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spent saturday making less parts, combined the upper winglet and wing, piece o cake, much easier than it appears. We will spend the next four weeks combining parts, had 12 wing parts, now have 11 and will end up with 4, we are on a serious parts reduction binge.

 

In the forseable future we will end up with 2, airplanes that is.

 

Mike

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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The "foam" is 2lb / cu ft Extuded Polystyrene, with a retardant. There is ONLY 1 known manufacturer of the - DOW. There are several extruding plants who make different size blocks.

 

Mine are marketed as "buoyancy foam" for building floating docs. I have a couple of pieces from Wicks, and they are the same weight/ft3, and about the same cell size. I called DOW for the foam since they are local to me here in Canada (and I know a chemist there, who checked a sample of the Wicks foam for consistency)

 

They referred me to the closest "dealer", a hardware store 2 miles away who delivered 8 pieces in a couple of weeks. Only 6 were used for the wings and winglets.

 

These blocks are NOT dressed - they have rounded irregular sides which clean up really nice with a 9' hotwire. Join together roughly with sticks, and add about 4 inches at the front of one end, do the math and geometry for the 5.63 over 28" cross-span at 1 end (3.5" block offset) and FC1, FC2 and it's forward section can be cut from 2 pieces.

 

Both outboard pieces can be cut from another pair of blocks.

 

I didn't do the additional layout, but sure thought about re-working all of the angles (it's NOT a simple translation)to cut each section so the natural block split is the shear web break, but that could be calculated, but at that point I believe all 8 blocks would be required. With my layout using the TE normally, there are "inches" left over, but of course FC1 and FC2 can't help but match as it is only a single cut!

 

And I didn't have to pay for customs and shipping across half the country!

 

/dan

/dan

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So who sells "dressed" foam, unless you call size 12 imprints in foam dressed?

 

The first step in using the foam from wicks and aircraft is squaring up, it is also the perfect thing to do to get familiar with a hot wire saw, by the time the blocks are dressed, you are trained in its use.

 

Mike

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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  • 4 weeks later...

This making less parts is hard, we keep having to make more parts to make less, we started out with 12 parts, 4 wings/lowerwinglets/upperwinglets. We have one wing with upper and lower attached and two with upper attached so thats 7 parts right, well noooooooo - not in plane building, the parts are like rabbits, we had to cut out the airlerons, add 4 parts and now that the upper and lower winglets are starting to be attached we have to cut off the rudders, thats 4 more parts. We got parts all over the place and the workshop is filling up fast.

 

we have one wing on a fuselodge horozontal, one on the floor vertical(working on the aleron cutout), one on saw horses and two on the bench, one on top of the other right side up and up side down, we have to step on buckets and stools to work on them, the place is starting to look like a cramped 1920 airplane factory

 

Ain't life good

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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wait a minuite, thats 5 wings! we HAD one on the saw horses, but then we put it on top of the one on the bench to work on it upside down! The upper winglet is 4 feet tall and our saw horses are not

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, today in the shop we had a ball, three partners, three slaves, new ones at that. There is no more fun than handing a new slave a part and telling them to cut it or form it. They are petrified they will screw it up and get a lashing. No lashings today. Slaves cutting excess glass off with a dremmel and disk, sanding foam, cutting foam, cutting glass, thick micro, thin micro, wetting out glass, no lashings given that I know of, all work performed like an expert was doing it.

Wing one, strobe/position light getting installed, wing # 2, lower winglet installed, wing number 3, outside 11 layer layup, wing # 4 aileron final fited and upper winglet bondoed on. Airleron # one end capped, aileron #2 other end capped, aileron # 3 tube and hardpoints inletted and aileron # 4 steel rod microed on.

 

At lunchtime, we had a feast, three chickens, bean soup to die for, served palacial style.

 

Boy this plane building is hard work, don't start, you won't want it to end.

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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Stop it Mike. You're making it sound like fun.

Everyone will want to do it.

 

Sounds like you guys are making some serious progress with all the slaves. My plane, OTOH is built by me with the occasional push, pull or lift from my wife. No one to bounce ideas off, no one to catch me before I screw up. No one to do the all work for me. :mad:

 

I think you're cheating.

 

My progress today consisted of finishing off installing the heater and AC pipes in the nose, plumbing the vacuum line and rewiring a landing light because I'd trapped the wire between two pipes. Tomorrow I'll repair the nose well and heat duct where I had to cut them. Then, with a bit of luck, it'll be back to wiring "stuff".

