---------------------------------------------------------- Zenith-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Wed 07/29/09: 8 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 06:53 AM - Re: Oshkosh - ride to dinner on thurs (bryanmmartin@comcast.net) 2. 12:11 PM - OT-Gotta Love the NTSB (Gig Giacona) 3. 02:22 PM - Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh (Gary Ray) 4. 02:40 PM - Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not (Gig Giacona) 5. 02:56 PM - Re: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh (Clyde Barcus) 6. 03:45 PM - Re: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not (Gary Ray) 7. 04:15 PM - Re: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh (Ken Arnold) 8. 05:49 PM - Re: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh (Gary Ray) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 06:53:21 AM PST US From: bryanmmartin@comcast.net Subject: Re: Zenith-List: Oshkosh - ride to dinner on thurs I drove in this year instaid of flying, I can haulfour or five people in my truck. Check at the Zenith booth, they might have info on rides. ----- Original Message ----- From: John Davis Sent: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:31 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Zenith-List: Oshkosh - ride to dinner on thurs Hi guys, Is there anyone at oshkosh that i could hitch a ride with to the builders dinner on thurs ? My cell is 828-284-0459. Thanks, John davis n601jd 16 hrs and counting.. -- Bryan Martin do not archive ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 12:11:08 PM PST US Subject: Zenith-List: OT-Gotta Love the NTSB From: "Gig Giacona" OK the NTSB figures out that there are more birds now than when regulations that set the max weight a airframe must withstand were set in the 70's. Not that birds are bigger now just that there are more of them. So what do they tell the FAA to do? Increase the max weight an airframe must withstand from 4 to 8 pounds. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gP9TU4NOeKMni_YDrLaxj0-WXRZQD99NPT780 -------- W.R. "Gig" Giacona 601XL Under Construction See my progress at www.peoamerica.net/N601WR Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=255131#255131 ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 02:22:03 PM PST US From: "Gary Ray" Subject: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh I just finished reading William's new publication, called "Flight Operations Manual". This is an indispensable collection of articles for all builders. As I was reading it I just kept saying 'EXACTLY' in my mind over and over. When I started my project, I was not aware of any of these ideas. I learned most of these lessons as I went along. That was not the fastest or the least expensive way to learn it. This book will help keep your mind set right, increase safety, reduce cost, and affect the way you build, maintain, and fly your aircraft. Other than always having dreams of flying since I can remember, my background is not aviation related. I was 16 years old before I flew in an aircraft. (a Cessna 210). I built model aircraft on a meager budget when I was a kid. I worked my way through college doing a variety of jobs covering the spectrum from burying people, maintaining a freezer warehouse at 20 degrees below zero, building homes and driving dump trucks for the City of Grand Rapids. I consider these jobs as character builders. I started my flight lessons the first year out of college but put it on hold when I learned a contract is only as good as the word of the parties that sign it. Not wanting to repeat this event in the future I built and opened my own business. After 7 years it started to make economic sense on paper so I built another one with the same results. Anyway I was 47 before I got back to flying. I purchased a 1991 Grumman Tiger. It was perfect. A sports car feel instead of the Cessna 172 stationwagon performance that I trained in. As Rick Linstrom remarked in his article, it is a two finger aircraft. It prepared me well for the 601XL that I would build and fly later. What the Tiger does in knots the 601XL does in mph except at the top end the Tiger is a little faster. But the view, light controls and nimbleness are remarkably familiar. I sold the Tiger because I always wanted to build an aircraft and two aircraft at the same time might strain my marriage. I wanted the legal freedom to do all of my own work. I realized I was deficient in knowledge on the subject but I am trainable and eager to learn. I knew from the start that in my family, I am an aberration, the only one that possessed the flight gene. I was not going to get any help during the construction. I knew this from previous testing on my two children. I offered flight lessons in the Tiger if they wanted to learn to fly and got a clear 'negative' response from both of them. I expected the same response for the building process and was not surprised. This meant that I would have to choose an aircraft project that I could complete by myself. I had plans for the Sonex and went to the builders workshop. They are a very professional family run organization as is Zenith. When looking for suitable engines I came across a link to William's FlyCorvair Web site. After I read the information on his