barney181269

Best news possible, great stuff, glad to hear you're okay.

 

 

Radio reporting fuel starvation...

 

 

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I hear the Mazda rotaries can be heavy on fuel, oil and apex seals, but also that they're about 1/3rd lighter than equivalent engines and very smooth running. Anyone heard of an aero conversion?

I've seen 200 hp aero rotary's with a psru, local and os, still thirsty though.. don't remember who was doing the conversion..

 

 

QUOTE - The cables supplied come with internal tooth washers which should prevent the nuts from loosening if they are done up tight. That is no guarantee though & I will definitely be wiring all of mine as per the bulletin plus some locktite. QUOTE

 

Internal or external tooth washers are not aviation standard hardware. This garden variety hardware belongs in the garden shed on a billy cart or lawnmower, not on an aircraft.

 

Drilled nuts and lockwire would be the preferred locking for that application.

 

 

Hi Gareth & Craig, Congrat's on your great looking Cobra 130. Been following since the pick-up from Taree, great job.

 

 

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Hey Russell, Did you have a look at the corvair engine?

Unfortunately, after playing phone tag on Tuesday evening, when I called on Wednesday the engine had already been sold and was destined for Goulburn. So the State-side search will resume at first-light. Thanks for all your assistance. Cheers, Russell

 

 

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A lot of these engines have been sitting out in the weather at Wreckers Yards. I've seen blogs of them being "restored' and some look a bit sick at the beginning. Some would not be in the condition appropriate for use in a plane. Nev

As an engine core, it is only intended to be a starting point to then heap time, knowledge and materials on in order to eventually produce a worthy, reliable, flight engine. Sometimes a real Cinderella story. It helps that I have spent 30+ years in the aircraft engine game ( turbine repair, overhaul and test ) and been an auto / skiboat builder along the way, having built a fair few VW's and Chev's. It's not going to be a quick build, but will be very slow, thorough blueprinting, but I enjoy that stuff.

 

Russell

 

 

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Barney...$1000 is too much for a core. Also check it has the right serial numbers to be able to be used for an aero conversion. 1965 to 1969 are the best. You can use a 1964 but with restrictions from memory. You need to get the serial numbers off it. Its probably only worth $300 as it is IF the numbers are right. You cant take the guys word that "it was running when it was removed".Scotty

I agree, the asking price is high, but it is local and available now to make a start on a new project. I'm open minded enough to investigate this engine core and ascertain its codes and condition before negotiating an appropriate selling price. The 'suppliers' (wrecking yards, etc ) in the States have proven to be 'difficult' to coax across the line, it always starts out well then tapers off with no end result. Craigslist seems to have a hiccup with international Emailing, though I had found some promising cores there.

 

I have been following WW, Dan Weseman, Mark Langford and others for a few years now, learning the specific requirements to successfully convert one of these engines for reliable aircraft duty.

 

All this, just to get in the starting blocks...

 

Russell

 

 

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, will chase this today, and it's local

 

 

Any chance he could contact me at rashton at pacific turbine dot com dot au

 

I've ordered my flycorvair conversion manual and dvd's, have a guy looking into cores for me, hopefully a few spares to in anyone else is interested...

 

 

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Sorry for the delay. i could not find it in my information. Darren Barnfield was mentioned as Williams Down under guy at http://www.flycorvair.com/hangar0208.html. there is an email address there but 2008 was a long time ago.

Unfortunately, Darrens Email address is not current. Address not found, undeliverable. Will keep trying alternate avenues...

 

 

Have you seen the articles WW wrote recently about the different short engine options? Have a look through his archives at http://flycorvair.net/

 

Looking at a standard Corvair short block assembled with a fifth bearing is between $3000 - $4000. Then freight to get it here. I reckon if WW was approached with an order for some of these he could freight them all together saving a chunk of money for us.

 

Scotty

 

I have read the WW articles on different engine short block assemblies, thinking mine will be an Eddie Easy. I read WW site everyday, a great source of building and philosophical ideals. As for consolidating freight, I'm all for it. As I mentioned earlier, I'm very keen on Dan Wesemans 3.4 stroker crank, so I'm hoping he'll progress that item soon, since his Panther is now flying ( though he does have a kit and 2 seater to organise ).

