<VV> FW: Flying Corvair

[Ad Dijkstra]

well, indeed the picture Matt posted was my inspiration for a Corvair
related
April Fool story.
The story contained lots of details that made it hard to believe at one
hand,
but made it plausible on the other: The winged Corvair was a present from
the US Army for the
husband of our Queen Juliana, Prince Bernhard, a wel known car- and
planelover.
Because the familyname of our Royal Family is "Oranje", the car was painted
orange.
Because an April Fools joke works best if some action is expected, I made up
an auction.
We (CPF?) had to overbid a local brakeryard which would use the car as an
outdoor
eyecatcher. Knowing the Dutch climate, the car would turn to rustdust in a
very short time.
The auction ended exactly on the first of april, but ofcourse I did not use
these exact words.

To my surprise a lot of Corvairlovers on your side of the ocean bought the
story and started
donations. I recall some posts that kept track of the total amount of money
donated.

I posted some stories with 'latest developments' which contained groteske
new facts and hints.
There was an opportunity to use the Flying Corvair as cargo in an
experimental airship on it's
maidenvoyage across the ocean. The name of the airship was an anagram of
April Fool.

It didn't help: the donations kept coming......

I backed off untill april 1 and that same day I confessed.

I didn't get the chance to see much of the reactions, most of which were
positive and
sportsmanlike. One suggested my nickname on VV from there-on would be The
Lying Dutchman.
But some people were angry and I guess one of them dropped me a mailbomb?

Someway or another my mailbox got stuck and I didn't know how to get it
working again.

Later I came back online and on this list, but it wasn't the reactions to
the hoax that
kept me from posting. I just got some new priorities by the names of Steven
(now 7), Cas and Mees (both 5).

Maybe more of a reader than a writer now on VV, I still enjoy my
Corvairhobby and my boys
are as proud as I am with my black '64 convertible.

Happy vairing,

Ad Dijkstra
The Lying Dutchman

Amersfoort
The Netherlands

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org]Namens Gramps
Verzonden: dinsdag 1 april 2008 18:59
Aan: VirtualVairs at corvair.org
Onderwerp: Re: <VV> Flying Corvair


Actually, that photo was posted on VV about 1998 and was intended as a
"Corvairs in Print" type posting, not as an April Fool hoax.

It touched off a long VV thread which included claims that the
Corvair/Airplane had been exported to Europe and that it still existed and
was FOR SALE! VV readers were volunteering to go to Europe to inspect it
while others began to solicit funds to buy it  and tranport it back to the
USA.

The thread went on for a couple weeks as I recall before it unraveled.
Seeing how many now-angry VVers had bought the tale "hook, line, and
sinker", the accidental originator of the Flying Corvair hoax changed his
email address and today lives on in peaceful obscurity.

On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 11:56 AM, <PatioMatt at aol.com> wrote:

>
>
> In a message dated 4/1/2008 7:35:43 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> ddpleau at msn.com writes:
>
> That was  the most sucessfull 4/1 joke ever on this list....
> ==============================================================
>
> TRUTH  is stranger than Fiction!!
>
> _http://www.roadabletimes.com/roadables-modular_coRvair.html_
> (http://www.roadabletimes.com/roadables-modular_coRvair.html)
>
> Matt Nall
>
>
>
>
>
>
> **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
> Home.
> (
>
http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15&ncid=aolhom00
030000000001
> )
>  _______________________________________________
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--
Gramps
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