3 hours ago, dlworley said:

I...between my significant other and I we are about 380-390 and it is pushing the max front seat weight limit.... I will be flying solo some, but 90% of my flight time will be with her and/or a 3rd passenger as well.

I'm obviously partial to canards, and besides being cheaper to build than an RV-10, they're a lot cheaper to operation. But in any case, 380 - 390 is NOT pushing the max front seat weight limit, because there IS no front seat weight limit (ignore the 400 lb. limit Nat stated - it's not based on anything other than him accidentally taking off once with two people in the front seat without taking his ballast out and scaring himself on the takeoff roll). What there _IS_ is a forward CG limit. With 390 lb. in the front seat (call it 400 lb, as you'll probably both be clothed and have other crap with you) in MY plane you'd be at about a CG of 97.8 at landing - about 0.3" aft of the fwd CG limit. If most of your flying would be with 2 folks and 400 lb. in the front, I'd recommend NOT shortening the canard, but leaving the 3" on each side, and moving your CG range forward by 1" - 1.5". With a 200 lb. pilot (again, in MY plane) you'd then need about 40 lb. of ballast in the nose when flying solo to keep the CG forward of the NEW limit of 101", rather than the current limit of 102".

The biggest issue will be whether you will fit, side to side. And this can only be answered by finding one and sitting in it.

Don't plan on moving the seats. I'm 5'-10" and the rudder pedals are in the perfect location.

I've seen couples who are clearly over 200# each in a cozy 4. So, it is certainly possible.

I'd suggest a trip to Airventure and take a look at all the options. I did. It confirmed I made the right choice. For me, the Cozy is very comfortable. So comfortable I feel like napping every time I hop in. Of course, I'm thinner than most.

If I had $250K to spend, I'd buy the RV-10. 

I have been doing some research on building my own plane for years.  I have bounced back and forth between an RV-10 and Cozy Mark IV.  The RV-10 obviously is much more expensive and the Cozy Mark IV is more affordable to build and I personally like some of the specs better.  Plus it just looks much better than the RV-10 ; ).  Anyways, between my significant other and I we are about 380-390 and it is pushing the max front seat weight limit.  I have tried to find some other threads in reference to this, but most also talk about moving the seats forward or back due to height issues.  We are both around 5'7" and 5'9" so that isn't an issue we have.  Just the weight.  Now with that being said is moving the seats and changing the CG still the answer to my problem as well or do we just need to look at a different aircraft option?  I will be flying solo some, but 90% of my flight time will be with her and/or a 3rd passenger as well.  Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

What are the fliers finding for elevator defection at their max cruise speed?

On 10/11/2019 at 7:10 AM, tfulwider said:

Hello Justin!  A good friend of mine lives in Melbourne as well.  Best of luck on your build!

 

 

Hey Terry, thanks for the welcome. Melbourne is a great area 👍