website and the Corvair Construction Manual I knew which engine I was going to use. The manual was packed with practical information and the rational for why it should be done a certain way. It was refreshing and a major step in the right direction. The Sonex had a limitation of 200 lbs for the FWF installation where the Zenith 601XL would accept a 300 lb installation. So my decision suddenly became much easier. William chose the 601XL as a test bed about the same time. I don't recall which came first but it was welcome news to me. My kit arrived in mid-March 2004 within a couple days of my birthday. What a present! I rented a trailer large enough to pick it up at the freight depot, unpacked and inventoried everything for the next two days and safely stored it in the basement of my Veterinary Clinic which I designed 17 years earlier to provide an access to the basement that would be able to handle this future event. In the next 9 weeks, I completed both wings and the tail section in my personal business office, a 10 x 18 foot space. I did this between client appointments and before and after work. It's amazing how much wasted time is in an ordinary business day. I averaged about 2.5 - 3 hours/day. The airframe was completed in 10 months. I had never built anything with metal prior to this. It took a little over 1-1/2 years to complete the electrical, and Firewall Forward items. Much of this time I waited for William to complete the production and testing of the recommended systems and parts. When it came to the engine and FWF package, I wanted it to be strictly setup as designed by William Wynne. In spite of this criteria, I still unknowingly took a few expensive missteps which William corrected before I wrecked my project. What local shops said they could do was not good enough for a flight engine. Their work became money down the drain. On the other hand everything I ever purchased from William has worked as he said it would. The electrical and avionics took more time than I expected and helped keep me busy. During the construction time, I read more than I did in the first four years of college. I studied the plans before I moved on to the next section. I read and planned the electrical system with the help of Bob Nuckoll's Book @ aeroelectric.com and I looked for avionics solutions and parts. For those of you that are new builders, it is much easier now. The systems are worked out, and the parts are beautiful CNC pieces off the shelf with proven track records and many flight hours of success. You have access to professionally built engines and FWF parts from William Wynne @ www.flycorvair.com , Falcon Heads, and 5th bearings, not to mention the advances in light weight avionics at very reasonable prices and CNC pre-punched parts as standard items in the kits offered by Zenith. Just a few years ago, this was not the case. Your project can be built better and quicker because of these advances. Still, a project of this size is composed of solving thousands of smaller problems, each one brings you a sense of satisfaction when you know you have it right and it gets you that much closer to flying your creation. With this transition to flight, you begin on a entirely new adventure, new problems, and a new sense of accomplishment. Looking back, this has completed a life ambition, it has been and still is a work of art, it is an intellectual mind saver, and a wonderful escape from the day-to-day hum-drum where 95 percent of daily events are repetitious. Part of the reason I do this is because it is hard to do it right. I have to work at it, but that is also why I feel such a sense of accomplishment. It might be that I just like to see the world from a higher perspective that only pilots ever get to experience. The best part for me is the second that my wheels leave the ground followed shortly by a climbing turn onto my selected course as I watch the earth drop away. As the Stock Trading Baby commercial says, Burrrrrrrp.....if I can do it, anybody can. Gary Ray, 601XL, WW Corvair Engine, 0.060 over, Falcon Heads, Roy Szarafinski's 5th bearing, 105 hours TT davgray@sbcglobal.net ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 02:40:29 PM PST US Subject: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not From: "Gig Giacona" Where is this ""Flight Operations Manual" of which you speak? I can't find anything about it at flycorvair.com. -------- W.R. "Gig" Giacona 601XL Under Construction See my progress at www.peoamerica.net/N601WR Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=255152#255152 ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 02:56:57 PM PST US From: "Clyde Barcus" Subject: Re: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh Hi Gary I learned to fly in a Grumman Tiger, frankly, it was a challenge but it did teach me the importance of speed control and a light touch, I believe that experience will be an asset when I finish my 601. I really loved the Grumman which was the primary reason for building a low wing aircraft, I just could not afford to keep it but I think my 601 will serve me well. I built a Corvair engine after attending two Corvair Colleges, actually, William stopped by my place on the way to other visits up north. My only reason for selling my Corvair was family, they made it