AeroCanard Plans Builders

[Jon Matcho]

Am I missing something here?

 

Maybe the errors you mentioned. Are the AeroCanard print errors obvious? (e.g. your example of AN-S versus AN-5) Or are they errors that could easily be followed and lead to a screw-up before they were detected?

Yeah, you left this off your list of 'pros', and this is a BIG one IMO. Is that AN-5 or should it be AN-8?

 

Has anybody compiled a list of errata, if AeroCad hasn't?

I know of no list of errata. I think Carlos and I are supposed to be doing that for Al, but I can tell you that I have not been religious about it at all. Also, when I do submit information, I cannot tell whether it's filed into Al's Junk Mail or not.

 

Regarding the $500. One might say that if the AeroCanard plans are worth $500, then using your list of 'pros', the Cozy Mark IV plans are worth $499. However, considering the potential for annoying errors (to say the least), the Cozy plans are worth MORE than the AeroCanard plans.

 

I rationalize my approach as follows:

• I am building a modified Cozy Mark IV from Cozy Mark IV plans.
• I am incorporating a widened rear modification inspired by the AeroCanard FG design (which is just a modification to the Cozy Mark IV), for which I have reasonable documentation for.
• The result will NOT be an AeroCanard FG, as I've had to adjust some of the measurements provided by the AeroCanard plans (ex. landing gear bulkheads).

My cost for my "plans" was $1,000. If I had to do it over again, I'd just spend $500 and build a relatively Cozy Mark IV. If I had the energy, I'd modify using my own know-how as part of my 2nd plane.

 

You may not need both plans -- Carlos Fernandez seems to be doing fine without -- and it's possible that me having the Cozy plans will amount to nothing more than a distraction in the end. However, right now, I appreciate being able to cross reference between both sets of plans.

 

Hope that helps.

[malibuskiboats]

Hi AeroCanard community!

 

We have our bird! Took an early morning flight down to Houston, Texas last Tuesday. Had the bird loaded on the truck by noon and headed for home in Maryland-- 1,467 miles away.

 

By Wednesday evening, we were back home in Maryland. Check out the pictures as we unload and document AC-000018

 

http://www.rrrrpeters.org/Pictures/plane/Plane.htm

 

The goal is to have the plane at OSH 2008.

 

Thanks go out to many of you who I've chatted with (don't worry, I got your name now-- I'll be asking LOTS of questions)

 

If any of you plans builders wish to see how the factory might have done something, just ask and I'll get you a picture or you can come by and inspect it yourself.

 

- Richard

[jpolenek]

Richard;

Thank you for posting all those excellent high-resolution photos!!!

Joe

[Waiter]

Some Assembly Required.

 

Looks good

 

Waiter

[argoldman]

Looks great.

 

The first thing you have to do is get rid of that manual nose gear mechanism and replace it with an electric.

 

From those pix, the workmanship seems to be good.

 

The fuselage seems to be in the proper place in your house, in the living room!

 

My Aerocanard SX kit is on its wheels, two years into construction with about 8 months left to go. If you need any clarification, give me a shout. Perhaps if somebody gives me some dual on posting pix on the web, I can get some posted.

[malibuskiboats]

Rich,

 

If you're looking for help on posting pictures of your plane, I'm willing to help you learn. First you need some web space.

 

I recommend 1and1. If you use my link on the next line, I even get $5.00 credit if you sign up http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=14078633

 

It's cheap too. From like $2.99 / month for 10Gigs worth of space to the $7.99 /month plan that gives you 250G of space and three domain names instead of one. It's all a great deal if you ask me! Here's a link to compare packages: http://order.1and1.com/xml/order/Hosting;jsessionid=251C03CFA721D70C927733E6143F32BD.TC60b?__frame=_top&__lf=Static

 

Anyway, get the web space and then I'll help you post some pictures to your new domain web site! Even at 10G, that's a few hundred pictures in high resolution!

 

- Richard

[malibuskiboats]

As Rich was saying, the first thing we need to do is make that nose wheel an electric retract. No problem! It is on our list. In fact, we're making all the wheels retracts! We have already spoken with Al Aldrich of AeroCad and he said, "...if you decide to go with the RG let me know [and] we can try to help you out with part for either Infinity or Velocity style system."

 

Question: Are there any feelings in this group as to which system would be a better choice? I personally like the looks of the Velocity system, but, I've heard that the Infinity retracts can be modified even for soft field operations (a definite plus for me!). The Cozy Girls don't like working with the people at Infinity-- seems they had some trouble getting their gears after paying for them.

 

The one other mod that we are very adamant about is a Ballistic Recovery System. We have spoken with the nice people at BRS and of course, they have no system designed for the Cozy (or AeroCanard for that matter). But, they are willing to work with us. We also discussed this with Al and he replied, "... we were actually working on plans for this on possible AeroCanard UAV model but have not done any testing yet. I will try to get more information about this and get back with you on this soon." Is there anyone else in this group this is working on a BRS system or would like to get involved in the design of such for their bird? A team effort may go a long way to get this done.

 

As for engine, we're thinking about the Superior XP Plus (IO-360-A1AC2 Fuel Injected w/ Roller lifters). But, the Cozy Girls have us looking very hard at a Rotary? Again, we're looking to ideas.

