Pro-Composites News

Just spent a week at AirVenture 2010. We shared the www.flycorvair.com booth, as it became the CorvAircraft Headquarters. The Personal Cruiser was looking good and many people stopped by to check it out. The booth was also the meeting place for numerous Vision builders. We had the first official annual Vision gathering at Oshkosh. Pizza and refreshments were provided by Joel Walworth, Vision #9 of Applied Vehicle Technologies http://www.avtcomposites.com/. Both Karl Szczypta, Jim Wickert did an excellent job manning the booth and presenting the Vision and Personal Cruiser to everyone interested.

AirVenture's Workshop classroom 2 was used to demonstrate moldless composites techniques daily. I covered the basic frustrations in getting started with composites and the use of Aeropoxy in creating a large composite panel with Last-a-Foam. Additionally the class included the laying out of templates to create ribs and demonstrated cutting techniques.

In all it was a lot of fun though what was missing was a flying Vision. Who knows - maybe next year.

Spent last week with Mike Gossett working on his Vision #316 located in Birmingham, AL. We spent the week finishing up the elevator and rudder by filling pin holes and priming including adding the lead for counter balancing. Put in two bulkheads at sta. 110 and the sta. 60 roll over bulkhead. They both were a bit challenging as they were put in with a fold-a-plane turtle deck. This required shimmying my large frame into the tail cone and bonding in sta. 110 bulkhead. Also finalized and installed the final hardware for the rudder and control stick. Formed and installed the vertical fin and strakes. A very productive visit.

The trip to Sun-N-Fun 2010 was a rewarding adventure. The converted Corvair engine performed flawlessly though the winds were not as favorable. I departed Waukegan Regional airport just after sunrise and and made two stops in route to Lakeland, FL. Throughout the event numerous people asked about the Personal Cruiser. I was even able to spend a couple days with an Vision aircraft builder in Largo, FL. Below are some photos of the trip.

First stop Bowling Green, KY. Co-Mar Aviation. Sorry - I only needed 12.5 gals for the 340nm leg.

During SNF I had the privilege to help a new builder with his Vision aircraft located in Largo, FL

I spent the week at SNF and headed over to Deland airport (KDED) and visited Steve Rahm. I departed early in the morn for the trip back to Chicago. Steve is not only a great designer of aircraft but has great eye for photography and took the following series of photos.

The grass strip in the center of the photo is location of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair/Columbia Exposition.

The large cockpit and seating position makes for comfortable cross country flying.

I flew the Personal Cruiser last night before sunset after being hangered over the winter. 1800 ft/min initial in the climb ingesting the cool air off Lake Michigan. Buzzed around the local area for about 20 minutes, went WOT and saw 165-170 mph indicated for a minute or so, then set up for approach. Was high and fast so I slipped it, (Yes - a V-tail can slip) for about 1000 ft and greased the landing. Had a small vibration throughout the flight, most likely from a sticky lifter that was replaced last fall - will check that before next flight. 3200 rpm max at WOT and should be 3350 rpm. Ample carb heat, and cabin heat - aaah. Nice flight. - Scott V.

3/20/2010 - The Personal Cruiser Kit continues to mature. With the spar cove cut out areas, and electrical routing all pre-cut, including scoring of the hinge line - it is estimated to save 15-20 hours of build time from using the original cores.

12/9/2009 - Personal Cruiser Info pack now available. See the online Catalog section.

10/18/2009 - Check the Personal Cruiser section for photos of our active builders. Order Kit A and become one!

8/19/2009 - Check the Vision section for the June 1998 Kitplanes Article or HERE - available by permission of the editor of Kitplanes.

8/15/2009 - What's going on with the Vision website and the plans to the aircraft? Pro-Composites under agreement sells and distributes the Vision plans and support for American Affordable Aircraft. The Vision dream is still available to all who want to take on the challenge and build this "Big Bang for the Buck" aircraft. The Vision section of this website includes all of the original Vision website content. Peruse at will.

8/7/2009 - Can you really make a strong composite structure? The plans for the Vision show you how. A test as shown below was conducted this week by the CAA in S. Africa on Pieter Botha's Vision 342, . This was a 6 g load test at 1250 gross. The load distribution in not typical which added even more stress to the wings. Additionally, 200kg was added (440lbs) beyond the 6g load test. The ailerons were able to move freely throughout the test. Order a set plans and get started today HERE.

8/2/2009 - AirVenture 2009 was a blast! We met with hundreds of people. Karl Szczypta, Jim Wickert and Joel Walworth - all Vision plans holders fielded thousands of questions on the Personal Cruiser and Vision. We were co-located in the Aviation Learning Center with many of the new electric powered aircraft.

From Waukegan, IL the flight in the Cruiser lasted only an hour to get up to Osh. Probably one of the nicest morning flights I have had in a while. The early morning smooth air was a delight.

Here are a few photos from the Affordable Aircraft Center. There was a huge amount of interest in both the Personal Cruiser and Vision. This was the first time a Vision has been at Oshkosh. The Vision fuselage pictured below and to the right was built by the late Ken Ulrick. His craftsmanship was very inspiring.

At Osh we introduced a full kit for the Vision in Fast build form. Get the Osh 2009 Vision Handout here. The Personal Cruiser Osh 2009 handout is located here.

We enjoyed the event and are making plans for next year. Join the growing family of builders today and build your dream.