 

You think you're making progress. Just wait till you get to all the "little stuff"!

I can be reached on the "other" forum http://canardaviationforum.dmt.net

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Wellllllllllllll, just post on the open house thread, we have had 3 slaves from that listing, one from iowa and 2 locally( an hour or so drive), the two from today are coming back next week, one bringing a wife, guess we can't use technical terms like just an RCH more then.

We really have done it right, in my book, we are half way between the old farts that hang at the hanger sorta working and you.

But it really makes it fun, between the 6 of us today, we scrapped up more than 1 brain and dispelled many newby notions and more than a gallon of apprehension

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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Maybe I should mention that the solo approach has been largely by choice. One reason was that, during about half of the 18 months it took to build the airframe, I was working on the project 100 - 120 hours / week. Getting people to help at 3am can be a bit difficult.

 

Another reason was that I was burned by a "helper" early on. Another builder visited for a weekend. He had "worked with Burt" and knew everything. We made the canard jigs and cut the canard cores together. I made the mistake of letting him "lead" the way into chaos. On Monday, after he left, I scrapped the cores and ordered new foam. That weekend of help cost me a week and about $100.

 

You're approach is interesting, and I'm sure it's very helpful to you're "slaves" who get a good jump up the learning curve, but to some extent it must turn the exercise into one of management rather than one of construction. I like the satisfying feeling that I built this thing and, to be really honest, I enjoyed the construction side of it so much that I didnt want to share.

 

Having said all that, I'd sure like to work a weekend in your shop just for the fun of meeting and working with a bunch of people of like mind. Maybe when mine's done I'll fly up for a visit and give everyone a Cozy ride.

 

If you don't beat me into the air that is ...

I can be reached on the "other" forum http://canardaviationforum.dmt.net

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Well, you've spocken of this before and it is too bad you got burned early on, we did too, but we did it ourselves. One week we were glassing the inside bottom on the bench, piecs o cake. A few weeks later or maybe the next week, we glassed the inside bottom of the next plane, piece o cake, we didn't need to review the plans, this was a simple layup, WRONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. when we were laying it up it didn't seem right, then it struck me, the front edge of the first bottom had beed radioused and the glass hung down, we forgot to radious the edge and now it was too late.

Fortunately I had a partner present as it is hard to kick yourself in the aaa, I mean behind. We could kick each other, partners are good that way.

The solution was simple, but the lesson was profound.

 

READ and review the plans EVERY time, even the fourth time on a wing, that way when you have the wing cores glued together, you don't have to fabricate a 4 foot drill to drill out the elec channel you forgot to hot wire out CORRECTLY when you were wire cutting the cores, put one templet the wrong place.

Oh did i mention we did that, by that time we had 3 of us, took on the 3 partner 1 year in, and all three could kick each other.

 

Like I said, partners are good that way and 2 of us have size 12's.

 

The great thing about partnering and visitors is it makes it really hard to not build. We all know that 20 or so percent of these planes are completed, I think with the right partner set up that percentage will go up to 80 or 90, I like to design for sucess and this is my design.

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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We had a ton o fun at Mikes Saturday.

 

If that was what slavery was like, I would bet it would still be legal. I really like Mikes idea of not "coming to see the poject". We only came if we are willing to work, and they put us to work. Honestly the idea kind of ruffled our feathers. It had a tinge of "you can only look if you pay for it". Having done it i would recomend it to everyone who is even thinking about building a plane. With a warning! You will want to build this plane if you do.

 

Mike, Dave and Thane seemed very confident we would do fine, this seemed to imply that we couldnt screw it up so bad that they couldn't fix it. It was a lot of fun. I dont know if Mikes a better plane builder or promoter. If any of you have projects dont "show it" to people, get them over to work on it. Not "help you with it". I think if everyone had the experience that we did saturday Nat couldn't copy his plans fast enough.

 

I have helped build a RV8 fast build kit. This was very easy compared to that. I just watched the videos they lent me and I was extreamly impressed at the ease and quality of this process. I am sold on a Co-Z now. I better start posting in the "reasond not to build" thread or i will have to go buy a set of plans.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This less parts thing is going backwards, we started out with 4 wings, 4 airlerons and two lower winglets today.

