Looking back, 2011 has been a busy year. One main accomplishment was the completion of our Fisher Celebrity in early spring. The FAA inspection and first flight followed in April with no surprises. Dan was called on again to do the flying, yes he also did the first flight after rebuild on our Piper Clipper. (note, ten years of building two airplanes left little time for my personal flying) Dan is a skilled pilot with good judgment and has many flight hours in various aircraft with Corvair engines. He was the best choice.
Since those first flights, I have got back in the saddle, and now have about 20 hours of my own in the Celebrity. It is a joy to fly with good control harmony and no bad habits.
The 3100 Big Boy Corvair engine sounds impressive and delivers lots of power. It turns 2900 rpm static and 3000 on takeoff. With power reduced to 2800 rpm it cruises about 85 mph. At 2500 cruise is a solid 75. That’s not very fast, but with the wind all around you in the open cockpit, it’s great fun flying!
As in the past, we continue to work with Dan on the 5th bearing kits. (Fly 5th bearing.com) This past year we have changed to a fully machined billet aluminum housing. Same design and the cost remains the same. We continue to do machining on the prop hubs along with keeping up with the installation tool kits.
In addition to the Zenith 601/650 and 701/750 baffle and cowling kits, we have provided special kits for various other Corvair installations, including the Cleanex. (FlyCleanex.com) If you have a special request, please ask. Also, we are now providing a folder aluminum air filter cover for the Zenith cowling kits.
We’ve had many challenges and blessings in 2011 and look forward to those in 2012.
Jim and Rhonda
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