Kent's Long-EZ project

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this idea for an instrument panel (pic 1).  The metal work is commendable but I think the visor is overkill and possibly a hazard in a crash.  Also there is extra metal around the leg-holes that is just unneeded weight.   Plans-Cozys do need a small visor though.  Until I glued this piece of black-painted Formica to my canopy (pic 2) , I had to look through the reflection of a dozen chrome switches.  It is held in place by 3M mounting tape.

My panel has an aluminum face on it.  I am finding the lower edges that rub against sweaty, salty legs are starting to show a bit of corrosion creeping under the paint.  Doing it again, I might use a Formica face vs. aluminum--much lighter.   Alternatively, I might make a two-piece panel so that half of it could be updated without removing the entire face. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Kent Ashton

[Kent Ashton]

Couple of things from the Z-burg Site: 

- This strut piece (pic 1) should be steel.  My EZ buyer and I found this out the hard way.  I suggest when mounting it with the flox to also wrap a layer of BID around it. 

- A couple of ideas for mounting an autopilot servo and roll trim.  H/T to those gents.

[Kent Ashton]

Ellison all cleaned up.  I am still waiting on the Tilliotson diaphragms.

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this idea somewhere for compact exhaust nuts that use a 12-point socket.  A good idea because getting a socket on the regular nuts is a pain and sometimes involves grinding a socket.  I keep a little bag of them now with a 1/4" drive, 12 pt socket.   Mcmaster 90759A200  "Steel High-Torque 12-Point Flange Nuts".  It's good to used some anti-seize on the studs.  Nickel-based anit-seize seems to be the highest rated temp at 2400 def F.

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/127/3458

My Ellison is back on the airplane and seems to run OK.  I have not had a chance to fly it yet.  Funny thing with these TBIs in that WOT is not always peak RPM.  Mine needs to be retarded about 1/4" at the lever to get peak.

[Marc Zeitlin]

4 hours ago, Kent Ashton said:

Saw this idea somewhere for compact exhaust nuts that use a 12-point socket...

That was me, on the COZY list :-). Although I got them from Summit Racing - they sell them (as does McM) in both 5/16-18 and 5/16-24, depending on which studs you have. WAY better than the standard nuts, which can be freaking impossible to get at with a wrench, particularly if you have in-cowl exhausts.

[Kent Ashton]

I don't wish to be too critical of another's workmanship but you gotta admit, these are some ugly wheel pants (pic 1).  Here are my slightly less-ugly pants which I will discuss for your entertainment:

I drew up horizontal and vertical profiles of the pant using wheel measurements and a suitable airfoil from "Theory of Wing Sections" (pic 2).  [These days with online airfoils, spreadsheets and cad, you could draw these easily in a day.]   I traced them on a big block of foam and cut them to shape with a big bandsaw .  You could use a hotwire.  Sanded them to a pleasing shape.  [Mistakes #1 - They are bigger than needed] [Mistake #2 - I used pour foam to glue the big block together.  Should have used micro or perhaps spray glue.  The pour foam left ugly depressions in the shape].  I glassed the shape with a couple layers of BID and filled the surface.  Now I had a plug (pic 3).  I setup the plug lengthwise in piece of plywood so only half the plug was exposed, waxed it up, painted-on PVC mold release [Mistake #3 - Mold release wants to crawl away from wax and clump-up.  The secret to mold release is to spray very thin layers that dry quickly].

I painted half with gel coat [M #4 - should have gel-coated both halves and taken the time to spray it on.] and laid-up a thick layer of chopped glass using cheap polyester resin.  Flipped the plug and repeated.  Now I had molds (pics 4,5) [M #5 - I should have used open, lengthwise molds.  The narrowness of the tail mold made it hard to layup the wet glass inside the mold].  

I think I used 3 layers of BID on my first set of pants and 2 layers another time.  Two layers was flimsy but they were fine after adding ribs (pic 8 ) and some patches of reinforcement around bolt holes.  Now had rough wheel pants.  I joined the nose-halves and the tail-halves with strips of glass, then cut an access hole where I could reach inside and lay-up overlaps that would accommodate nutplates (pic 5)  Lastly, I fit them to the wheel and used modeling clay covered by electrical tape to make strut fairings (pic 7).

There are lots of way to mount pants.  Mine are split fore-and-aft so I only have to remove one small bolt and a few screws to access the brake bleeder.  The pant nose remains unless I'm working or tires or bearings.

