Kent's Long-EZ project

[thseng]

I read through the prop building thread you linked - Very interesting!  

One question: How did you come up with the planform?  Any science to it or is it pure TLAR (that looks about right)?  

By the way, have you seen the Culver Props videos?  

https://www.youtube.com/c/CulverProps/videos?view=0&sort=da&flow=grid

They have a neat "lathe" duplicator setup that uses a circular saw blade.  

Very old-school.  I can think of a lot of ways to automate the layout and the actual carving.  CNC is so easy these days.  

[Kent Ashton]

for a low tech builder, prop with a straight trailing edge, that is, a trailing edge that would be flush with a table surface, is easier to build than a fully tapered prop.   Then Paul Lippse, Gary Herzler, Jack Norris, et al, and my own experience convinced me that thin, tapered tips are very important.  That empties my clue bag.   I don’t know if thin blades like Performance Propeller builds have an advantage over wider blades but I don’t have the capability to make those stiff multi-laminate blades like PP.  yep, watched the Culver vids

[Kent Ashton]

Prop set up for routing (pic1).  Notice anything amiss?  Yeah, the blank is not mounted on the cutter side.  😞   I am using a wimpy 1/4" shaft router.  It works but I think I will buy a larger 1/2"-shaft router.  It is too tedious to rout off all the excess wood with the small router bit.  Other than that, the prop-carver works well enough.

Mistake #2: as I was routing the stations on one side of a blade, I noticed that the router bit had slipped lower on the shaft and was cutting the stations too deep!  Dang!  I think it can be salvaged but more checking required.

My homemade carver works pretty well but I ran across this Russian chap with a stouter design that could be easily adapted for props.  The video will not let me embed it but search for youtube video  iOidSuCZG_I  or  cut&paste "Заменит ЧПУ ? Копировальный станок"   I took a few screen shots (pics 2-4)

[mquinn6]

very cool design on the replicator.  I found this one - seems to be a bit easier (less moving parts?).  but pretty much same principle... 

Looking forward to seeing the good results of your prop build!

 

M.

[Kent Ashton]

Following up on the $60K EZ I just listed in my "Sales" thread (which seemed expensive), I see that a gallon of MGS epoxy and hardener today at Spruce is $358 plus shipping.  https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cmpages/mgsresin.php    What?  $380 for a gallon of freaking epoxy!  Yikes.

This brings me to philosophize:  That EZ seller should probably be asking $100K.   With official inflation announced at 8.2% yesterday and the unofficial rate tracked by John Williams of ShadowStats--calculate the way they used to do it--at 18-24%, how can you protect you against inflation?  Well, may I suggest gold miners.  They should be going through the roof but instead they are Picassos-on-the-curb.  Utter giveaways.  Take a look at NFGC, ODV, and BTG.  These are 30-40% BELOW where I bought them a year ago, sitting on visible gold with great drill results.    Or just buy the junior miners fund, GDXJ.   The precious metals and commodity metals, cobalt, nickel, copper are dirt cheap--pun intended.

[Kent Ashton]

3 hours ago, mquinn6 said:

very cool design on the replicator.  I found this one - seems to be a bit easier (less moving parts?).  but pretty much same principle...

Yeah, some good ideas there.  The linear bearings on a shaft he uses are probably a lot easier to build and just a rigid as the Russian's idea. 

[Kent Ashton]

I could not salvage my botched prop where the router bit cut too deeply after the bit got loose in the router.  It cut into the other side of the prop.  Dang!  I was also unhappy with the Cascamite urea formaldehyde glue I used.  I found it did not glue the boards together securely and pieces would separate at the glue line while cutting the blades.  As I said, Weldwood Plastic Resin glue which I used successfully before is no longer sold.  I might use Resorcinol the next time or epoxy.  $319 worth of firewood.  😞

[Kent Ashton]

It turns out I am many years behind on wood prices.  Even Home Depot is selling two 6" maple boards for $97 (takes 6 boards to make my prop).  There is a dying Ash tree on my property, being killed by the emerald ash borer.  I wonder if chain-sawing a 6' length and carting it to a sawmill would be worthwhile?  Maybe I could just cut-out a prop-sized chunk.  Only one surface needs to be nice and clean, i.e., the surface that mounts against the prop flange.  'Course I would have to dry it for a year or more before I could use it.  No, I guess will just bite the bullet and buy some kiln-dried boards.

