J.Kahn wrote:
snip
Exactly right Clare. The soob has a bulletproof interior but the use of
liquid cooling plus a drive system adds two complete failure modes that
aren't there at all with the Corvair. With the Corvair if you take care
of the systems design aspect, basically by using sound aircraft design
practices for carburation and ignition,

I question whether LyCon practice, which is actually derived from
small flathead gasoline burning farm tractors- a big single barrel
updraft carb and two farm tractor magnetos- is intrinsically "Sound
design practice".

Remember when the Continental, Lycoming and Franklin engines were
introduced they were not considered sound aircraft design! Real
airplanes used P&W or Wright radials or Allison or Curtiss liquid
cooled inlines-the E-2/J-2 Cub and similar planes were considered the
ultralights of their day, and before WWII one could fly an airplane
without a license if it wasn't registered and flown only within one
state (until the states, except Oregon, outlawed it-which is why the
early homebuilders often moved there.) Nothing smaller than a Waco was
considered a real airplane.