There is still light finishing and painting to do.  I know why people buy them.  🙂

 

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this very clean SDFI installation by Mike Satchell.  Note the anodized bracket for throttle controls.  Shame to put a cowl over this.  🙂

 

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Kent Ashton

[Kent Ashton]

This chap (pics 1,2) theorized that the "hat" on his camloc came off after the retaining ring on the camloc body wore out, allowing the camloc unlock and to back out,   I am skeptical.  I looked at mine (pics 3, 4) and the hat is a very tight fit to the body of the camloc.  Camlocs are very stout metal.  If there is any of the retaining ring left on the camloc body, I doubt the hat is going to come off.   My bet is that the camloc was not fully over-center and the hat was knocked off in the collision with the prop.   When a camloc has this much shaft exposed as in pic 1, it is easy to remove the hat.  I have only lost one camloc in 700+ hours but fortunately it only nicked the prop.  It was probably not fully over-center.

They do not need to be excessively tight to install but short enough so that the spring should load them so there is definite over-centering felt when installed.  I use several sizes so I spray paint them for ID.  Easier than squinting at tiny numbers and cheaper than buying the rather expensive adjustable receptacles ($15 each, yikes!)  . 🙂 

Edited June 8, 2021 by Kent Ashton

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this interesting jig for mounting wheel pants.  It would only make sense for someone installing a lot of them, though.  You could probably substitute sticks and bondo or sandbags.  Here's an idea:  suspend the pants from a sawhorse.  It would only take some threaded rods and a few small holes in the pant.

[Kent Ashton]

Duh!

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Kent Ashton

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this device on the Van's list for spreading ashes!   Funny, the death rituals we employ.  It was on a Cub so you could charge for  it.  I'm guessing $250 a drop plus expenses.  I bet there is a market for that service.  I wonder how they load that thing?

[Kent Ashton]

Greetings, faithful readers of Kent's Long-ez Project.  I am selling my hard copy of Stet Elliot’s Canard Pusher Digest for the Long-ez updated through update #72 there are 10 more updates in Marc’s PDF file here:   See "EZ-Updater" http://cozybuilders.org/Canard_Pusher/   It is two notebooks together about 3” thick.  $20 and you pay for the shipping at book rate.  Contact me directly at kjashton AT vnet dot net

If you don’t know what this is, in the last century, Elliot collated all the information in the Canard Pusher newsletters by chapter so you could, for example, look at his Chapter 10 on the Canard and read all the CP comments about canards.   It is sort of handy to have this in hard copy.  Alternatively, you could print Marc's 1162 page PDF file.  🙂

[Voidhawk9]

On 6/20/2021 at 12:17 AM, Kent Ashton said:

Saw this device on the Van's list for spreading ashes!   Funny, the death rituals we employ.  It was on a Cub so you could charge for  it.  I'm guessing $250 a drop plus expenses.  I bet there is a market for that service.  I wonder how they load that thing?

Curious. All you really need is a short length of plastic tubing running to the outside that is connected via a valve to the ashes container. The suction will soon vacuum them out!
On the other hand, I have heard simply opening a window in a C-172 and dumping them out is not a good idea unless you want to spread the ashes throughout the interior of the airplane and occupants' lungs. 😷

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this interesting idea for turning tapered shims, like you might use to align main gear axles on the strut.  The principle could also be used for turning down thin materials. 

[Kent Ashton]

Here's an idea for keeping engines dry while you're building.  It is pretty easy to hook up a pop-bottle full of desiccant to the breather port which will dry out the interior but there are always two valves open to atmosphere that allow moisture into those cylinders.  Commercial desiccant plugs will last a long time on the closed-valve cylinders but on the open-valve cylinders, the desiccant plugs will need drying more often.   And they are quite fiddly to dry and refill.

I cut off some old spark plugs, drove out the ceramic and electrode and turned them down to fit a 6-12 oz pop bottle filled with desiccant.   An .847" diameter is about right.  Put a small disk of Scotch-brite in them to keep the desiccant out of the cylinder.  It will last for months, then you can dry it in the oven.

I get 500+ gram packs of silica gel dessicant on ebay.

Edited June 23, 2021 by Kent Ashton

[fshort]

Hi Kent:

Quite a nice idea!   You could run 4 hoses to a central, larger bottle, as well...

Thanks!

Regards,

James

[Kent Ashton]

Reading lots of comments on oil separators and crankcase venting.  I use a simple tube that sticks out beside the exhaust and vents the crankcase.  I do not want any moisture in the blowby gases returned to the sump to form acids and rust the cam and lifters.   I do not think I lose any significant amount of oil via oil mist being vented with the gases.  I can understand a tractor aircraft having a separator to keep oil gunk off the belly but it seems unnecessary for us.