I like the multi-laminate Performance Props and have thought about buying a sheet of aviation-grade birch plywood and gluing-up pieces for a prop blank.  A 1/4"-thick sheet of the aviation-grade stuff has 12 plies.  The stuff at Home Depot, also birch, has three plies.  A 4" prop hub thickness would take 16 pieces of 1/4" plywood.  That is quite a lot of layers to apply glue to and clamp up.  I suppose a slow epoxy hardener would tolerate the time to wet-out and clamp but a 3-blade prop likely needs a 3-arm clamp.  I will stick to 2-blades for now.

[Kent Ashton]

It is worth memorializing this EZ.  N84DY   I doubt you will see any worse-off--and yet it apparently flew.  Note the truck-like nose gear crank, the shag carpet seat cushion and other quality touches.  Bookmarking this one.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Kent Ashton

[zolotiyeruki]

Seeing an EZ like this makes me think about the conversations where a builder asks how accurate they need to be when cutting out the wing cores. If this particular model is any indication, if you're paying half decent attention, you ought to be just fine!

[Voidhawk9]

I was fortunate enough to see two canards one day, one nearly done and beautifully constructed and finished, another largely airframe complete and I hope no-one ever tries to fly it.

There sure is a wide range of airplanes out there. That's the nature of building from plans, I suppose.
Mine will take a long time, but I sure am ensuring that I do a good job on every part!

[DanK]

That’s some nightmare fuel right there… I play around with the idea of building one of these from time to time, but I always worry that it will end up costing a lot and looking like that. 

[Kent Ashton]

15 hours ago, DanK said:

I play around with the idea of building one of these from time to time, but I always worry that it will end up costing a lot and looking like that. 

That EZ is an '84 build back in the days before the internet, online pictures, and websites like this.  About all there was at that time was RecAviationHomebuilt on a dial-up modem.  It was harder in those days to see good workmanship.  With all the nice EZ/Cozy jobs completed since then, it is easy to build a nice one with a little study.

I viewed a fellow's EZ project nearby that was begun in the early '80s.  His wing had a big hump where he had over-filled the spar caps.  It was heavy as heck and would sit on three wheels when empty--not a good sign.  Somewhere he had heard that all the metal on the airplane needed to be grounded together and he had wired every piece.  There were lots of things like that.  I do not think he ever visited another project while he was building or saw a nice flying EZ.  He'd never flown in one.

But yeah, it is getting more expensive to build.  I'm guessing $45-50K even with a used engine.   You can save a lot buy buying an old but sound project.  See them all the time here.  Or buying a sound but ageing  older model and putting in some work on it.  That's a lot of fun, too.

 

[Kent Ashton]

A buddy asked me what I carry in my toolkit.  Pic 1 is stuff in a box behind the seat: orange plastic funnel for oil, alternator belt, spare Usher fuel cap and spare pins for the cap lever.  The pin broke on me one day and it was a heck of a job rigging a fuel cap to get home.  Aluminum bits keep the rudders and elevators from flapping.  Also rags and oil.

Pic 2:  I could probably eliminate a few sockets but I use the rest.  The wrench-holder is bent from 1/8" welding rod.

I sometimes carry a spare nose tire and tube.  Don't forget tie-downs if you go to an airshow.

----------------

My two re-ringed cylinders are breaking-in nicely after 4.5 hours.  Still too early to tell about oil consumption.  I have generally been running them at 2500 rpm at about 5000' which pencils out to about 83% power (std day, 8.5:1 compr).  I am leaning pretty far so it's not a "max power mixture", guessing it's about 75%, maybe less.  I should probably run a higher RPM.  5000 feet was based on a Mike Busch recommendation

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this discussion of the MKNG-6 nose gear pivot casting.  The pivot made by Brock was OK and has given me good service.  No fancy tapered bearings but I installed a grease nipple and give it a tiny squirt occasionally.  Also keep it shimmed and tight.  For a while, a rather crude cast version was sold which this appears to be, which failed for one chap on landing.  (pic).  He might have hastened the crack by aggressive scoring for the flox bond but I'd guess the casting is under a fair amount of stress.  EZNoselift sells a machined version but it ain't cheap ($450).  Cozygirrls list one but I don't know if they stock it.

I think if I had the crude cast version, I would change it.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Kent Ashton

[Kent Ashton]

37% of Americans have Metabolic Syndrome (high BP, overweight, insulin resistant, diabetic or pre-diabetic).  Big-Medicine didn't explain M.S. to me because cardiologists make more money on stents and bypasses.  Now that I mostly understand it (after 2 heart attacks), I've lost 30 lbs and feel better.  An old Air Force friend had the signs and a history of heart attack even though he had bicycled across the U.S.  He took my advice to study M.S.,  lost 33 pounds and dropped the BP pills.   If you fit the symptoms, take a look at https://ownyourlabs.com/how-it-works/   The site partners with Labcorp but the prices are much discounted.