 

Cheers,

 

Russell aka barney

 

 

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Just a suggestion. I have a core sitting in Roys Garage in the USA. I am planning on having the crank modified and nitrided, a new OT10 cam fitted and the two case halves joined, a fifth bearing fitted and then sent over. You can get it done here but the Corvair being as rare as hens teeth in Australia, I dont want to trust it to just anyone. I will then assemble the rest of the engine. I dont need mine for probably 18 months either. It would be cost effective to do a bulk buy and have them all shipped together. I have most of the WW parts here already. Freight is the killer and with a core engine, there are a lot of parts that you wont reuse and will toss when it gets here. Your paying to bring parts over that are not used.Scotty

Roys would be a great alternate for supply of the reco'd 'short' engine, what is he charging for that? Changes with specifics I guess. Time frame? Given that WW is apparently a 'prickly' person to deal with I am very conscious of getting started on the right foot with him, 'cause I don't think you get a second chance to start over. I'm very interested in Dans 3.4 stroker crank when he gets back on track with that little project and so am waiting as long as I can before committing myself to a final configuration. How did you go getting WW to supply the remaining items for your assembly or did you use a third party? ( though you should have been in the good books by building a Pietenpol ). Then we'd just need a pair of Falcon heads.

 

 

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there was an Australian who represented WW for a while but all went quiet.

Do you know a name? Is he still an active member?

 

Will have to keep in touch if you're interested in Corvairs...

 

 

WW is very selective about who he builds engines for, and anyways, homebuilding is about building not just 'buying'. Anyone can can front up and buy an aircraft...

 

 

I am bringing a number of Corvair engine cores into the country and am interested to know if other enthusiasts would be interested in engine cores. I'm not sure of final pricing yet but would be as reasonable as possible for quality cores. Am also looking at bring WW / Weseman items into country as well. Cheers

 

 

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A Dornier 28http://www.flugzeuginfo.net/acimages/do28d2_kp.jpg

 

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Congratulations Jeff, great looking plane, awesome reward for all your effort. Thinking of building same only with corvair power..

 

Russell

 

 

Quote :- I'm not condoning the engine state of reliability at all. Engine failures can always occur and because of the strain on the engine, is more likely to happen at take-off.

 

I believe these bolt failures are a detonation issue and have always said so. It's certainly the most likely cause. Nev

 

Take a look around, these Jab engines never make TBO, never same hours as airframe, just way too unreliable for flight for my liking. Don't get me wrong, it's a good starting point for an aircraft engine, just some development by proper engineering would finish this half arsed engine.

 

 

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Russell, you have a new PM!Cheers

Greg

Hi Greg, Many thanks, sounds promising

Cheers,

 

Russell

 

 

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Hi Russell,I can put you in touch with a Corvair "Importer" so to speak if you like.

He should be able to point you in the direction of builders & flyers in the Brisbane area.

 

Cheers

 

Greg

Hi Greg,

That would be very helpful, sounds great. I was hoping to find local people to deal with.

 

Many thanks,

 

Russell

 

 

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G'day Russell.....I also have a corvair i am building up as a 2850 to power my highly modified kr2-s I am am currently building .And to echo Scotty's sentiments if I can help by all means sing out

 

Jason

Hi Jason,

 

Thanks for the offer of assistance, much appreciated. I'm happy to find others building corvairs, was thinking that they are far and few in Oz. Many thanks for the encouragement.

 

Will have to check-in often,

 

Cheers,

 

Russell

 

 

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Hiya Russell.....Im using a Corvair in my Pietenpol. My progress is on my web site. www.scottyspietenpol.comI could put you in touch with a chap in Qld who has just recently flown his Corvair powered Pietenpol.

 

Anyway, ask any questions and if I can, I will help.

 

Scotty

Hi Scotty,

 

Many thanks for the link to your web-site, looks great, I'll check it out asap. I'm not placing my order just yet, trying to put things in place first, but it is my goal. I'll need to see and fly a couple first-hand before my final decision.. sometime down the track.

 

Cheers and thanks,

 

Russell

 

 

Hi, My name is Russell and I'm in Brisbane. I'm 49,an Aircraft Engineer ( turbine engines ) currently flying Tecnam P92 out of Redcliffe, dreaming of a Corvair powered Cougar, seems to tick all the boxes for me. Will have to fly down to Taree and take a look. Am keen to chat with other Corvair enthusiasts. Am open to building over buying a plane. Onwards and upwards, Russell