Well, here I sit at my new computer to send out a hote to all those who are
following the first of what I hope are many more successful trips to visit and
help fellow builders and pilots. As you may know I left out of Valdosta GA in
my Corvair powered KR2S for LaGrange GA (180 m) on (last) tuesday morning and
stopped in to visit Gardiner Mason and his Corvair powered Peitenpol. I
inspected a lot of his work and gave him some kind suggestions about directions
to take in a few areas and signed off his wing work.
After a couple hours there I continuted my way to Casey (1H8) IL (440
m). There I spent a couple days with Cleone Markwell and his lovely wife. We
worked on his Corvair powered 601HD, completed an annual inspection and preped
the airplane for first Corvair-powered flight. It used to have a Subaru
engine. Thursday I test flew it and found it a pleasant flying plane. Friday
I flew with Cleone and found him to be competant as a pilot with a little
brushing up. Being that there are still a couple small things to take care of
on his plane I will return to his strip before the last flight home to finish
up - but I had to be in the air!
Friday afternoon I left Casey for Fargo, ND (720 m). I ended up making
one fuel stop along the way in Independance Iowa because of weather I had to
skirt cost me an hour. I arrived in Fargo about 530pm and was met by John
Kearney. This is a great guy and his wife is better! He is highly motivated
to help fellow builders and has the right attitude about the whole concept
about the Corvair movement. I had a fabulous time meeting other Corvair
builders and learning about their projects and answering questions. I think we
have a great group of people in our movement that reflects the quality of the
idea behind the corvair.
Sunday afternoon I said goodybye to these guys and headed for Pittsburg
Kansas (700 m) where I spent a nother day woth KR pilot Paul Russell. He
recently purchased Steve Glover's KR2 but wanted some instruction and a test
flight. So after test flying the airplane and repairing a couple small items
we sent a little time in it to get Paul comfortable with the nature of the KR
beast. You should see him at the Gathering this year!
Monday afternoon I left for Mountain View Mo to spend a day with my
folks. It was a break I needed after 2200 miles of flying.
Tuesday my dad and I flew my KR to Harrison AR to meet 601XL builder
Robin Beloach and did a construction inspection and talked through some build
questions that he had. Look for a beautiful 601 flying overhead one of these
days. He has some great work!
Now I am back at my folks getting some rest and preparing for my mom's
birthday tomorrow - then its off to Illinois again before heading home..
Give you all more later.....
Fly safe and build straight! Bill Clapp
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