William Wynne

Corvair College #12 Above, the 25th Corvair powered 601 to fly was built by our friend Lynn Dingfelder from Corry, Penn. Lynn's plane features an engine he crafted himself utilizing our Conversion parts. The engine was cowled and installed using virtually every component available from our Catalog. Lynn is a very friendly guy who has been to our hangar as well as a number of airshows. We look forward to seeing him fly into many of the same events at 2009. Hats off to Lynn Dingfelder for proving yet again that persistence pays. Friends, Our 12th major Corvair College, an event not to be missed, is only two weeks away. Corvair College #12 is a free event with no reservations required that we will be holding at Gilbert, S.C., (just west of Columbia). The host is our good friend and noted aircraft builder and designer Ed Fisher. The event will be Friday through Sunday Nov. 7-9 at Ed's home airport, White Plains Plantation, SC99, 361 Whiteplains Place, Gilbert, S.C., 29054. For the past five years, we've held a major Corvair College on Veteran's Day weekend. It's proven to be an excellent calendar date because of the 3-day weekend and combination of cooler weather and relaxing respite before the holiday season starts. We've been planning an event at Ed's for a while, and he's done a lot of prep work for it. This centralized East Coast location is 400 miles closer to Northern builders than our previous Edgewater location. SC99 has a 3,000' paved runway. Ed and his wife Val live in this very nice residential airpark that is an excellent setting for a College. I've spoken with a number of the best known Corvair pilots who are planning on flying in. Mark Langford will be flying his KR-2 from Alabama, and Joe Horton will fly his from Pennsylvania. Dan Weseman will be flying the Wicked Cleanex up from Florida. We're looking forward to some of the 601 and Pietenpol guys flying in also. Examples of all three fifh bearing designs and their designers will be on hand. Roy of Roy's Garage plans to make the trip down from Michigan with an example of his design. One of the highlights of the College will be seeing Ed's Sport Fleet project, now up on its gear. We'll also have the 1/3 Corvair powered Skylite on display. I'll be driving up from Florida with a large collection of parts. The action will start mid-day on Friday. A number of the pilots are planning to fly in Friday. We'll use the time for getting set up and socializing. I encourage builders with cores, partial projects and done engines to bring them for inspection. Ed reminds everybody to bring lawn chairs. We'll have a cookout or pizza party at sundown Friday and kick back a few hours before the event revs into high gear on Saturday. The 8th will be a full day starting at 9 a.m. and running into the night. Like most recent Colleges, we have preselected one engine to be the featured assembly. Anthony Hanson, a 601 builder and U.S. Army helicopter pilot, volunteered his engine for assembly at the College. It will feature a fifth bearing and Falcon heads, along with all of our Gold Systems. I highly encourage builders to bring digital cameras, video recorders and notebooks. You can learn all about engine assembly from me in person. In addition to this demonstration, I'll personally inspect any and every engine part brought to the College, and work on builders' subassemblies as time permits. Concurrently with the build, we'll have flight demonstrations and builders sharing details of their installations and flight experience. Of course, there will be the camaraderie and friendship that have been the hallmark of every Corvair College to date. Ed has a special dinner planned Saturday evening, and we generally put down the wrenches at sundown to enjoy the social side of the College. Sunday we'll start at 9 a.m. for a half day. Again, I'll be glad to work with builders as time permits, and we'll be glad to tailor the focus of the day to any aspect of the Corvair movement that the builders present would like to cover. Ed says that Google maps will lead you right to the airpark, where signs will lead the way to the event. Gilbert is the nearest town, but Lexington, 7 miles east, has a number of hotels at inexpensive rates. The major city of Columbia is only 20 miles away. For people needing more details, call Ed directly at (330) 518-8383. The College is open to any Corvair engine builder or anyone interested in Corvairs. Reservations are not required, just a positive attitude. Any of the hundreds of people who have attended a past College can give a testimonial that they've been great events. In past years, a few people have showed up at Colleges so that they can learn how we build Corvair motors, go home, set up a Web site, and try to 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. As we are guests of Ed and Val Fisher at this private residential airpark, I know that all guests will be on their best behavior and respect the neighborhood setting of the event. When I spoke to Ed this evening to firm up details for the event, Ed mentioned that it was a very special day for him and Val as their son Travis was returning home today from five years of service in the U.S. Air Force that included two tours in Iraq. It was certainly a proud and happy day at the Fisher residence and set a very positive tone for the last two weeks of prep work before the College. I thank in advance all our friends who will make contributions large and small toward another great event. We'll see you there. Jay Bannister of Texas created this aircraft, a 601 XL nicknamed Lil Bruiser. It is powered by one of our