Is it too late to start an OpenEZ project. Hypothetically.

[loderunner]

Greetings.

 

Let's say that I find Long EZ still to be one of the best planes that anyone could build. And let's say that it seems pretty good fit to my needs and my average eastern european citizen's budget, unlike for example, bigger planes like AeroCanard.

And let's then say fully hypothetically that I'm willing to risk my life and use

OpenEZ drawings entirely on my responsibility. Except for the TerfCD, what else

will I need? Are there some prefabricated parts that are not available or not

easily done in non-industrial environment, missing plans, etc?

[Waiter]

I'm not a machist, but a computer geek. The Company I used to work for, they found that it was sometimes faster and more productive to let me and the other EEs make our own hardware parts. Once we got the prototype working and it looked kind of like what we were after, a machinest would then disassemble the prototype and redo everthing correctly. i.e. bolt holes lined up, corners chaffed, drawings updated (EEs are very bad at this), etc.

 

So, with access to a mill and a lathe, I built most of the parts called out for in the plans, including the more complicated stuff like the throttle assembly, nose gear retract assembly, and the Roncz canard hardware. (remember, I'm by no means a machinest)

 

Although you could certianly build your own Gear Bow and blow your own canopy. These parts are still available from vendors.

 

The CozyGirls;

 

http://www.cozygirrrl.com/aircraftparts.htm

 

manufacture very high quality parts. The only thing I didn't see, was the original Brock Throttle assembly or the Nose gear retract assembly.

 

Check with the CozyGirls, ACS, or, do as many of us have;

 

Replace the original Brock throttle with a real push/pull throttle, and, replace the manual nose retract assembly with oe of the electric units.

 

Regardless, I can't think of any part that can't be bought or built, and the LongEZ will be supported for many years to come.

 

Waiter

[michaelj]

Most of the parts are easily fabricated. I have some experience as a hobby machinist level and still managed to fabricate nearly all the hardware; even the throttle quadrant, electric nose lift, electric elevator trim, bushings etc. The bottom line is, don't let the complexity of these machines discourage you because in reality they are relatively simple. Just understand that it takes dedication and persistence to start and finish an airplane. FYI; my current Long EZ project is getting very close to the flying stage.

[Edge 513]

The only part that will give you any trouble building is the Flux Capacitor.

[Big Steve]

Edge writes:

 

The only part that will give you any trouble building is the Flux Capacitor.

Not to worry Longeze's dont need flux capacitors unless they have changed since I built mine. build on STeve:D

[mfryer]

The only part that will give you any trouble building is the Flux Capacitor.

You only need one of those if you want to purchase an original set of drawings from Rutan or require reasonable gas prices.

[Edge 513]

The reason I say Flux capacitor..is because they are so "Back to the Future". .

The other Saturday at Columbia, Allan AAron[from Australia] and I were watching two airplanes start taxiing to the ramp- Alan says," Boy thats a nice aircraft if you've got to fly a regular looking airplane [it was a Cirrus]...and I said "Yep you could fly thaaaaat, or fly that ROCKET SHAPED thang over there [pointing to Dave's long nosed sharply painted Berkut as it taxied out]". Allan was drooling as he replied "Yeaaaa, and it cost maybe 100 grand compared to the Cirrus at 4+ times more".

 

In my book a long nosed Long Eze looks pretty dang close to that "100 grand" Berkut[maybe 75g], and the rocket shape is just so futuristic....matter of fact the Cozy as well, that if when I first had seen one- I wouldn't have been too surprised if somebody had said there was a F.C. in the back.=] Now with fuel prices climbing faster than a F-16 with a cigar up its butt, maybe we should persuade Marty to get Doc to mass produce those F.C's....I'd like to burn vegetables and beercans in that Mr Fusion device, and save some dough. Doesnt change the fact that these canards look more like star wars than airplanes. I loved a reveiw from last year [cover shown below] of Nats old plane where the reviewer was clearly a RV Curmudgeon, and gave a sticky review that touched on stall speed, Nats control + trim stinction, landing speeds and a seemingly unattainable published220VNE + a couple of other un RV characteristics...but then he captioned one flying front end photo, saying most planes dont ever see the front end of a Cozy, only a diminishing view of the hindquarters. And I would say that of a Long Eze as well. We don't want to look like a conventional airplane...Thank you very much.

