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| Click On This Picture To Go To Coop's Website |
Clearly, one of the most important decisions when building an airplane is the engine
you choose and who you choose to build it. I did a ton of research and talked to lots of people.
Rob Irvine, is a fellow BushCaddy Builder and someone I have a lot of respect for in
regard to his overall knowledge and engineering skills and he hooked me up with A&P Engine Builder, Ron Cooper.
"Coop" as he is known, runs Cooper Aviation, located in a hangar behind his house at Glover Field, which is
a grass airstrip in Fowlerville, Michigan. Coop also has a website: http://www.coopersaviation.com/
After several hours of conversation with Coop I decided he was my man. I was
impressed by his knowledge but also just as important was his willingness to share it...even with a novice like me.
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| Coop's Hangar & Shop |
Coop quickly located an O-235 L2C core and went through the whole process with me of what
the rebuild would entail, what parts would be replaced outright, what parts would be sent out for testing, pricing and schedule.
The price was more than reasonable and I would end up owning a zero time engine with new Superior Millenium Cylinders,
new Skytec Lightweight Starter, new B&C 40 Amp Alternator, all AD's complied with, all new bearings, seals and gaskets,
reground crank, crank and rods magnafluxed and everything dynamically balanced.
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| Coop In The Machine Shop |
I have to give you a little history on Coop. He is the
only A&P engine builder I know who operates out of a wheelchair. Coop is a paraplegic, resulting from an aviation
accident a long time ago. He also flys his Cessna Cardinal with hand controls. Aviation is his life. He
is also quite a character with a great sense of humor. Something tells me that Coop always sees the glass as half full
and doesn't spend a lot of time pissing and moaning about things.
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| Tiger Moth At Coop's Shop |
I decided that rather than ship the engine, I would drive
out to Michigan and pick it up. I really wanted to finally meet Rob in person and wanted to meet Coop as well...so I
got up early one Friday morning and drove 830 miles. I made it to Coop's hangar at around 7PM that evening.
Meeting these guys for the first time was easy, especially Rob, because I felt like I already knew him from all the previous
emails and phone conversations. When I got there, Coop was putting the finishing touches on my mags and Rob was
working on making the Powerflow Exhaust fit the O-235.
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| My Zero Time O-235 L2C w/Superior Millenium Cylinders & Powerflow Exhaust |
This was a surprise and a nice one. Coop and I had discussed the possibility of the
Powerflow fitting but I wasn't sure it would. A few tweeks by Rob and Coop and we were in business, this should add
several horsepower to the 118 HP engine, it also sounds great.
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| Rob Checking The Oil Level |
The goal was to get the finishing touches on the engine that
night so we could test run it in the morning on a test stand that Rob built. I was kind of a unique customer for Coop,
in that we couldn't put the engine in my airplane to give it a test run, so he and Rob rigged it on the test stand.
That night Rob and his wife Naomi were gracious enough to invite me to their home for a nice
steak and a soft pillow in the guest room...man was I tired.
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| Coop Hard At Work In The Hangar |
The next morning Rob and I were up bright and early and
made our way over to the hangar. Lo and behold the engine was on the stand and all wired up to go...turns out Coop stayed
up until about 3 AM getting it to the point where all we had to do was push the start button.
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| Don, Rob and Coop |
Coop did the honors and hit the starter...there was a cough
and a sputter...a little tweek with the idle screw and VAROOM. It sounded amazingly sweet to my ears. We ran it
a few times then Rob fabricated a transport pallet for me and we loaded the engine in the truck. I headed for home around
4PM. I had been in Fowlerville a total of 21 hours, I was tired but feeling really good about what I was hauling back
home another 830 miles.
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| Winter At Coop's Hangar |
I can't say enough about how both Ron Cooper and Rob Irvine
went out of their way to help me...a veritable stranger...but not in the world of experimental aviation.
Coop was the most informative engine builder I had come
across...he really spent the time explaining the basics to me...and man he has some great stories. Early on in life
he was a policeman. I noticed what appeared to be several divots in his left shoulder and asked him what had happened.
He had gotten in a gun battle with a bad guy who had a sawed off shot gun loaded with double ought buck. I asked him
how the other guy faired and he replied, "I blew his ass away, we were so close our barrels touched, but my aim was better
than his." Somehow I'm not surprised!!!!
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| Coop's Cardinal |
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All Metal, Wheels, Floats Or Skis, Robust
Bushplane
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