Best path to flying a Long-EZ

[rdooley79]

Hey Guys,

 

I want to own a Long-EZ. Like you all I love the look, the performance and the Rutan heritage. 

 

My wife and I are already very involved in aviation. She supports me in my flying adventures and is a great flying partner. I have my sport pilot, starting with Weight Shift trikes about 12 years ago with over 1100 hours. Needing a more capable aircraft with the ability for off airport airplane camping, last year I bought a Kitfox 4, taildragger. I recently completed my cross training and solo endorsement and am building time in my Kitfox, 30+ hr. and counting. It's a nimble short coupled taildragger. My CFI has said multiple times that if I can fly the kitfox well, I'll be able to fly almost anything.

 

My wife and I are looking forward to many cross country adventures in the Kitfox. While it's capable of 100mph full throttle, straight and level, it's best at 80. That'll get us places but not as far as we'd like to go eventually.

 

I love airplanes and am already thinking about where I want to take my aviation pursuits and so is my wife.

 

My plan is to keep flying both the weight shift trike and kitfox for a couple years, get really good and then transition from Sport Pilot to Private Pilot. Once thats done, I want to get a Long-EZ. My own personal "jet"

 

How feasible is that plan?

Would there be another step between Private Pilot and a Long-EZ, other than being cross trained in the EZ after building some time in a Cessna?

 

 

 

[Kent Ashton]

 If you are comfortable as a Private Pilot, you would have no problem in a canard airplane.   I have checked out guys who were not current and comfortable in spam cans and they had the same problems in my Cozy.  Sure, there are a few different things to learn: the EZs/Cozys are slick and don't have flaps so landing them is a bit like landing a glider but most guys figure that out in a ride or two.   Flying anything, especially cross-country flying, is good experience but if you are comfortable going somewhere in a Cessna, it will be the same in a canard airplane.

 

The downside of a canard is that they're not grass-strip/short runway airplanes so you will not be able to participate in a lot of the smaller flyins.  And compared to the RV crowd, there are not as many of us.  An RV owner can go to an RV event every weekend, fly a lot of formation, even join a demonstration team if he has a mind to.  For some people, this is a significant advantage to an RV.  OTOH, RVs are like Chevys and no matter how nice you built your RV, there are always 10-20 more that look better and nobody walks out of the FBO to look at another RV-6.  ;-)