 

Worked our buts off, only had one extra slave, I mean volunteer today, and glassed one aileron, attached a lower winglet, (one less part) inside internal upper winglet on wing 4, straightened out the foam situation (hard to throw out the styafoam chunks that you will never ever need again (saved 1/2 for later throwing out) and then we blew it. We cut out two rudders, therby increasing our parts count by 1 for the day. We glassed the lower rudder pocket and are going a little out of sinc with the plans. On the indirect advice of Señor Slade, we are going to quasi install the hidden belhorn hinges, before we glass up pocket, If it to be appears the way to go, I'll post it in the chapter hints when done.

 

So next week, we should have one more part, as another rudder will be ready to be removed at that time. At this rate, next year we will have 52 plane parts instead of 2

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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  • 2 weeks later...

The wings are slowly coming to and end, each week progress is made and the end is coming, it's a weird thought, after a year of wing/aileron/rudder/verticle winglets a new era is going to start soon. The airlerons are ready to install, 3 of the 4 rudders are ready for installation, 4 th one is two weeks away from ready. and then they are done!

 

We will be able to start a new chapter, look at new instructions for the first time instead of the 4 th time.

 

In a way it's a relief to move on and in a way it's not. For a year it's been very repitious and fairly easy, to do everything 4 times, now it's all new again.

 

Soon it's bye bye wings, Hello turtle deck

 

BTW 1 less part today, lower winglet attached on last wing

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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In a way it's a relief to move on and in a way it's not. For a year it's been very repitious and fairly easy, to do everything 4 times, now it's all new again.

 

When doing the turtleback, be sure to read Wayne Hicks' chapter on this or you could be making four of them too!

I can be reached on the "other" forum http://canardaviationforum.dmt.net

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, we have backed ourselves into a corner now, almost literally and figuritively, the hinges must go on and then this step in the wings will be over. The basement is PACKED with 4 wings, a cozy sandwich(a fuseloge upsidedown with another one right side up on top), two landing gear, two canards. plane workbench,cutting workbench, plain workbench, metal working workbench, epoxy station, tools, turtledeck form with foam installed, two main spars and 2 to 6 people!

 

The f'in hinges start goin on saturday and then maybe "LESS PIECES"

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, all that worying about installing the ailerons was wasted, it was so simple

 

1 Go to relatives for easter

 

2 Let partners do it

 

See, isn't that easy, now what do i have to do this weekend to let them do the other two ailerons

 

LESS PARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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Well - if you "really" need something to do/some place to go, I have a pair of wings that need building!

 

The cores are done, one has a shear-web, but it needs a new outboard 18 inches after shop tent roof collapse a couple weeks ago - something about 6 inches of Ice Pellets and Freezing Rain. Shop is re-roofed now, and temps are back to "working" levels - so full speed ahead!

 

Of course, I can only do up to before the top skin on each before another inspection!

 

/dan

/dan

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No problem, whats another wing after 4, just bring it to dave's, take it into the family room, move all of the furniture out of the way, go into the basement, cut a hole in the ceiling, lower the wing into the basement, go to iowa to hanks and get our wing jig back, close up the hole in the floor, roll and restretch the carpet and we will just think we forgot to finish a wing and complete it for you.

 

See, wasn't that simple.

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well great. This is the plane I want to build and here someone was been building one on weekends (for the last 6 years)10 minutes from where I lived. (I moved last summer) I could have helped and learned on someone elses before moving onto my own.

 

Maybe there's time to learn yet. There's still more work to do...

Mike LaFLeur - Cozy MkIV #1155
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  • 1 month later...

well we started off making 4 wings, then cut out 4 ailerons then made 4 vert stab then made 4 lower winglets then attached 4 vert stabs, 4 lower winglets, 4 rudders and 4 ailerons to finally get down to 4 wings, only took 6 weeks of saturdays. he he he.

 

So for all of you potential slaves, i mean helpers out there, this shop is getting closer and closer to being done with glass and foam work, better sign up soon or new shops will have to open thier doors.

 

t turtledeck glassed both sides, one glassed inside sooooooooooo the turtledeck jig will need a home soon. coming back hank or will mike beat you to it??

 

Enjoy the build

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

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Dust;

 

I think we can negotiate a deal here! I will be done with the fuselage templates shortly. I can send Mike the templates, and I'll highjack the turtleback jig and execute a handoff after I'm done with it. Nothing like saving a tree or two and sharing the wealth of "other peoples" efforts. Isn't collaboration and sharing a wonderful thing!

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