clear they would not fly with me unless it was powered by an aircraft engine. Anyhow, I can't wait to finish and fly a very responsive plane, flying within it's design limitations, of course. Regards Clyde Do Not Archive ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary Ray To: zenith-list@matronics.com Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 2:18 PM Subject: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh I just finished reading William's new publication, called "Flight Operations Manual". This is an indispensable collection of articles for all builders. As I was reading it I just kept saying 'EXACTLY' in my mind over and over. When I started my project, I was not aware of any of these ideas. I learned most of these lessons as I went along. That was not the fastest or the least expensive way to learn it. This book will help keep your mind set right, increase safety, reduce cost, and affect the way you build, maintain, and fly your aircraft. Other than always having dreams of flying since I can remember, my background is not aviation related. I was 16 years old before I flew in an aircraft. (a Cessna 210). I built model aircraft on a meager budget when I was a kid. I worked my way through college doing a variety of jobs covering the spectrum from burying people, maintaining a freezer warehouse at 20 degrees below zero, building homes and driving dump trucks for the City of Grand Rapids. I consider these jobs as character builders. I started my flight lessons the first year out of college but put it on hold when I learned a contract is only as good as the word of the parties that sign it. Not wanting to repeat this event in the future I built and opened my own business. After 7 years it started to make economic sense on paper so I built another one with the same results. Anyway I was 47 before I got back to flying. I purchased a 1991 Grumman Tiger. It was perfect. A sports car feel instead of the Cessna 172 stationwagon performance that I trained in. As Rick Linstrom remarked in his article, it is a two finger aircraft. It prepared me well for the 601XL that I would build and fly later. What the Tiger does in knots the 601XL does in mph except at the top end the Tiger is a little faster. But the view, light controls and nimbleness are remarkably familiar. I sold the Tiger because I always wanted to build an aircraft and two aircraft at the same time might strain my marriage. I wanted the legal freedom to do all of my own work. I realized I was deficient in knowledge on the subject but I am trainable and eager to learn. I knew from the start that in my family, I am an aberration, the only one that possessed the flight gene. I was not going to get any help during the construction. I knew this from previous testing on my two children. I offered flight lessons in the Tiger if they wanted to learn to fly and got a clear 'negative' response from both of them. I expected the same response for the building process and was not surprised. This meant that I would have to choose an aircraft project that I could complete by myself. I had plans for the Sonex and went to the builders workshop. They are a very professional family run organization as is Zenith. When looking for suitable engines I came across a link to William's FlyCorvair Web site. After I read the information on his website and the Corvair Construction Manual I knew which engine I was going to use. The manual was packed with practical information and the rational for why it should be done a certain way. It was refreshing and a major step in the right direction. The Sonex had a limitation of 200 lbs for the FWF installation where the Zenith 601XL would accept a 300 lb installation. So my decision suddenly became much easier. William chose the 601XL as a test bed about the same time. I don't recall which came first but it was welcome news to me. My kit arrived in mid-March 2004 within a couple days of my birthday. What a present! I rented a trailer large enough to pick it up at the freight depot, unpacked and inventoried everything for the next two days and safely stored it in the basement of my Veterinary Clinic which I designed 17 years earlier to provide an access to the basement that would be able to handle this future event. In the next 9 weeks, I completed both wings and the tail section in my personal business office, a 10 x 18 foot space. I did this between client appointments and before and after work. It's amazing how much wasted time is in an ordinary business day. I averaged about 2.5 - 3 hours/day. The airframe was completed in 10 months. I had never built anything with metal prior to this. It took a little over 1-1/2 years to complete the electrical, and Firewall Forward items. Much of this time I waited for William to complete the production and testing of the recommended systems and parts. When it came to the engine and FWF package, I wanted it to be strictly setup as designed by William Wynne. In spite of this criteria, I still unknowingly took a few expensive missteps which William corrected before I wrecked my project. What local shops said they could do was not good enough for a flight engine. Their work became money down the drain. On the other hand everything I ever purchased from William has worked as he said it would. The