilots are advised to use paved runway two miles away at Miller Airport, Alliance, Ohio.
What Does It Cost:
It is free, although the Chapter respectfully requests that you consider making a donation to offset its nominal costs,
and the expenses of myself and my crew, for putting on this event. Event host Kip Gardner is the point man on
this aspect of the event.
Where Do I Stay:
There's plenty of space for primitive on-airport camping at no cost to those attending
Corvair College. Bathrooms are available and there is one shower. If you plan on spending the night, don't forget to bring your own tiedowns.
For those looking for somewhat more civilized accommodations, there are several nearby motels from which to choose
within a ten minute drive of the airport. For motel information and reservations, visit
Yahoo! Hotels and Motels.
Those wishing to rent an automobile for the weekend can contact Lavery Chevrolet in Alliance. Arrangements
can be made to drop off your rental car at the airport.
What Do I Bring:
Bring all the parts you'd like inspected or potentially worked on. A folding workbench can be helpful; definitely bring your own hand tools if you are working on an engine. Most importantly bring a good attitude. You'll meet lots of new friends here, and you'll go home with more enthusiasm for your project than you dreamed possible.
We will have examples of virtually every part that we sell. However, since this is a road trip, we won’t
be bringing the full inventory with us. If there’s a part you need to assemble your engine, it’s best to order
it from us in advance. This holds especially true with motor mounts and cowlings, which can save you all the
S&H by picking them up in person at the College.
Who Is Invited:
Anyone who has an interest in building and flying their own Corvair engine. Bring a friend or two if you like. We'll make
converts out of them also. This is not a male only event, and a number of female aviators and builders will be here. Events
tend to be social gatherings also, and if your better half is reluctant to come because she doesn't want to sit in the hangar
and talk about airplanes all day, assure her that we'll be talking about airplanes probably 50 percent of the time. The other half,
we'll be talking about airplane engines.
Special Note About Invitations:
Every now and then, we get someone who is interested in attending so that they can learn how we build Corvair motors, go home and try and build them for others for profit. These are the only people who are not welcome at my events. The focal point of our work has always been to directly help people who will be building their own engines. This event belongs to you, the person who will be flying your own plane, built with your own hands.
For more information about Corvair College #7 or to RSVP:
Contact Kip Gardner, EAA Chapter 82 President,
at kipandbeth@earthlink.net, or telephone (330) 494-1775.
For more information about Barber Airport, visit www.barberaircraft.com.
We hope to see as many of you as possible Buckeye Corvair College #7. Have a safe journey.
Thank you.
William
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