Spod didn't fit in a Cozy

[Spodman]

I got to sit in Khalid Shuwayhat's IV at Cowra NSW last weekend. I didn't fit!

 

Knees hard under inst panel & feet flat on floor under rudder pedals. Couldn't move either. Canopy closes, with head on shoulder. Plenty of bum room, but VH-OUR is 3" wider at the seatback than plans.

 

Not sure all is lost, but I wish I'd thought to ask Khalid to take the cushion out to see how much room was possible. I had already discussed my size with Nat, and one of the things he suggested was a thinner cushion, and Khalid's looked a little thicker in the back than the plans.

 

Wasn't as much room in the back as I expected either.

 

I was all keen to follow up Drew's order to ASS with one of my own, but now think I may do some more figgering first.

[Jon Matcho]

Knees hard under inst panel & feet flat on floor under rudder pedals.

Yeah, even for smaller people the knee-instrument panel area is tight. I'm going to cut mine higher I think, after I have a chance to sit in my own plane!

 

Couldn't move either. Canopy closes, with head on shoulder.

A common mod is to raise the canopy an inch or two. You can also move the seatback aft an inch or two. You should be fine by then.

 

Plenty of bum room, but VH-OUR is 3" wider at the seatback than plans.

 

...

 

Wasn't as much room in the back as I expected either.

Chances are you won't have much going on in the back anyway beyond luggage. I wouldn't worry about it, but you can widen the rear as well like I did (but I kept my seatback the same size as the Cozy IV).

 

I was all keen to follow up Drew's order to ASS with one of my own, but now think I may do some more figgering first.

Nah... go for it, you'll be fine; this figuring is straightforward. You still need bulkheads, and can build half of them without worrying about widening. If you want to copy Khalid's design, just add 1.5" to each side of the seatback, landing gear, and firewall bulkheads (although you're looking at a custom cowl, but no big deal).

 

Go... get off your dime.

[brendanw]

As a data point, I'm a hair over 6' 1" and I weigh in at about 210. I only have a soft, 3" thick cushion on the front seats. Everything has been constructed to the original Cozy Mk IV plans. I fit 'snugly' into place with just enough room to turn my head side to side without hitting the canopy. I have a tough time wearing a hat in there. Also, I have size 12 feet, so I'll be flying shoeless (wool socks though) so that my shoes dont interfere with all the hardware down by the pedals. Leg room is snug but sufficient. My $0.02

[Neverquit]

Sounds like the simplest fix without too much confusion of modification is to go a few inches taller on the fuse sides. All things left the same you could keep everything building to the W/L. This would let you scooch the seat back an inch and move the rudder pedals forward an inch.

[Zulu Yankee]

I am 6'2'' and approx 210 lbs, size 11 shoes. I have flewn twice with a friend of mine in his Cozy, which was constructed almost 100% according to plans.

 

Getting in and out of the Cozy takes a little bit of planning, but it was very comfortable once I was in. We flew 8 hours in one day and I felt no ill effect. Not like I do when I fly a C-172. On one trip, I flew a 4 hour cross country in a C-172 and just wanted to take a nap afterwards.

 

I am going to make the IP opening on mine a little larger too, just to help with getting in and out. I plan on raising and widening the canopy also, but have no plans on how to do that yet.

 

HOWEVER, the vanilla Cozy makes a VERY comfortable traveling machine. Be assured of that.

[Drew Swenson]

I am sure that you already took a close look at the seat cushion. A guy like me (5'10) sits on 5ish inches of seat cushion.

 

I am all for a wider canopy.