electrical and avionics took more time than I expected and helped keep me busy. During the construction time, I read more than I did in the first four years of college. I studied the plans before I moved on to the next section. I read and planned the electrical system with the help of Bob Nuckoll's Book @ aeroelectric.com and I looked for avionics solutions and parts. For those of you that are new builders, it is much easier now. The systems are worked out, and the parts are beautiful CNC pieces off the shelf with proven track records and many flight hours of success. You have access to professionally built engines and FWF parts from William Wynne @ www.flycorvair.com , Falcon Heads, and 5th bearings, not to mention the advances in light weight avionics at very reasonable prices and CNC pre-punched parts as standard items in the kits offered by Zenith. Just a few years ago, this was not the case. Your project can be built better and quicker because of these advances. Still, a project of this size is composed of solving thousands of smaller problems, each one brings you a sense of satisfaction when you know you have it right and it gets you that much closer to flying your creation. With this transition to flight, you begin on a entirely new adventure, new problems, and a new sense of accomplishment. Looking back, this has completed a life ambition, it has been and still is a work of art, it is an intellectual mind saver, and a wonderful escape from the day-to-day hum-drum where 95 percent of daily events are repetitious. Part of the reason I do this is because it is hard to do it right. I have to work at it, but that is also why I feel such a sense of accomplishment. It might be that I just like to see the world from a higher perspective that only pilots ever get to experience. The best part for me is the second that my wheels leave the ground followed shortly by a climbing turn onto my selected course as I watch the earth drop away. As the Stock Trading Baby commercial says, Burrrrrrrp.....if I can do it, anybody can. Gary Ray, 601XL, WW Corvair Engine, 0.060 over, Falcon Heads, Roy Szarafinski's 5th bearing, 105 hours TT davgray@sbcglobal.net ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 03:45:53 PM PST US From: "Gary Ray" Subject: Re: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not Gig It is a new publication that is available at Oshkosh. I would think they will have it up when they get back. I think the ink was still hot on my copy. Gary Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gig Giacona" Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:39 PM Subject: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not > > Where is this ""Flight Operations Manual" of which you speak? I can't find anything about it at flycorvair.com. > > -------- > W.R. "Gig" Giacona > 601XL Under Construction > See my progress at www.peoamerica.net/N601WR > > > Read this topic online here: > > http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=255152#255152 > > ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 04:15:53 PM PST US From: "Ken Arnold" Subject: Re: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh Hey Gary, Great background. Did you join the XL601 test project? Regards, Ken do not archive How big is this manual? ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary Ray To: zenith-list@matronics.com Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:18 PM Subject: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh I just finished reading William's new publication, called "Flight Operations Manual". This is an indispensable collection of articles for all builders. As I was reading it I just kept saying 'EXACTLY' in my mind over and over. When I started my project, I was not aware of any of these ideas. I learned most of these lessons as I went along. That was not the fastest or the least expensive way to learn it. This book will help keep your mind set right, increase safety, reduce cost, and affect the way you build, maintain, and fly your aircraft. Other than always having dreams of flying since I can remember, my background is not aviation related. I was 16 years old before I flew in an aircraft. (a Cessna 210). I built model aircraft on a meager budget when I was a kid. I worked my way through college doing a variety of jobs covering the spectrum from burying people, maintaining a freezer warehouse at 20 degrees below zero, building homes and driving dump trucks for the City of Grand Rapids. I consider these jobs as character builders. I started my flight lessons the first year out of college but put it on hold when I learned a contract is only as good as the word of the parties that sign it. Not wanting to repeat this event in the future I built and opened my own business. After 7 years it started to make economic sense on paper so I built another one with the same results. Anyway I was 47 before I got back to flying. I purchased a 1991 Grumman Tiger. It was perfect. A sports car feel instead of the Cessna 172 stationwagon performance that I trained in. As Rick Linstrom remarked in his article, it is a two finger aircraft. It prepared me well for the 601XL that I would build and fly later. What the Tiger does in knots the 601XL does in mph except at the top end the Tiger is a