A preHy sight over Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh, WI. Bill reckons that he has given more modern-day folks their first open cockpit ride behind an OX-5 than just about anyone in his Kelly green and silver KR-31 .
made these to fly! Over the years Bill's KR-31 has to be about the most active OX-5 powered airplane on the fly-in circuit, and he feels it has quite a bit of time left in it to keep running reliably. The OX-5 in this KR-31 has it's data plate stamped with it's manufacture date - 4-29-18! "It's a very reliable old engine if it's properly taken care of, and given the TLC and so forth that something like
that needs," Bill related. "You have to realize that it's 73 years old, but I don't have any qualms about getting in the airplane and flying it almost anywhere that I'd like to go with it, such as Osh kosh, which is a special treat for me." Charlie Harris of the National Biplane Association and I both agree that Bill feels it is so trustworthy primarily be cause he knows the OX-5 inside and out, having overhauled it and main
The forward cockpit, with room for two passengers, sits behind the distinctive vertical radiator for the OX-5. 14 FEBRUARY 1992
tained it over the years. Developing 90 hp at 1400 rpm, (remember that a Continental C-85 needs 2575 rpm to generate 5 less horse power) Bill cruises the KR-31 at about the same horsepower showing 75 mph on the airspeed while holding 1350 rpm on the tachometer. To extract 90 horse power out of an engine that produces so much of it's power with strong low end torque, a large copper-tipped chuck of
Just like a Jenny's gear, with a solid axle but with metal struts.