Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/323139
22 Vol.3 No.6 / June 2014 AN AIRPL ANE FOR AN ORDINARY PERSON Another thing that worked for Randy was finishing the task he was working on before starting the next one. T HE C OR VA IR E NGINE In 1960 Chevrolet introduced the Corvair automobile as competition for the Volkswagen Beetle. Both cars were relatively small, and more importantly for the amateur- built airplane world, both had air-cooled engines. Bernard Pietenpol installed a Corvair engine in an Air Camper in 1966. Randy picked William's brain on the Corvair engine be- fore building his engine. Based on that advice, Randy chose a 2700-cc, 100-hp engine. William recommended other Corvair upgrade modifications by four innovators William calls "The Corvair All-Stars." Randy sent the heads to Mark Petniunas at FalconMachine.net in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, before reassembling the engine. After 180 hours of flying, Randy returned to William's Corvair College No. 19 in Barnwell, South Carolina, and upgraded his engine by swapping his top end with a bottom end that included a fifth main bearing mod by Roy Szarafin- ski of Roys Garage.com in Osseo, Michigan, and William's Reverse Gold Oil System. There's a picture on www.FlyCor- vair.net of Randy standing in the prop blast of his engine late on a Sunday night as he test-ran his "new" engine on William's engine test stand. William stages four two-day Corvair Colleges a year at various sites around the country. Randy chose to have his wooden propeller built by Ten- nessee Propellers Inc. in Rising Fawn, Georgia. Randy says the engine is very smooth, and although the engine will burn high-octane auto fuel, he has decided to burn 100LL avgas. "With avgas I know what I'm getting," he said. The Corvair-converted engine burns about 5 gal- lons per hour. MI S S L E ' BE C I asked Randy why Miss Le' Bec was painted on the side of his Air Camper. He said that represented the names of his three daughters—Missy, Leslie, and Becky. His son, Chris, is his most willing co-pilot, but at 6 feet, 4 inches tall, he has to fold himself into the front cockpit. Randy flies Miss Le' Bec out of a grass field near his home. A neighbor was thinking about plowing up the strip, but Randy leased it so it would remain an airstrip. He keeps N294RB in a T-hangar on the strip. He started flying in October 2006, which would have been less than a year before finishing construction. He flies a lot and has put more than 500 hours on his Pietenpol to date. A ROM A N T IC L INK One day Randy's local newspaper did a story on him and his airplane. Brenda Wallin, whom Randy had dated briefly in high school, saw the article. After high school, they had both married other people, but they were both single when she saw the article. Now they're together again. Brenda drove the "support vehicle" from Tennessee while Randy flew north to AirVenture in 2013. They stopped at Brod- head to show her why he chose the Pietenpol and to intro- duce her to other Pietenpol people. The Piet has a 15-gallon gas tank. Randy stopped for fuel every hour-and-a-half to two hours. "One-and-a-half to two hours is all I want to fly before taking a break," he said. "It's not a comfortable cross-country airplane." Randy spoke about what he felt is needed to build an airplane when he said, "If you don't have a passion, you won't get it done. It's a lot of work." It's obvious that Randy got a lot of satisfaction out of building the airframe and engine that carry him skyward— and that the Pietenpol was a good choice. "I could not have asked for a better airplane; it's what I dreamed of," he said. NE X T A IRP L A NE Today Randy and Brenda are building a Sonex, and they're applying the same pay-as-you-go approach. "I can't afford to buy a $14,000 kit, but I can go to Wicks or Spruce and buy $500 worth of aluminum that will keep me busy for 6 months," he said. Although the build is progressing, Randy admits he enjoys working with wood more than with metal. The difference is that now he has a partner. "Brenda has done a lot of work on the Sonex," he said. "You could say that the Pietenpol brought us together, and now the Sonex is reworking us." Randy punctuated his satisfaction with his Pietenpol with one last story. He said a friend stopped by and gave him a ride in a Glasair, but according to Randy, "It just didn't feel right; I couldn't hang my arm over the side." Randy was cited as an example of the fact that it doesn't take a lot of money to build an airplane. The BPA website says a Pietenpol—with engine—can be built for an outlay of $10,000. A shop to work in, shot of cash now and then, a set of plans for a 1929 airframe, a converted engine out of a 54-year-old automobile, and a generous helping of passion are the keys that ordinary man Randy Bush used to fulfill his dream of owning and flying his own airplane. RE S OURC E S Brodhead Pietenpol Association: www.Pietenpols.org Pietenpol Air Camper Family: http://Community.Pressenter.net/~apietenp William Wynne: www.FlyCorvair.com and www.FlyCorvair.net Tennessee Propellers Inc.: www.TN-prop.com E A A E X P _ J u n e 1 4 . i n d d 2 2 EAAEXP_June14.indd 22 6 / 3 / 1 4 8 : 3 9 A M 6/3/14 8:39 AM