little faster. But the view, light controls and nimbleness are remarkably familiar. I sold the Tiger because I always wanted to build an aircraft and two aircraft at the same time might strain my marriage. I wanted the legal freedom to do all of my own work. I realized I was deficient in knowledge on the subject but I am trainable and eager to learn. I knew from the start that in my family, I am an aberration, the only one that possessed the flight gene. I was not going to get any help during the construction. I knew this from previous testing on my two children. I offered flight lessons in the Tiger if they wanted to learn to fly and got a clear 'negative' response from both of them. I expected the same response for the building process and was not surprised. This meant that I would have to choose an aircraft project that I could complete by myself. I had plans for the Sonex and went to the builders workshop. They are a very professional family run organization as is Zenith. When looking for suitable engines I came across a link to William's FlyCorvair Web site. After I read the information on his website and the Corvair Construction Manual I knew which engine I was going to use. The manual was packed with practical information and the rational for why it should be done a certain way. It was refreshing and a major step in the right direction. The Sonex had a limitation of 200 lbs for the FWF installation where the Zenith 601XL would accept a 300 lb installation. So my decision suddenly became much easier. William chose the 601XL as a test bed about the same time. I don't recall which came first but it was welcome news to me. My kit arrived in mid-March 2004 within a couple days of my birthday. What a present! I rented a trailer large enough to pick it up at the freight depot, unpacked and inventoried everything for the next two days and safely stored it in the basement of my Veterinary Clinic which I designed 17 years earlier to provide an access to the basement that would be able to handle this future event. In the next 9 weeks, I completed both wings and the tail section in my personal business office, a 10 x 18 foot space. I did this between client appointments and before and after work. It's amazing how much wasted time is in an ordinary business day. I averaged about 2.5 - 3 hours/day. The airframe was completed in 10 months. I had never built anything with metal prior to this. It took a little over 1-1/2 years to complete the electrical, and Firewall Forward items. Much of this time I waited for William to complete the production and testing of the recommended systems and parts. When it came to the engine and FWF package, I wanted it to be strictly setup as designed by William Wynne. In spite of this criteria, I still unknowingly took a few expensive missteps which William corrected before I wrecked my project. What local shops said they could do was not good enough for a flight engine. Their work became money down the drain. On the other hand everything I ever purchased from William has worked as he said it would. The electrical and avionics took more time than I expected and helped keep me busy. During the construction time, I read more than I did in the first four years of college. I studied the plans before I moved on to the next section. I read and planned the electrical system with the help of Bob Nuckoll's Book @ aeroelectric.com and I looked for avionics solutions and parts. For those of you that are new builders, it is much easier now. The systems are worked out, and the parts are beautiful CNC pieces off the shelf with proven track records and many flight hours of success. You have access to professionally built engines and FWF parts from William Wynne @ www.flycorvair.com , Falcon Heads, and 5th bearings, not to mention the advances in light weight avionics at very reasonable prices and CNC pre-punched parts as standard items in the kits offered by Zenith. Just a few years ago, this was not the case. Your project can be built better and quicker because of these advances. Still, a project of this size is composed of solving thousands of smaller problems, each one brings you a sense of satisfaction when you know you have it right and it gets you that much closer to flying your creation. With this transition to flight, you begin on a entirely new adventure, new problems, and a new sense of accomplishment. Looking back, this has completed a life ambition, it has been and still is a work of art, it is an intellectual mind saver, and a wonderful escape from the day-to-day hum-drum where 95 percent of daily events are repetitious. Part of the reason I do this is because it is hard to do it right. I have to work at it, but that is also why I feel such a sense of accomplishment. It might be that I just like to see the world from a higher perspective that only pilots ever get to experience. The best part for me is the second that my wheels leave the ground followed shortly by a climbing turn onto my selected course as I watch the earth drop away. As the Stock Trading Baby commercial says, Burrrrrrrp.....if I can do it, anybody can. Gary Ray, 601XL, WW Corvair Engine, 0.060 over, Falcon Heads, Roy Szarafinski's 5th bearing, 105 hours TT davgray@sbcglobal.net ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 