Gold Series production engines. It is the 26th Corvair powered 601 to fly. Hats off to Jay Bannister, creator of the newest Corvair powered aircraft. West Coast Pre-School Saturday, Nov. 15 Corvair College #13 Jan. 16-18, 2009 601 builder and pilot and Kit Planes writer Rick Lindstrom is the owner and opertor of FLAG, First Light Aviation Group. This is a new facility just across the street from the Livermore, Calif., airport in the San Francisco Bay Area. The facility, 312 Stealth Court, Livermore, CA 94551, is home to Rick's aviation media work. It is also a builder assist center, pilot shop, and soon to be a common meeting point of Corvair builders on the West Coast. Rick's FLAG facility combines all these in an atmosphere of camaraderie and fun. As such we've selected it as the site of the West Coast Pre-School and Corvair College #13. Here's the scoop: On Saturday, Nov. 15, Rick will hold an Open House at FLAG. On hand will be 601 builder/pilot Woody Harris, our man on the West Coast. These two, with the assistance of several West Coast College veterans, will host an all-day event. The purpose is two-fold: Rick wants to introduce area builders to his shop, and, we want to get 10 builders to bring in their core cranks in order to receive the full treatment on them for installation readiness during Corvair College #13 at FLAG in January. Woody is the contact point for crankshaft questions and work for the Pre-School group; his phone number is (707) 448-3385. The crankshaft work will be handled by Mike at Ashland Grinding near FLAG. Mike's done several crankshafts for us and they are absolutely first class work. Mike plans to be on hand at the Pre-School to meet with builders. In the interim period, builders will clean their cases and acquire bearings and a cam/gear combination. At Corvair College #13 in January, I plan to assemble these 10 cases for builders. Local 601 builder Rich Vetterli volunteered to bring his complete fuselage with running engine installed to the Pre-School. FLAG is set up with four fuselage-size work bays fully equipped to function as a productive home away from home for Bay Area builders. Builders interested in this option should contact Rick Lindstrom directly at tigerrick@mindspring.com. Rick's plans for Nov. 15th include having a large selection of our catalog parts on hand for inspection and/or purchase; displaying a Dan Weseman Fifth Bearing Assembly; sharing the highlights and insights of his two years flying behind his own award-winning Corvair powered 601; a core engine disassembly demonstration by Woody Harris; plus a look at the components of the turbo system for 601s we have in the works. Rick will host a cookout that evening capped off with a performance by his rock and blues band. For more details, e-mail Rick at tigerrick@mindspring.com, call him at (925) 443-9999 or check his Web site at http://www.flaglvk.com/ January 16, 17 and 18, 2009, will be the main event, Corvair College #13, at FLAG. We're working together to pull out all the stops and make this one of the biggest Colleges ever. The event theme is "East Meets West." We've invited a lot of the better known Corvair luminaries who are most frequently seen on the East Coast out west for Corvair College #13. I've spoken with Dan Weseman, Mark from Falcon, and Roy of Roy's Garage about attending the College. It will be a high technology summit meeting within our continued format of economic craftsmanship brought to bear on the most affordable engine in the marketplace. We'll have much more information on Corvair College #13 as it approaches but we wanted to give builders a chance to get it on their calendars now. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at this event. Now At The Hangar June 2011 At The Hangar May 2011 At The Hangar April 2011 At The Hangar March 2011 At The Hangar January 2011 At The Hangar December 2010 At The Hangar November 2010 At The Hangar October 2010 At The Hangar August 2010 At The Hangar July 2010 At The Hangar May 2010 At The Hangar April 2010 At The Hangar January 2010 At The Hangar December 2009 At The Hangar November 2009 At The Hangar October 2009 At The Hangar September 2009 At The Hangar August 2009 At The Hangar July 2009 At The Hangar June 2009 At The Hangar May 2009 At The Hangar April 2009 At The Hangar March 2009 At The Hangar January 2009 At The Hangar December 2008 At The Hangar September 2008 At The Hangar August 2008 At The Hangar July 2008 At The Hangar June 2008 At The Hangar May 2008 At The Hangar April 2008 At The Hangar March 2008 At The Hangar February 2008 At The Hangar January 2008 At The Hangar Christmas 2007 At The Hangar November 2007 At The Hangar October 2007 At The Hangar September 2007 At The Hangar August 2007 At The Hangar July 2007 At The Hangar June 2007 At The Hangar April 2007 At The Hangar March 2007 At The Hangar February 2007 At The Hangar January 2007 At The Hangar December 2006 At The Hangar Part 1 December 2006 At The Hangar Part 2 December 2006 At The Hangar Part 3 December 2006 At The Hangar Part 4 November 2006 At The Hangar October 2006 At The Hangar September 2006 At The Hangar August 2006 At The Hangar July 2006 At The Hangar June 2006 At The Hangar May 2006 At The Hangar At The Hangar In April 2006 At The Hangar In March 2006 At The Hangar In February 2006 At The Hangar In January 2006 At The Hangar In December 2005 At The Hangar In November 2005 At The Hangar In October 2005 At The Hangar In September 2005 At The Hangar In July 2005 OSH, Illinois and SAA June 13, 2005 At The Hangar June 13, 2005 Part II At The Hangar In May 2005 At The Hangar In April 2005