 

While we are looking for info on all of the above, we do not plan on making any hard decisions until after OSH when we have a chance to see the latest and greatest out there and talk with the vendors of such.

 

I noticed that about 75 people read the post to this group from yesterday. I'll bring this tread back to life yet as I need help with this project

 

- Richard

[jpolenek]

Richard;

I'm planning the Cozy4 project (without actual plans yet) and want to determine if a completed wing will fit through a basement window. Next time you're doing something with your wings, would you mind measuring the widest point (i.e. longest chord length)?

Joe

[malibuskiboats]

Hi Joe,

 

Soon after dinner tonight, I wondered down to my work area to measure those wings for you. I think the number you need is 44", and even that would be a squeeze to get out a window. Remember that the leading edge has about a 3.5" radius and thus you're going to need a little more clearance if you're trying to get that wing out the window diagonally.

 

I'm assuming that you have seen my wings via the web link a few posts ago. These wings are what comes out of AeroCads molds. Nothing has been done to them.

 

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away.

 

- Richard

[argoldman]

Richard;

I'm planning the Cozy4 project (without actual plans yet) and want to determine if a completed wing will fit through a basement window. Next time you're doing something with your wings, would you mind measuring the widest point (i.e. longest chord length)?

Joe

 

Richard,

 

It is possible that your wing will fit out of your basement. I built my dragonfly wings in my basement, as a matter of fact, I built all of the fuselage parts in the basement and assembled most of them in the garage.

 

HOWEVER.............

 

Getting the parts out may be a problem based on how deep in the ground your windows are, their width. and available height plus the angle that the part has to be to get it out of the window.

 

What I did was to build light mock-ups of the parts with which I had concern and successfully tried to get them out of the windows. Once success was suspected, I merrily went along my way to build the wings/ canard. When it came time to get them out of the basement, I hadn't considered the actual thickness of the wings and when trying to get them out of the windows, through the window wells, the angle necessary to clear caused the part of the wing that was in the basement to jam against the floor while the outside part jambed against the window well and the top of the window frame.

 

Frustrated, I was just about to rent a jack hammer and make clearance when my 11 yr old son looked at the situation and said, "just dig some dirt away from the back of the window well, make two vertical cuts, bend the tab thus created down, and thus gain the vertical space necessary." After thinking, " go away, kid, you bother me." I reconsidered and indeed extricated the wings in that fashion.

 

Make sure that you have adequate ventilation pumping air outside. That epoxy can be nasty stuff (mgs not withstanding)

[jpolenek]

"just dig some dirt away from the back of the window well, make two vertical cuts, "

That's the plan, if necessary.

 

Make sure that you have adequate ventilation pumping air outside. That epoxy can be nasty stuff (mgs not withstanding)

Yup. I use a respirator whenever I do any epoxy work. To keep the rest of my family from breathing the stuff, I will set up a high CFM bathroom fan exhausted to the outside, with a furnace filter in front of it. That should be enough to put the basement workshop at negative pressure w.r.t. the rest of the house so the direction of airflow is from the house into the basement shop and then outside. The filter will catch sanding dust.

 

BTW argoldman, did you get my private message regarding your choice of epoxy?

 

Joe

[argoldman]

That's the plan, if necessary.

 

 

 

Yup. I use a respirator whenever I do any epoxy work. To keep the rest of my family from breathing the stuff, I will set up a high CFM bathroom fan exhausted to the outside, with a furnace filter in front of it. That should be enough to put the basement workshop at negative pressure w.r.t. the rest of the house so the direction of airflow is from the house into the basement shop and then outside. The filter will catch sanding dust.

 

BTW argoldman, did you get my private message regarding your choice of epoxy?

 

Joe

I started with the same type of fan in my basement window, I found that it was inadequate (or at least my wife said so due to the smell). I replaced it with a window exhaust fan (can't remember the size although it was the biggest that would fit in the window. That was excellent.

 

There was one problem, however, that didn't show it's face (or other part of it's anatomy) until the winter.

 

When I lit the pilot for my heating system and cycled the furnace, flames shot out of the back of the unit. I quickly shut the heat off and the flames disappeared. Trying it again. I got the same result and surmised that something was wrong. we called a chimney person in, and he came to the conclusion that the chimney had a reverse draft and would have to be dismantled and rebuilt. We were not amused.

 

It all of the sudden hit me that the window fan in the workshop was drawing air, not only from the house, but was drawing air down the chimney.

 

Shutting it off cured the chimney back draft problem. Thereafter, I opened a basement window to replace the air being exhausted.

 

Could you resend the email about the epoxy, things have been rather hectic here lately-- I fired my assistant/office manager and have been running things myself for the last couple of weeks and much has slipped away.

[jpolenek]

I started with the same type of fan in my basement window, I found that it was inadequate (or at least my wife said so due to the smell).(

I'm going to put up a wall to enclose and seal the basement space allocated to me by the "domestic boss":D . Hopefully, that will be enough to maintian the one-way airflow into the shop and out the window.

 

Could you resend the email about the epoxy, things have been rather hectic here lately-- I fired my assistant/office manager and have been running things myself for the last couple of weeks and much has slipped away.

I will start a new thread on this topic, as others may also be interested in your response. (Hopefully, it hasn't already been beaten to death in some other thread that I might have missed.) Don't know how to link to it here so I'll just post it.

 

Joe