05:49:18 PM PST US From: "Gary Ray" Subject: Re: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh The Flight Operations Manual is 85 pages and just as interesting and useful as the engine manual. Since I don't know what the XL601 test project is, I probably did not. I did do my test flights including the first. During the early flight testing I experienced things like the following: The first surprise was that the 7.5 A fuse in the flap circuit blew on the first flight without deploying any flaps. I checked it for any problems, found none and changed it to a 15 A, never had trouble again. I think the flight loads make a difference in the current draw of the electric flap motor. This did not concern me at the time as a flapless landing is quite easy at 601XL landing speeds. Also I found that my aircraft displays neutral stability. It does not return to level flight after being disturbed. I am contemplating reducing the incidence of the horizontal stabilizer but will wait until I hear the plans from Zenith on any wing mods. The 650 model has effectively done this with the change in wing incidence. I found a pilot could turn on both fuel pumps at the same time which the carburetor did not like so I changed the wiring to an either/or but not both setup. I did this prior to the first flight. I used some time trying to work out a solution for the Ellison Carburetor but decided to switch to a MA3-SPA after 19 flight hours. It was running too lean at WOT settings on my 2700cc engine. From what I could find out on the Ellison website under the VW section was the EFS3A likes a 3000 cc or larger engine to avoid this. A couple things that the Ellison does better is a smoother cold winter idle warm up and it atomizes the fuel more evenly when leaned. At this time, I have an aircraft and engine that has been debugged which gives me a large degree of confidence in the system when I fly. But I still do not fly over Lake Michigan or in any weather that may put me in a situation that is below my personal minimums. I do not fly in MVFR conditions since that depends too much on the big sky theory of collision avoidance and on the theory that the sky is in the same condition everywhere. I am IFR rated but not current and my aircraft is not setup for IFR flight. It is just good enough to safely keep the greasy side down during any inadvertent IMC encounters until I do my 180 degree standard rate turn and exit. Fly with prudence. Gary Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: Ken Arnold To: zenith-list@matronics.com Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 7:04 PM Subject: Re: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh Hey Gary, Great background. Did you join the XL601 test project? Regards, Ken do not archive How big is this manual? ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary Ray To: zenith-list@matronics.com Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:18 PM Subject: Zenith-List: Re: WW's New Flight Operations Manual-- Long post for those not at Oshkosh I just finished reading William's new publication, called "Flight Operations Manual". This is an indispensable collection of articles for all builders. As I was reading it I just kept saying 'EXACTLY' in my mind over and over. When I started my project, I was not aware of any of these ideas. I learned most of these lessons as I went along. That was not the fastest or the least expensive way to learn it. This book will help keep your mind set right, increase safety, reduce cost, and affect the way you build, maintain, and fly your aircraft. Other than always having dreams of flying since I can remember, my background is not aviation related. I was 16 years old before I flew in an aircraft. (a Cessna 210). I built model aircraft on a meager budget when I was a kid. I worked my way through college doing a variety of jobs covering the spectrum from burying people, maintaining a freezer warehouse at 20 degrees below zero, building homes and driving dump trucks for the City of Grand Rapids. I consider these jobs as character builders. I started my flight lessons the first year out of college but put it on hold when I learned a contract is only as good as the word of the parties that sign it. Not wanting to repeat this event in the future I built and opened my own business. After 7 years it started to make economic sense on paper so I built another one with the same results. Anyway I was 47 before I got back to flying. I purchased a 1991 Grumman Tiger. It was perfect. A sports car feel instead of the Cessna 172 stationwagon performance that I trained in. As Rick Linstrom remarked in his article, it is a two finger aircraft. It prepared me well for the 601XL that I would build and fly later. What the Tiger does in knots the 601XL does in mph except at the top end the Tiger is a little faster. But the view, light controls and nimbleness are remarkably familiar. I sold the Tiger because I always wanted to build an aircraft and two aircraft at the same time might strain my marriage. I wanted the legal freedom to do all of my own work. I realized I was deficient in knowledge on the subject but I am trainable and eager to learn. I knew from the start that in my family, I am an aberration, the only one that possessed the flight gene. I was not going