LongEZ only for southpaws?

[Firefly-YCTTSFM]

As a primarily Cessna pilot (who works on F-15 simulators) I've often wondered about the sidestick configuration:

Isn't it a pain to jot down information (ATIS, waypoints, etc) while flying with the right hand? Do you eventually learn to right lefty (or learn to decipher your chicken scratches)?

[longezdave]

Unless the turbulence is really bad, you just take your hand off the stick (you've already got it trimmed up - right?) and make minor adjustments with the rudders for the short time it takes to do the writing. I can't remember the turbulence being bad enough for this not to work. You may occasionally have to give the stick a jab while still having the pen in your hand a time or two, but for me it is mostly a non-issue that the stick is on the same side as my writing hand. I would NEVER seriously consider re-design to move the stick over to the left. It would be so much trouble for solving a non-issue.

 

You are just about 65 miles south of me. You should consider coming up for a visit.

[Firefly-YCTTSFM]

You are just about 65 miles south of me. You should consider coming up for a visit.

Very nice of you to offer, I might take you up on that some time. At the moment, though, I don't know whether I need to hangar-fly a LongEZ, see how one gets built, or a have a long talk with the wife and accountant of flyer/builder . As in so many things, so far I don't even know enough to ask the right questions!

 

Here's the obvious one: how many hours did it take you?

[longezdave]

The more you get around projects and completed aircraft the more you will learn and the more you will be able to come up with the questions to ask.

 

I suggest that you visit my plane/project when you can and go see Curt Smith, Steve Morse, Crissi (Cozy Girrrls), Lowel Grisham and any others in your area that I am forgetting.

 

I didn't keep track of my building hours. I didn't have anyone close by when I was building and therefore am mostly self taught and it took me much longer than it needed to. I can only guess and say that it probably took me around 3000-4000 hours till first flight. I didn't finish the "finishing" or paint it before first flight. I'm in the process of doing that plus many other small things now and the hours are adding up once again. I'm not very good at the finishing process and think it is taking me much longer than necessary. As you've heard many times before, it's all worth it when you take that first flight.

[Firefly-YCTTSFM]

I suggest that you visit my plane/project when you can and go see Curt Smith, Steve Morse, Crissi (Cozy Girrrls), Lowel Grisham and any others in your area that I am forgetting.

After a little more internet research I think I'll start poking around airports. I've been very impressed by the homebuilt community so far, a lot of experienced people willing to offer advice/critiques/ideas. I suspect when the time comes the hard part will be staying in the shop and trying things rather than running to the PC every time I question myself.

 

At the moment I'm thinking of a pretty standard EZ, but I'll look into the Mazda 13B or O-320 as the building years go by... electric start... maybe a low-end EFIS... and equipped for night VFR. Where was I? Ah, right... research.

 

See ya in the forum.