Panther Sport Aircraft Forums

We have demonstrated a rate of climb of at least 1200 fpm, not bad for 100hp.

First off, hello to all. I'm Jon, and I'm finishing up a Corvair powered Sonex. A fresh MA3SPA carb is on my work bench and I have on order one of Dan's billet crankshafts, along with some other parts - I'm trying to make my own Cleanex replica.
All this new Panther stuff reminds me of the fun times back when Sonex was first getting up a head of steam. Also, nice landing Tony.
I'm finally coming to the end of a Sonex build, and now Dan's team had to go and develop my perfect airplane. I thought I'd be done building airplanes after all this, but I have visions of a Corvair powered, tri-gear Cougar keeping me awake at night.
I thought I'd start with a post here because of the VW/Corvair content. I have a perspective that may be relevant.

I had a Corvair on my Sonex, with five hours of [very fun] ground run time ,and I was working on finishing my plane. I let Mark Langford's crank issues get into my psyche and I rationalized my way into a re-power using an Aerovee, which turned out to be a one year, expensive detour from my objectives. I thought the Aerovee was a path to a proven, sorted, sure-thing deal that would get me flying, albeit with less horsepower. Nobody can say I'm not willing to try really hard to do it right, although at this point my wife would probably say I'm just an idiot.
After putting together a Corvair engine, I found the VW to be lacking, quality-wise. VW aircraft engines, in my opinion, suffer from too many Chinese parts (no offense to the children who make them), and cheap architecture. From burrs on end-play shims to seemingly endless oil leaks, the whole thing felt more like messing around with go-kart parts than putting together a flight worthy engine. The oiling system may be simple, but 100+ psi OP at start up is not my idea of "the hot ticket", when an iffy looking oil cooler is at stake.
I gravitate, probably to a fault, to simplicity, so I understand the attraction as much as anyone, but I really think that the primary factor in what makes for a reliable flight engine is not as much the configuration (# of cylinders, 2/4 stroke, liquid/air cooled, weight, etc.) as the quality and duration of its development. The 'Vair has been flying since 1960 and it's been developed by some truly astute people. I believe that's why it works so well.

My untrained math regarding the weight thing:
My Sonex may need 40 hp ? to sustain level flight. With a Corvair, that means >60 hp left for climbing. If the 80 hp claim is true (I doubt it), a VW has 40 hp left for climbing - 50% less (at best). Climb ability is a safety factor thing, in my opinion. Oh yeah, it's a fun factor thing, too.

The experimental aircraft world seems to be stocked with charlatans preying on dreamers, so I find the Panther way of doing things to be refreshing and exciting.

Happy building everybody.

Jon Gougar
Antigo, Wisconsin