to get any help during the construction. I knew this from previous testing on my two children. I offered flight lessons in the Tiger if they wanted to learn to fly and got a clear 'negative' response from both of them. I expected the same response for the building process and was not surprised. This meant that I would have to choose an aircraft project that I could complete by myself. I had plans for the Sonex and went to the builders workshop. They are a very professional family run organization as is Zenith. When looking for suitable engines I came across a link to William's FlyCorvair Web site. After I read the information on his website and the Corvair Construction Manual I knew which engine I was going to use. The manual was packed with practical information and the rational for why it should be done a certain way. It was refreshing and a major step in the right direction. The Sonex had a limitation of 200 lbs for the FWF installation where the Zenith 601XL would accept a 300 lb installation. So my decision suddenly became much easier. William chose the 601XL as a test bed about the same time. I don't recall which came first but it was welcome news to me. My kit arrived in mid-March 2004 within a couple days of my birthday. What a present! I rented a trailer large enough to pick it up at the freight depot, unpacked and inventoried everything for the next two days and safely stored it in the basement of my Veterinary Clinic which I designed 17 years earlier to provide an access to the basement that would be able to handle this future event. In the next 9 weeks, I completed both wings and the tail section in my personal business office, a 10 x 18 foot space. I did this between client appointments and before and after work. It's amazing how much wasted time is in an ordinary business day. I averaged about 2.5 - 3 hours/day. The airframe was completed in 10 months. I had never built anything with metal prior to this. It took a little over 1-1/2 years to complete the electrical, and Firewall Forward items. Much of this time I waited for William to complete the production and testing of the recommended systems and parts. When it came to the engine and FWF package, I wanted it to be strictly setup as designed by William Wynne. In spite of this criteria, I still unknowingly took a few expensive missteps which William corrected before I wrecked my project. What local shops said they could do was not good enough for a flight engine. Their work became money down the drain. On the other hand everything I ever purchased from William has worked as he said it would. The electrical and avionics took more time than I expected and helped keep me busy. During the construction time, I read more than I did in the first four years of college. I studied the plans before I moved on to the next section. I read and planned the electrical system with the help of Bob Nuckoll's Book @ aeroelectric.com and I looked for avionics solutions and parts. For those of you that are new builders, it is much easier now. The systems are worked out, and the parts are beautiful CNC pieces off the shelf with proven track records and many flight hours of success. You have access to professionally built engines and FWF parts from William Wynne @ www.flycorvair.com , Falcon Heads, and 5th bearings, not to mention the advances in light weight avionics at very reasonable prices and CNC pre-punched parts as standard items in the kits offered by Zenith. Just a few years ago, this was not the case. Your project can be built better and quicker because of these advances. Still, a project of this size is composed of solving thousands of smaller problems, each one brings you a sense of satisfaction when you know you have it right and it gets you that much closer to flying your creation. With this transition to flight, you begin on a entirely new adventure, new problems, and a new sense of accomplishment. Looking back, this has completed a life ambition, it has been and still is a work of art, it is an intellectual mind saver, and a wonderful escape from the day-to-day hum-drum where 95 percent of daily events are repetitious. Part of the reason I do this is because it is hard to do it right. I have to work at it, but that is also why I feel such a sense of accomplishment. It might be that I just like to see the world from a higher perspective that only pilots ever get to experience. The best part for me is the second that my wheels leave the ground followed shortly by a climbing turn onto my selected course as I watch the earth drop away. As the Stock Trading Baby commercial says, Burrrrrrrp.....if I can do it, anybody can. Gary Ray, 601XL, WW Corvair Engine, 0.060 over, Falcon Heads, Roy Szarafinski's 5th bearing, 105 hours TT davgray@sbcglobal.net href="http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List">http://www.matron href="http://forums.matronics.com">http://forums.matronics.com href="http://www.matronics.com/contribution">http://www.matronics.com/c ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message zenith-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/Zenith-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/zenith-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/zenith-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.