I can confirm that a KR with one person and a 2180 VW will climb on two cylinders, but the pucker factor is much greater than loosing two on a Vair for sure.
>ML On the Corvair you could blow a spark plug out on takeoff and it wouldn't be much of an issue. Ask Bill Clapp, who's done that twice. Steve Makish took off from SNF headed home and noticed a little miss, but it wasn't concerning enough to land....he continued to fly all the way home. One of his cylinders wasn't working because the pushrod had come loose due to geometry issues. I've always expected that losing a plug on takeoff in a four cylinder was going to put you in the weeds, and I may be right. Fortunately this is not usually a problem, and we do know how to prevent it.