I have read of exhaust pipe add-ons that vent the gases into the exhaust pipe to be burned.  They have a valve that keeps exhaust pulses from being pushed back to the crankcase.  The problem with those is that they can malfunction (from dirt and oil, I suppose) and fail to vent the crankcase or allow exhaust pressure back into the crankcase.  This can blow out your crankshaft seal and you quickly lose all your oil.  You DO have a device on your case that prevents the crankshaft seal from backing out, right?  For me, it is my Lightspeed trigger mount.  Here is one (pic 1, the orange-anodized part)

They say it's wise to have a slit in your rubber vent hose to allow the crankcase to vent if the moisture in the gases freeze in the vent pipe.  I'm not sure it's needed for me but I have a slit.   Originally, I used an aluminum tube but I found engine vibration and contact with exhaust clamps and parts was eroded the tube so I switched to stainless but even the stainless shows a little wear.  I weld a small loop on that pipe and safety-wire it to other parts so it breaks, it won't go through my prop. (pic 2)

While I was going through my pics, I saw this jig I made to weld up exhaust pipes.  It is helpful to get the geometry right.  Yeah, my welds are a pretty rough but Marc checks them at annuals and Mike Melville welds up the cracks.  🙂

[fshort]

Hi Kent:

For us non-EI types, Lycoming has an oil seal retainer p/n 641361TM that I reverse engineered before finding it on eBay for $18!

To wit:

CZ4-085-OilSealRet-641361TM Oil seal retainer.pdf

 

So, don't make one...especially from this unreleased drawing.

 

Regards,

James

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by fshort
Trying to insert drawing

[A Bruce Hughes]

Mike's name is Melvill, I believe.

[Kent Ashton]

On 6/24/2021 at 10:39 AM, fshort said:

For us non-EI types, Lycoming has an oil seal retainer p/n 641361TM that I reverse engineered before finding it on eBay for $18!

The Lycoming P.N. is 74113 but don't toss your drawing James, I see they are selling for $40+ on ebay!  Actually, I think a half-circle retainer works.  Less bolts.  Just make it a U-shape that will fit over the crank. 🙂

[fshort]

Well, look at the drawing date: Feb/2013...

Time passes and prices rise.

Thanks for the part number - I don't know happened to the 641361TM p/n?

 

Regards,

James

[Kent Ashton]

I always have projects in mind that need bent tubes or pipes.  I made one of these pipe benders from plans   http://www.gottrikes.com/AH_tubebender.htm   It's a great bender but never used it because the dies are danged expensive but it you were making hot-rods or roll-cages they'd be worth it.  Today I saw a video of this $149 bender on ebay that will do the sort of bending I usually need to do (pic)  .   https://www.ebay.com/itm/263130222574?

 

Here is the video.  Looks easy to use  

 

[Kent Ashton]

Seen on FB.  This happens once in a while.  Some people put a bolt through the strut.  I think a better solution is a nice tight fit and to glass over the pieces, overlapping on the strut.  In my experience,  little flox and some glass will keep it from breaking loose.  Also, I cannot tell if the piece is aluminum.  Should not be.  I made that mistake once and my EZ buyer paid the price.  Stainless or 4130.

Pic 2 is a rack for Royal Enfield bags for my '74 airhead.  I bent the pipes with the bender above.  Fun little welding project

[Kent Ashton]

[A repeat from the deceased CarnardAviation.com site]  My oil consumption was never great and I sent a couple of cylinders off to be professionally overhauled.  Later, at about 500 hrs the oil consumption was excessive so I figured I better look at the cylinders.  What I found were lots of vertical score marks as if the overhauler did not get all the grit out of the cylinders AND rust AND cylinder wall polishing.  Very depressing.  Polishing results from scraping rust off the cylinder walls and removing the hone pattern, thus the high oil consumption.  The cylinders were in spec dimensionally so I determined to re-hone and re-ring them myself and made this box to hold the cylinder.  It was quite a messy job but I was happy with the result (pic 6).  The metal disk (pic 4) was to protect the valve heads.  I didn't remove the valves.  I made a jig to grind the  ring-ends to spec.  Next time, I would cut off a bit of the hone to get deeper into the cylinder (pic 6)

[Kent Ashton]

This from yesterday's Marc Borum/Long-ez crash at Tucson.  Curious

Quote

In addition, officials identified the individual injured in the crash was identified as a flight reviewer who was observing the 87-year-old pilot.

According to the flight reviewer, their aircraft was coming in for a landing. Officials say as the pilot was coming into the landing too slow, the reviewer told him to increase the speed. He allegedly increased too much and they crashed the plane.

https://kvoa.com/news/local-news/2021/07/27/87-year-old-pilot-dead-flight-observers-severely-injured-in-plane-crash-at-ryan-airfield/?fbclid=IwAR0lF2CSVQL87dZ05ydg2ZxTtWrqpODIHXnpby6Pj5oCCkOVciRhJIpFgqM