-Lipid panel (cholesterol)  $8.75 vs $59 at ondemandLabcorp.   HbA1c $7.70 vs $23.   hsCRP $23.10 vs $59.  A lipid panel will give the all-important Triglyceride/HDL ratio, <1.8 is OK, >4 is bad.

- HbA1c is a measure of blood sugar over the past 3 months.  The docs use >6.5 as diabetic but coronary damage starts at >5.5.

- hsCRP ("highly specific C-Reactive Protein) is a measure of inflammation in the arteries.   Coronary plaques start from damage caused by inflammation

Pallies, if you don't know your HbA1c or your Trig/HDL ratio, you might be due for a tour of the Stent/Bypass operating theater.  It was very interesting to watch the docs thread the stents into me but not something I want to repeat.

A Quiz I heard the other day:  For half of those with heart disease , what is the first sign they have it.  ANS: They die. 

Quote

Sudden cardiac death is responsible for half of all heart disease deaths.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17522-sudden-cardiac-death-sudden-cardiac-arrest

 

[Kent Ashton]

Pardon me if you wanted to read about canards but feel you have stumbled into a medical forum but I am driven to discuss this stuff and I hope it will help somebody:   🙂

As I said, I had a heart attack (blockage of the Left Anterior Descending coronary artery (LAD)), got stented, went on statins, had great cholesterol numbers and 13 years later repeated it.  What was I doing wrong? 

I did not know to give up ALL sugar, and carbs--which are converted to sugar.  Thus I was regularly spiking my insulin all day.  Example:  I loved dates and would slice up 5 or 6 to put in my morning steel-cut oatmeal (which by itself is relatively high carb).  Some mornings it was whole-grain cereal and a banana.  I loved bananas and might eat two a day.  We liked breads of all kinds and would eat a sandwich at lunch and a half a loaf or more of French bread at dinner.  We liked ethnic foods with rice and often had potatoes of some sort.  We were not big sweet-tooths but my wife would make a pineapple-upside down cake a couple times a month--stuff like that.  I would eat a bunch of grapes over 3 days.  My wife cooked with poly-unsaturated oils, we used Stevia instead of raw sugar. 

Of course I considered steel cut oats, whole grain breads and cereals, and fruits of all kinds very healthy.  "I am eating right", I thought.  "Statins are protecting me", I thought.  NO!  All these carbs and natural sugars were undoubtedly spiking my insulin throughout the day.  The insulin flood was damaging the glycocalyx lining of my arteries and the endothelial layer that the glycocalyx protects.  My body was repairing the arterial damage but in doing so, building up plaques (like scar tissue) that eventually blocked my artery.  Thank goodness one of them did not rupture, totally block an artery, and kill me.  For 50% of coronary victims, this is what happens.

My arterial-damage sequence continued on the statin because LDL cholesterol is not the cause of coronary disease.  Rather, a major cause of arteriosclerosis is high insulin levels resulting from a diet of carbs and sugar, along with some genetic factors that need to be tested for.  My GP and coronary docs never tested me for insulin resistance, glucose tolerance, Apo(B) or LP(a).  They did not tell me that an HbA1c >5.5, although not diabetic, is still a risk for coronary artery disease (mine was 5.9)   .They did not emphasize the damaging effect of insulin or what causes high insulin.   They are 15 years behind on the science and highly influenced by drug and food companies. 

The medical community makes money placing stents, doing bypasses, treating diabetes and selling statins.  They don't make money when you are well.  As always, follow the money.

Take at look at https://www.doctorkiltz.com/glycocalyx/   Also "The Clot Thickens" by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+clot+thickens+malcolm+kendrick

 

[mquinn6]

Absolutely true - follow the money.  Ever wonder how the “food pyramid” was designed?  Or even the current “best practice” for eating (what ever it is called…. It is set up by the a group of people that are dairy farmers, cattlemen, etc. that insist that everyone needs to have their product to be healthy… 

Dr.s are no better they get visited by pharma and pitched their drugs..  that is where they get their “facts” - from the sales people!

diet book writers are the same…

we need to pay attention to our own bodies and adjust to what it is telling us!  

[Jon Matcho]

19 hours ago, Kent Ashton said:

Pardon me if you wanted to read about canards but feel you have stumbled into a medical forum but I am driven to discuss this stuff and I hope it will help somebody:   🙂

This is your "blog-thread" so you have leeway. I also find this topic beneficial for our community because many member/builder/flyers hit their strides later in life. Living healthy (and long) is good for GA and our hobby.