7/23/2009 - We're packed up and leaving for Osh Friday morning. Will be setting up in the Affordable Aircraft Center. This is the first time a Vision will be at Osh - complete or otherwise. See you there. The Cruiser is sporting a new prop from Sensenich - An absolute work of art. It's a 64x47 giving better climb and yet to be determined top end. It was installed yesterday and flight tested. Wx only allowed pattern work but tomorrow looks like the Wx will be perfect in the morning for the quick flight to Airventure.

7/7/2009 - We're planning for AirVenture 2009. See us at the Affordable Aircraft Center near the homebuilt line up Hope to have an "in progress" Vision fuselage and the Personal Cruiser there.

I took off the next morning with another stop in Thomaston-Upson County Airport, GA to take on 12 gallons of fuel and continued to Lakeland, FL. Most of the flight was in light to moderate turbulence. I am glad I was not flying in the LSA weight parameters as the Cruiser handled more like a Cherokee - bouncy but tolerable. When the gusts finally subsided near the Georgia/Florida border - the ride was a smooth airline quality ride, almost surreal. Typical fuel burn was 3.5 gallons per hour. The prop, according to the Sensenich rep is a hi-rpm prop - so when approaching 2900 rpm it seemed the speed went up and fuel burn went down so I am slowly dialing in the optimum cruise efficiency for the 2700cc converted Corvair engine.

Upgrades - The next round of improvement will be with the instrument panel. The Edo-Aire transponder works but the old LED's are barely readable. This was fine for basic test flying, but with eventual light IFR or even VFR flight following, it proved to be a challenge getting the correct squawk codes set. An EFIS and moving mapping coming too. The kneeboard worked fine with my GPS/Control Vision equipped Dell Axim X51v. Never needed a chart - though they were in the plane.

3/2/2009 - Personal Cruiser Kit #0010 "A" goes out the door. Kit's B, C and D to follow.

It is amazing that from the 76" x 4" x 47" 94 lb box shown above the airframe below is produced. $139 in shipping from Chicago to California.

12/7/2008 - Personal Cruiser is back together. Nav lighting installed and a landing light. New radios installed. Waiting for good weather for flying. Cabin heat, wheel pants and additional fairings next.

This is not the LSA version - as we should get close to 170 mph when all the fairings are installed.

8/9/2008 - The Personal Cruiser is undergoing final painting. Hope to back in the air in 2-3 weeks.

Our new builder in Canada - going gang busters on PC #009 - fuselage together in a couple weeks

Personal Cruiser Kit's are $9,300 - in the air for $18,500 - the kit requires 800 hours to assemble - but stay tuned for a super fast build.

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7/16/2008 - The Personal Cruiser is undergoing many systems changes in order to support our kit builders and to improve its all around utility. Increased Fuel load, improved brakes, Nav lighting, new radios and control stick are just to name a few. On top of that the plane is undergoing a complete paint job. I haven't ruled out Osh this year but with all the work to remain - it is doubtful. We should be back in the air by mid-August if we don't make it to Osh. Stay tuned.

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4/11/2008 - Sun-n-fun 2008 Update (From Chicago). The Personal Cruiser was ready to go on Wednesday this past week to make the trip from Chicago to Lakeland, FL. I departed in the afternoon hoping to get into northern Georgia by sunset and about 100 miles into the trip, the integrated handheld radio decided not to continue charging and went dead. I headed back to the home airport at Waukegan. I used my cell phone to pick up a clearance to land from the tower which made for an uneventful return.

The weather for the week provided for one decent day of flying and Wednesday was it. The trip would have been nice all though the deluge of rain and the unofficial renaming of the event to Mud-n-Fun eased the pain of missing it.

- new fuel cell worked great - now with nearly 16 gallons available - 500 mile legs are possible.

- Weight and Balanced worked as planned including a heavy pilot (250lbs, its been a long winter!) and 25 lbs in the baggage area plus 15.5 gals of fuel. The wt. and Bal. was verified with digital scales and was still at 34% and 36% is max. The new conformed fuel tank moves the fuel forward and also the CG was helped with relocating the battery and ELT to the front of the plane.

- New exhaust system with a more effective carb heat worked perfectly providing a good 20-25c increase from ambient temperature. This will most likely improve when the bottom cowling is faired in. Currently the heat muff pulls in some of the outside air. With bottom faired in, warmed air from the engine compartment will feed the heat muff.

William Wynne presented the idea of using the standard factory Corvair exhaust logs for an internal exhaust. I used two "shortys" which just fit in the cowling. A small bump will be added soon to enclose them completely into the cowling. I had the 2 to 1 exhaust fabricated by Jim Quinn's Cassis Service Unlimited - located right next to airport, his work is typically highlighted in the drag racing world and most recently by creating the worlds fast Kirkland Cobra. Needless to say the work is professional and well thought out. The mild steel will be ceramic coated after a few more hours of flight. So far it has three successful hours on it.

The idea to use a "pull-off" muffler from a sport bike came from our lead builder David Voit. These are plentiful and fairly light weight. The ID is 2" and easily provides a free flowing exhaust. It is has greatly reduced the sound inflight - though bystanders will miss the music of the open stacks.

- With the new internal exhaust came the installation of a Bosch O2 sensor and an indicator from SDS. It worked great and ensured the perfect stoichiometry.

-Modify the cowling for Ram air induction to pressurize the carb box and close up old exhaust stack holes.

-Nav and Landing lights. (LED Nav's and strobes with a single HID landing light coming)

3/11/2008 - Vision-4/Freedom progress webpage completely updated. New exhaust being finished this week.

2/29/2008 - Added Forum links to Vision and Cruiser information pages. New tail wheel spring added to Vision parts catalog.