Corvair College #9
November 11-13, 2005
From left above, Brent Brown of Linden, N.C., Christoph Steiner of Switzerland, test pilot Gus Warren and myself
at Brent's engine, which will power his tractor gyro. This photo was taken on Monday. Brent is a good friend of ours, and
he graciously put other people's progress ahead of his own at the College. In light of this, we devoted most of Monday
toward setting up his engine and building an intake manifold for it. At the end of the day, it ran like a banshee.
Christoph pitched in, making the ignition harness. Kevin had shown him how to do this the day before.
I noted how skilled he is with hand tools. Obviously, this is connected to his dentistry practice in Switzerland.
Above is Brent's engine at power on the dyno. We're setting the ignition timing, and listening to the valve adjustment.
It ran for just under an hour. After shut down, we put a fan on it to cool it enough to unbolt it, and shortly after,
Brent began his 500 mile drive home. It was after sundown and he had to be at work at 6 a.m.
Another view of the main table, above. In the white shirt beside me is Hugh Crosthwait of Toronto, Canada. Hugh
is Lincoln Probst's father-in-law. They worked as a team during the weekend, and came away with a fully assembled
longblock for Lincoln's 601.
Mike McCarty of Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., left, and Jim Waters Sr. or Newtown Square, Penn. Mike is building
a Pietenpol, and is shortly moving to central Texas. Jim drove down for the College, and proved to be one of the
most entertaining guests in memory. He worked tirelessly to help others during the event, and his sense of humor
brought out a lot of smiles. On his own initiative, he brought a mountain of hoagies all the way from Philadelphia, where
they know how to make such things, and which we all enjoyed at the Saturday night cookout. To thank him for his spirit,
the Hangar Gang made sure that Gus took him out for an hour flight in the 601 on Monday.
Brent Brown, left, and Larry Koutz, Georgia, right, listen and learn as I instruct Mike McCarty's son in the fine
art of welding. Mike's son, who is 14, had surprising dexterity and was able to weld a tube cluster with half an hour's
instruction. The McCarty's were one of six father-son teams at the College.
Above, I'm standing on a milk crate to get a better view of the valve geometry in Gary Collins' engine. The engine
had 88mm VW pistons and cylinders, and thus required careful inspection of the geometry, which is not an issue on
engines built with Corvair cylinders. Kevin has handcrafted a number of checking tools that allow us to hit valve
geometry spot on during the building of an engine. Checking the geometry on a fully assembled engine as an afterfunction
is more difficult and requires some interpretation. Gary's turned out to be fine.
From left above, a Veteran's Day portrait of Bob Cooper of Florida, Brent Brown of N.C., and Capt. William Wynne Sr. of New Jersey. Not all conversations
at the College are about Corvair engines. In talking with Bob, my father learned that he was a 1961 veteran of Operation
White Star in Laos. Little known outside military circles, White Star is considered the prototype of all unconventional
U.S. warfare. The Kennedy administration sent the cream of the crop of America's most elite warriors there to meet the
Pathet Lao communists on their own terms. When my family lived in Thailand 10 years later, my father did extensive work to
support the royalist democratic government in Laos. He and Bob had traveled to many of the same places inside Laos. Our
friend Brent, who spent most of his 22 1/2 year military career in Special Forces, is probably one of the few people of
my age group who have an understanding of the significance of Bob's actions in White Star.
We wanted to have a number of Corvair automobiles on hand so we could have the College be a complete immersion in
Corvairs. On the left is Embry-Riddle student Doug Holland's 1966 Corsa Coupe with factory air (one of 300 made).
Kevin built an 88mm engine for it last year. Beside it is Earl Anderson's 1967 factory a/c Monza. Earl is a local
resident who was a B-17 pilot in WWII. He was highlighted on a recent PBS Veteran's Day program, telling of his
escape to neutral Spain after being shot down. Beside it is my '66 Corsa convertible and Grace's 1965 Greenbrier.
Late Saturday afternoon, members of the Central Florida Corvair Club arrived. The coupe in the foreground is a
mid-engine V-6 powered car. Behind it is an early convertible, and on the right is the club autocross car painted in
the club colors. Club members were amazed at the level of activity and energy in the hangar.
Standing with me above is my friend Sarah Jones. She is the president of The Corvair Society of America. I've known
Sarah for more than 10 years. I was close friends with her late husband, Kurt Jones. Sarah has followed our
work with flying Corvairs and understood the positive symbiotic relationship of the cars and airplanes. Having her
present at the College goes a long way toward making local Corsa chapters understand that airplane builders are a
rich source of energetic club members. Additionally, the massive consumption of newly manufactured Corvair engine parts
by aircraft builders keeps manufacturers interested in developing and making new products, like the Sealed Power forged
pistons, available to all Corvair owners.
Grace Ellen and Cary Howard of Georgia man the grill on Saturday night for the cookout. In the foreground is our parts tumbler,
manufactured from a propane tank. It is filled with ceramic pellets, and is the best way to clean items like rocker
arms and guideplates. People who studied it closely noted that all the bearings, belts, pulleys, etc. in the drive
system were salvaged from Corvairs. There was a saying 100 years ago in Chicago stockyards that after the work was done,
the only thing left over from the hog was the squeal. At the hangar, when we devour a hopeless rust bucket for its core
motor, we often say the only thing left over is the oil stain on the floor.
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