Here are a few links that come to mind:

• In Defense of Food
  • PBS special: https://www.pbs.org/food/shows/in-defense-of-food/
  • Book: https://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/ (haven't read the book yet, but the PBS spot was eye opening for me)
• Fasting:
  • Dr. Pradip Jamnadas on the history of food and benefits of intermittent fasting (which can be just skipping breakfast once in a while): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOvn4UqznU 
  • The Fasting Cure by Upton Sinclair (I just found this yesterday, but haven't read yet. It's from 1911 so I expect parts haven't aged well, but Upton Sinclair is known to have cleaned up the meat-packing/food industry at the turn of the century): https://ia800305.us.archive.org/31/items/fastingcure00sincuoft/fastingcure00sincuoft.pdf

Back to your regular scheduled programming...

[Kent Ashton]

Just looking at this Cozy crash yesterday.   https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/346077  

Pic shows the aircraft flat in a field(?), fuselage intact with the gear splayed.  Looking at the ground track on Flightaware I will make a WAG that he was flying around at 6200 feet at normal speed and decided he needed to return to the airport but was only about 12 miles out (pic 1).  He sees that he can't get down in that distance from that height and begins a circle to lose altitude (scroll the timeline in the diagram at Flightaware) but speed increases really fast.  From time 0+26 to time 0+33 his speed goes from 150 mph to 193, altitude goes from 6000' to about 2000' and there is still one more 180 deg turn before the crash.

There is a small airfield near the crash site (pic), according to https://www.cullmantribune.com/2023/09/29/vinemont-man-killed-in-cullman-county-plane-crash/

It appears to me he wanted to get on the ground very quickly.  No fire mentioned.  Fuselage intact.  54 y.o. pilot.  Heart attack maybe

 

[Kent Ashton]

Another interesting thing about this crashed airplane is that it was owned by the Kansas Aviation Museum before transfer to the deceased.

[Marc Zeitlin]

7 hours ago, Kent Ashton said:

Another interesting thing about this crashed airplane is that it was owned by the Kansas Aviation Museum before transfer to the deceased.

No it wasn't. The owner was the builder. The PREVIOUS aircraft with that "N" number was owned/registered to the KAM. Look at the deregistration info.

[Ratdog]

On 2/13/2022 at 4:46 PM, Kent Ashton said:

I would urge anyone taking statins, or suspecting heart problems to look at the Youtube channels "Low Carb Down Under" and search Youtube for Dr. Nadir Ali".

I have a friend from my Air Force days, tall, slim, trim, who had heart bypasses.  His doctor prescribed a low fat diet and statins.  His A1c (blood sugar) went up.  Now he is a full-blown diabetic (A1c >6.5) and his doc wants to put him on a more powerful statin but yeah, his LDL came down!  My low carb docs on Youtube are very credible and this is just what they say can happen on statins---lots of bad side effects and they do not appreciably improve mortality.  In fact, they increase mortality [bad!] in old guys like me.  Dr. Robert Lustig, also on Youtube, will scare you straight about sugar and fructose.

My G.P. says  "don't listen to the internet" but here you are, listening to the internet.  Ha!  I judge the doctors above as very honest and credible.  They are not selling services or diet plans.  OTOH, the drug companies are selling $1billion in statins.  Who do you trust?

 

Sorry if this is out of place .  This man is 96 years old ,  pilot, engineer, airplane rebuilder etc.  He is currently working on building a jeep from scratch using a lot of junkyard parts .. I ask him what he eats for breakfast.  He said Coffee ,Bacon and eggs .  

 

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by Ratdog

[Kent Ashton]

Saw this video of some dramatic nose wheel shimmy.  H/T Russ Meyerriecks & Scott McLean.  Russ says his NW geometry is correct, i.e. the NW pivot shaft is tilted aft (top aft) when loaded, and other landings did not result in shimmy so it is puzzling.  I presume his NW friction was good.  It could be that heavy braking after the shimmy began made it worse.  I think I would try to take weight off the NW to regain the geometry.  Pic is for a tailwheel but the geometry is the same. 

BTW, I learned how to extract videos from FB using this site  https://fdown.net/index.php

Edited October 6, 2023 by Kent Ashton

[zolotiyeruki]

I saw that one too, and it looks like 1) he's holding the nose off for a long time, and 2) it looks like there's not a lot of friction in the pivot.