Current Adventures

It was Tuesday, May 22, about 11:00 am when I left out of Valdosta, Georgia (KVLD) for the great northern tour. I took off on runway 17 and headed north, climbing to 6500’ , destination: LaGrange, GA (KLGC). It was to be a short flight, only 161.9 nm and smooth weather. It was a little hazy due to the fires in Florida causing smoke to cover most of the southeastern US. I settled in for my hour long trip and by the time I had made it through a few songs on the MP3, it was time to let down. I was to stop and inspect a Peitenpol/Corvair project belonging to Gardiner Mason. He was there at the FBO waiting for me and I taxied down to his hangar. Gardiner is a good guy - like most of the aviation people I meet. After a quick lunch we went to work. His Peitenpol was uncovered (“no fabric” for those in Rio Linda) so inspecting his workmanship was easy. We discussed his fuel tanks, cowl fabrication, engine installation and many other items that he wanted me to give and opinion on. I suppose I spent about three hours before I needed to head on my way.

“Experimental N41768, departing LaGrange, Northbound.” Back in the saddle again, I laid out my WACs and figured that I had enough fuel for the rest of my journey that day, and the fuel computer agreed. Weather was good and there weren’t any TFRs so on came the music. 403nm to Casey , Illinois (1H8) the ground zipping by at 170 knots, or 182 mph. Boy, was that tailwind nice! It was only a couple hours before I was on the ground again. Cleone Markwell was there to meet me. I unpacked and we headed to his house for dinner and then back to the hanger. Tonight’s project was finishing the Corvair installation on Cleone’s Zenith 601HD. There were a few issues left to work out. “Debugging” as they call it. He hadn’t flown in a couple years and this was a new engine installation so we wanted everything to work properly. I worked on making blast tubes for carburetor cooling and checking some new electrical wiring. The following morning I started on performing an annual inspection and test running the engine. By evening I had it mostly complete and was able to do a short test flight in the airplane. It flew great but on the ground we were still having trouble with idle mixture. I reset the carb and on Friday morning Cleone and I flew the airplane around for a while. Everything seemed to check out fine.

N41768 was now all fueled up and climbing out of 1H8 and I headed for Fargo, ND (KFAR) 598 nm away but weather was to be an obstacle. A long line of thunderstorms were stationary north-south over the center of Illinois. It took an hour of picking my way under and around but I finally made it through the soup. I made a fuel stop at a little strip at Independence, IO, to fuel up and get a snack, and then proceeded at 8500’ to Fargo. Again, the wind gods were on my side because the tailwind was still there.

Once into Iowa I saw the flat farmlands sprawling below me as a multicolored quilt. As I flew farther north more and more lakes spotted the landscape. The once warm air in the cabin took on a slight chill. Fargo soon loomed in the windscreen. I had made it to the great unfrozen north. John Kearney was there at the FBO to pick me up after I got the airplane put away. We went over to his hanger where the first “Unfrozen North Corvair High” was to take place. John had come up with the fabulous idea of having a Corvair get-together of people that were already committed to a Corvair engine build. People from all around the northern US and Canada were bringing their engine cores and parts to learn and meet more experienced Corvair builders. He had everything planned out for tomorrow’s activities. Saturday began with cold weather and rain but high spirits. Twelve people were on hand for the learning to come. John made a PowerPoint presentation at the FBO and we spent a lot of time answering questions and learning about the builders. Then it was time to get dirty. At the hangar we helped answer more questions and helped tear down Corvair engines. Everybody had a good time that day despite the cold wind and rain. (I about froze though - Georgia boy) John’s wife prepared a nice barbeque lunch for us which dampened some of the cold. After the successful day’s work many of us retired to John’s house for some hanger flying till late that night. In the morning after a Perkin’s breakfast, we were at the hangar again. I brought out N41768 for a couple flyby’s and then removed the cowl to let the guy’s see a Corvair engine installation first-hand. We wrapped up shop about lunch time, so I took N41768 to the FBO for fuel and check one of brakes that was soggy. I congratulated John on what appeared to be a grad-slam success on his first Corvair High and prepped for the next leg of my journey.

Around two o’clock I was finally ready to get in the air. My next stop on my journey was to be Pittsburg, Kansas (KPTS) 576 nm away . I arrived there about 6pm where I met Paul Russell. He had just purchased a KR2 that belonged to a friend of mine, Steve Glover. N902G is a stock KR2 with a 2180 VW engine in it. Paul had just installed a speed brake unit and wanted me to test fly the airplane and then give him a check ride. We spent most of the day on Monday flying and repairing a couple minor problems, but when I left I felt he was ready to be on his own.