BTW- nobody can deny that cover is a GREAT, maybe the best action photo of a Mark IV in flight.IMO. Also, has anyone seen the ACS Mark IV promo film that Burral Sanders had a part in. I love the trailer... Maybe would like to get that DVD.

[TMann]

....it better not be too late!

I'm building a Long-EZ.

[Big Steve]

It is defiantly not to late. I have at least one more Longeze to build before I am done building airplanes. Canards have been around for 30 years and they are still the coolest looking plane on the ramp by far. build on STeve

[Cozy1200]

BTW- nobody can deny that cover is a GREAT, maybe the best action photo of a Mark IV in flight.

Without a doubt it is my favorite photo of a Cozy. It has been on my desktop background since it was released as a monthly calendar by kitplanes. I've since removed the calendar as it's long out of date.

 

Did I mention that it is probably ever so slightly not-authorized, but I've used it on my homepage. It looked great printed in color on the cover of the digital POH. I removed it because I didn't want to use a copyrighted photo on a distributed material.

[loderunner]

Well, I guess I'll start right away searching for flux capacitors. :-)

 

What are roncz canard plans? How they relate to Terf CD and OpenEZ drawings?

[raiki]

What are roncz canard plans?

You need to do some research on this wonderful aircraft. All this info is here at the CZ but I'll regurgitate it especially for you.

 

Originally with the GU canard the LongEZ exhibited some nose down trim with rain or bugs on the canard. Some worse than others. The new Roncz airfoil eliminated that problem. They were released as an option to the LongEZ, but the Cozy has them by default.

 

How they relate to Terf CD and OpenEZ drawings?

They are contained on the Terf CDs, and as yet are not in the OpenEZ templates (which contain the GU canard) but that may be rectified shortly.

 

There is a post by me in another thread (http://www.canardzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3611) that shows if the templates are printed from the Terf CDs and the dimensions match (listed in the post) they are correct.

 

My advice, get the Terf CDs. They contain a wealth of information, and you'll need em if you want to build an OpenEZ, because they contain the LongEZ plans (minus templates). And please, buy the CDs from Terf (dont try and get copies). They provide a service to us. It's money well spent.

[loderunner]

Of course I'll buy TerfCD and I guess I'll buy it as a part of research, even if I decide in the end on aluminum plane. Not because I'm a fan of copyright law or because in Eastern Europe we are much respected by those laws (well, I'm honest at least), but because building a plane if done wrong will get me killed. So I don't see the original TerfCD as unnecessary expense.

The question was if I need anything else that may abruptly disappear from market in the following five years ...

I was just started reading the forum when I ran into a message that said roncz plans are discontinued by RAF and that's why I started this post.

[emteeoh]

Its my understanding (I'm still reading the TERF plans) that ALL parts are detailed in the plans, but that RAF sold the harder to manufacture parts, and/or recommended sources for them. If you had the skill sets, you didn't need to buy any parts beyond glass, epoxy, engine, and avionics.

[Vortal]

I was just started reading the forum when I ran into a message that said roncz plans are discontinued by RAF and that's why I started this post.

The point of this message was to see if they should incorporate the Roncz template in the Open-EZ package or not, if RAF was still selling the templates they just didn't wanted to impact RAF's remaining business (or what's subsisting of RAF)

 

So the day which RAF will definitively be dead, they will add all the options of the Long EZ in the Open EZ templates, utile then, you can buy these option at RAF

[Big Steve]

There is nothing in the Longeze plans about building the gear bow the nose gear strut and the canopy. Everything else is in the plans it has an un dimensioned full scale drawing of the nose retract mechanism. The throttle quadrant would be easy to make. But all those parts I mentioned can still be purchased from an authorized vendor or the Cozy Girls who have everybody's authorization. My .02 build on Steve

[mfryer]

I have no doubt that even if feather lite and the other few suppliers were to cease manufacturing that a suitable alternative could be found.