Hello to Kr-landia! It has been a very busy two months with 41768. A
little update on what Ive been doing.
Elaine (9yr daughter) and I left Valdosta GA and flew to Tulsa OK on
July 3rd to visit with my sister. Did that 840 mile leg in 5.1 hours on 26
gallons of fuel. I had a little headwind but not bad. Cool weather at
11,000'.
My dad flew his Cessna 180 down from New Richmond WI and we spent the 4th
there in Tulsa. We then flew to New Richmond WI together in formation. The
180 does about 145 mph at 70% power. I was at about 50% and 19"MAP keeping
up.
My mom took a few nice in-flight photos that I will try to post somehow.
We did that trip in about 5 hours as well.
I sent a week or so helping my dad with a Cessna 170B that was ground
looped and damaged - rebuilding everything forward from the rear door post.
Lots of riviting and making panels.
New Richmond had a small air show and my dad and I displayed our planes
on the tarmac there. A couple KR guys came by to visit. Del Magsam had his
Corvair powered Sonex there as well.
On Friday before Oshkosh Elaine and I flew to Waupaca WI to visit Pete
Broadagan and see his Corvair KR2-S. Very nice and well on his way - it is
running now. He and his wife took great care of us. The local airport had a
great cookout there and many airplanes flew in from all over for the get
together.
We then left on Saturday enroute to Broadhead for the Peitenpol fly-in
bu never landed there due to really bad weather that ha moved in so we went to
Madison WI where we had been invited to stay with Dick Hartwig (Kr wanabee)
and his wife. Dick invited us for a hanger Swing dance that EAA was
promoting. What FUN!. Elaine and I got to try our hand at dancing (not a
pretty
sight) and we listend to the sounds of Glen Miller music all night from "The
Ladies must Swing" big band. They were very good. We also got the
opportunity
to get a tour of "Fuddy Duddy" a B-17 that is on loan to EAA since
"Aluminum Overcast" is under repairs. We had opportunity to get some picture
of
N41768 under the wing of the B-17. Looks really neat! The main tires of the
B-17 are taller that the KR!
Sunday - After a peasant visit with the Hartwig family we flew to
Hartford and had a brat and soda with the likes of Mark Jones, Mark Langford,
and a
bunch of other Kr enthusiast. Joe Weber flew his KR in from Cuba City WI
and we flew to Oshkosh together from there.
Charlie Becker (EAA Homebuilt manager) got me prime real estate in the
homebuilt section. He had me parked right in front of the new Homebuilt
Headquarters and had made signs for my plane about building a low cost plane.
Some of
you may have seen an article that was done about it. My dad arrived in
Oshkosh the day before with the 180. He was a former mission aviation pilot
with
MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) and helped out at the MAF booth in Hanger
D. The 180 was his first plane he used in the mission field in Mexico in
1969 (after I turned 1) which we were able to purchase about 15 years ago and
rebuild. It has a lot of interesting misson modifications on it.
Monday -Monday - Oshkosh- was a lot of fun but I spent most of my time
talking to people about the KR - the Corvair Conversion and flying. Elaine
spent most of her time at the local YMCA and the EAA museum. I met a lot of
known faces and many new ones. Forgive me but I am sure I will forget most
names. It was nice to meet Burt Rutan and see Spaceship One and Global Flyer
and see all the cool planes.
A note about Oshkosh and KRs - WHY aren't there more KRs showing up ?
There is a need for low cost fun airplane to be displayed there. People are
VERY interested in the KR simplicity and uniqueness. I hope to see more there
next year. Very few people go and check out the RV's and Glassair anymore -
they are pricey and look all the same. People are interested is something
different. Too bad Janet Rand doesnt show up anymore but I sure hope more KR
will start going. There were a total of 4 KRs all week. Mine, Joe Weber's,
the Porgapolis Pig, and another from a couple who trailered to to Fon Du Lac
and the flew it in. A very nice KR!
Elaine got a ride back to Valdosta with Glenda McKlewee and I flew back
to New Richmond in formation with my dad on Monday after Oshkosh. More nice
photos I can show soon. I work on a King Air and a 414 for a week to make
some dough and then the following Sunday we gat a message that my grandmother
had passed away. My dad and I ended up flying people to South Dakota in the
180 for the funeral that week. I really enjoy flying with my dad. We both
have Cessna 180 time - I have about 120 hours and he has a little over 7500
hours...it was great fun.
The following week was work with my dad. We are rebuilding a Cessna
Turbo 206 and I took my paint gun with and prepped and paint the 206. I was
able to paint all the color and trim on everything but the horizontal that
week.
Perhaps in the pring Ill go back and do the interior for him while he get
the engine rebuilt.
I left New Richmond WI this past Saturday at 2:30 pm and flew to
Huntsville AL and spen the night at the Langford Manor. It was good to see
Marks
engine make it into the airframe. I really cant wait to see him at the
Gathering.
Sunday I left Huntville and flew to Massey Ranch in Edgewater FL to
William Wynne's hangar to begin the installation of the new cowling/spinner
and
such. I finished up the installation on Wednesday and flew home to Valdosta.
The New cowl and spinner are made is such a way that it allows you to use
the entire WW conversion package. That means you can build or purchase the
Corvair engine, mount, cowl, spinner, starter, baffling, exhaust, breather,
and
prop specifically designed for use on the KR2 and 2S. I still dont have
the cowl finished as far as paint and such but here are preliminary numbers -
Climb oil temp on a 98 degree day 89%humidity - after 5000' on a hot engine
(meaning that it was not first run of the day). Oil tep was 230 in the climb
and stabilized at 205 level at 7500'. Not bad at all for a very hot Florida
day! CHT was 340 in the climb and 240 level cruise. My airspeed was need
Identical to to previos cowl - maybe 3 mph faster! Once the finishwork is
done
I wll have more numbers. The last number is the fact that my plane is now
11.5 lbs LIGHTER! I will same even more weight when I finish all the
conversion. More to be said later. I hope on making the Gathering but wont
plan on
having all the conversion finished. WW is hoping to fly the 601 to the
gathering to do some KR promotion and handle questions and tech stuff for
anyone
interested. Also good time to check the 601 out - a fantastic airplane!
Well - my last weeks have been busy - put 25 hours on the plane with no
problems and covers over 3200 miles and 10 states. Most was with me, Elaine
and
100 lbs of baggage. Could not have had more fun. Fly safe Yall - see you
at the gathering Lord Willing!
Bill and 41768