My next stop was one that I truly was looking forward to. My mom and dad had just recently purchased a new home in Mountain View, Mo (KMNF) and had finally moved in and this would be my first visit with them there. Only 147 nm from Pittsburg took a just over an hour due to skirting some weather but I soon had the airport in view. “I wonder if I can find their house?”, I thought as I approached, so after a couple minutes of searching I located their 36 acres a few miles outside of town. I did a couple passes over the house at 200’ AGL to wake them up. A minute later I saw my dad waving to me as he got in the car. I turned east and headed for the airport. After landing I located my dad’s hanger and slid N41768 under the wing of my dad’s Cessna 180. I was home! (Well, my folks place is just as comfy) I heard my dad’s 1984 Diesel Rabbit come around the corner and mom and dad hopped out a gave me a hug. It had been a while. I needed the rest.

Of course, no rest for the weary. The following day, the 29^th, I had to make a quick hop over to Boone Co. AR (KHRO), 82 nm, to inspect a Zenith 601XL project belonging to Robin Bellach. This flight was fun because my dad flew with me. He hadn’t flown a KR for many years, not since he last flew his KR2, N2CC. Robin’s project is about 50% complete - maybe more. He had both wings about finished and fuselage nearing completion as well. He wanted another eye to check his quality and answer questions. I believe that he will have a beautiful airplane when finished. We had lunch and discussed some system installations and procedures. Dad and I returned home and put the airplane away - with a flat tire! It looked like I had some maintenance to perform as well. We took the tire off the plane, loaded up in the Rabbit, and headed for the house.

Wednesday would be my day off to spend with my folks. It was truly an enjoyable day and rewarding to have that down time with them. It is such a blessing to have good Godly parents.

Thursday morning was spent getting the repaired tire back on, saying good bye and leaving for Illinois again. With happy thoughts about the time well spent with the folks I settled back in for another trip to Casey, Illinois, 223 nm away. Cleone had called and said that the engine needed more work so I said I’d stop by on the way back to Georgia. After spending another day on the airplane we discovered what we thought to be a temperature/carburetor problem in starting was really a problem of battery and insufficient wire size for carrying ignition voltage. So finally on Friday afternoon I headed the spinner on N41768 back south toward the smoke of Georgia…..only to be stopped again.

Weather. Get used to it. Don’t be in a hurry. Stop and smell the roses. Make new friends. The scenic route. Whatever you want to call it, I had to stop in Winchester, TN, (WBGF) only 295 nm south of Casey because I couldn’t tell the difference between the grey haze and thunderstorms and I was starting to fly into them. But the airport had lots of nice folks and gave me the courtesy car and I found a motel to stay at. They even had a pancake breakfast on Saturday morning and lots of airplanes flew in. I took the cowling off the KR and talked to a lot of people about the Corvair conversion. I’d have to remember this strip for the next trip north because of the nice folks and cheap fuel. Around noon I decided to chance a flight farther south but knew that I would not make it all the way to Valdosta. A tropical storm was in that area and weather was terrible so I headed for Aubourn, AL (KAUO) 200 nm away to meet my good friend and fellow KR2S/Corvair builder, Steve Philabaum. He picked me up from the FBO and we went to his house. Ginger, Steve’s wife, was as pleasant as always and made us a burger supper. Steve and I discussed flying and building of course. He is learning how to build an inexpensive KR like I did. I looked over his progress and encouraged him to keep at it a little bit each day. Hopefully he will be flying to the Gathering next year. The weather to Valdosta looked like it was going to be clear in the morning so I got to bed early.

6:00 am Sunday morning brought sunlight and a clear route to Valdosta. Steve waved goodbye as I climbed out of Aubourn for home. The wind gods were here again! At 8000’ I was clocking 200 mph on 5.5 gal/hr. Forty-five minutes and 165 nm later I was letting down at KVLD. I squeaked the landing, taxied up to the hangar, and put the airplane away. I was finally really home! It was 13 days and over 3000 miles since I had left. I started up the dependable old VW van, picked up Elaine and we headed for church, thankful for all the new friends, safe flying and all that was accomplished. “Oh, thanks for the rain as well, Lord…….”

Post trip thoughts:

This northern tour was really a test of an idea that William Wynne and some friends of mine have given me. As an A&P, CFI and Corvair pilot they felt that I could fill a need that is developing in the experimental market. There are many people that are building airplanes that just need someone to check on their progress and give them encouragement. Others need a good thorough inspection prior to a first flight or an annual inspection to keep them flying. There are pilots that have purchased a project or finished airplane and just need a couple hours of dual to insure that they are safe as a pilot and are adapting well to their plane. Some are just beginning to learn how to build their own engines and want to learn more at one of the seminars or “Corvair Highs” that are around the USA. In the near future there will be many builders who will have finished airplanes sitting in hangars ready to take to the air. Some will want to have me test fly their planes and then help them with their test period and transition. Having my LSA instructor ticket in the future will be a benefit to many as well. I anticipate being of use to all these people in helping them into the air safely. N41768 performed great the whole trip, other than a flat tire, and increased my confidence in the Corvair engine as a smart auto/aircraft engine conversion. I hope that there will be many more trips to come.

There will be an upcoming trip to the west (Mississippi, Texas, Colorado) in a couple weeks so please keep posted to my web site and let me know if you want to be one of those included in a visit.

Bill Clapp and N41768 signing off…..