Voidhawk9 Posted October 6, 2023 Share Posted October 6, 2023 The nose-gear on these machines always seemed to be a weak-link, particularly for the Cozys. Of course, heavily loading it, especially under braking, will tend to push the geometry where you don't want it to go. Quote Aerocanard (modified) SN:ACPB-0226 (Chapter 8) Canardspeed.com (my build log and more; usually lags behind actual progress)Flight simulator (X-plane) flight model master: X-Aerodynamics (GMT+12) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted October 6, 2023 Author Share Posted October 6, 2023 2 hours ago, zolotiyeruki said: 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. Hard to say but maybe dropping the nose was enough to initiate a shimmy then hard braking aggravated it. I have felt it once or twice. I tightened the friction and that helped. Castoring nose gear systems do strange things. A story I might have told before: F-4s flew for years and blowing a tire would often result in running off the runway. We just assumed it was drag from the blown tire pulling the airplane. Then a smart young Captain investigating one in the New Orleans Guard determined that the real reason was that a blown tire lowered the wing enough on that side to cause the F-4's castoring nosewheel to steer the airplane to that side--like trying to push a shopping cart on it's side. Drag from a blown tire was not substantial. The flight manual said with a blown main tire to engage hydraulic nose gear steering but did not explain why. The New Orleans pilot had engaged the nosewheel steering but momentarily released it to lower the hook and pull the drag chute. Each time, the skid marks showed that the airplane had made a hard jink towards the blown tire. 1 Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zolotiyeruki Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 I don't recall if you're in the Cozy email group, there's a pretty thorough discussion of Russ' nose wheel shimmy there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Matcho Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 ...and also on the Canard-Aviators mailing list. Quote Jon Matcho Builder & Canard Zone Admin Now: Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E Next: Resume building a Cozy Mark IV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 A friend of mine had a hard time starting his EZ with battery in the nose. I forgot I had made one of these 4-wire ohmmeter testers so we ended up changing his starter cables out to bigger and heavier cables. It seems to have solved his problem but I suspect taking some measurements with this sensitive ohm tester from the great Bob Nuckolls might have found some high resistance in the circuit. He shows that with pretty ordinary resistances in a starter circuit, a 12.5V battery may only deliver 7.46 V at the starter. http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/grnding.pdf 1 Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 Just reading about a guy who lost his engine at 9500 feet and landed 100 feet short of a runway doing a fair amount of damage to his Cozy. There were about 70 comments praising him for a job well done (he wasn't injured). I would say he is lucky but this was not a good outcome. While acknowledging that I could be sitting in a field myself next week after the same sort of mishap, we should look at this one further. He said his intended runway was on the edge of his Foreflight glide range indication so that made it tougher. Foreflight says "[Glide Advisor] Uses your aircraft’s glide ratio, current GPS altitude, surrounding terrain, and winds aloft to present a ring showing your glide range." (pic) IMO gliding a Cozy straight in to a distant airport is fraught with difficulty. First, we are trying it with the prop stopped or worse, windmilling, so we probably aren't used to the steeper glide. Next, it is very difficult to maintain an accurate glide speed in our slick airplanes. I try to maintain a glide speed by holding a precise pitch attitude in the windscreen but 1" higher or lower pitch attitude will make about a 15 knot difference, as I recall. It is easy to be at 80kts, then with a moment of inattention, I am over 100kts. Next, a strong tailwind at altitude may be fooling the Glide Advisor into showing you better glide range at altitude than lower down, where the tailwind can be lower. It would be discouraging to see the glide ring shrink as you get lower. Next is the challenge of determining your aimpoint-- where you are going to impact the runway/intended landing zone. We are in the habit of flying the airplane to the numbers, but not only is it hard to judge aimpoint thousands of feet AGL and miles from the intended landing point, flying straight-in to the approach end of the runway leaves no room for error. Better to approach the airport high until within about 2-3 miles, then establish an aimpoint to touchdown. Even better to get to a "high key", crossing the landing point at 1000' AGL or so, and flying a downwind, base, final pattern to touchdown. A circling approach gives lots of room for tightening or widening the glide as required. I can often do this in idle without touching the power (but not always!) To make a good engine-idle practice approach, I must estimate the landing winds correctly and remember that a high visual speed and long aimpoint on downwind may disappear with a headwind on final. It is generally recommended to aim about 1/3rd of the way down the landing zone but this is problematical in a slick airplane that can easily arrive 1/3rd of the way down with 15-20 extra knots. It's good to use the 1/3rd rule but don't carry it too far. As you get closer to touchdown, you probably don't want all that runway behind you. However, with any sort of wind in the pattern, I have to caution myself to mentally move my aimpoint into the wind--for example, to make the airplane appear to overshoot base for a right crosswind or aim, say, half-way down the runway with a strong headwind on final. Finally, I have to be very careful to maintain a pitch attitude that will maintain a constant glide speed, and therefore I can detect where the glidepath will impact the ground. The Cozy landing brake is not very effective until in the roundout but an aggressive slip can be useful to wipe off speed or altitude. I am disgusted if I arrive at my touchdown point with 15-20 extra knots of airspeed. Energy to be dissipated in the crash is the square of the velocity, they say. Another thing they say is not to hit anything fixed. If it was clear I was going to run off the end of the runway, I'd start the nose gear retracting. I often think about whether to land on a highway. Maybe, but I fear causing a multi-car wreck with inadequate liability insurance. I might try an interstate if the traffic was light. I would have more latitude to stretch a glide or not, to get in between traffic. Brrrr! Scares me to contemplate it. I'd rather land in a nice smooth field and make whatever repairs are necessary. Anyway, I urge canard fliers to practice power off approaches at every landing. Analyse your mistakes. It is no use to practice them from 9500' AGL in idle power but it's worth thinking about the problems of a long straight-in glide. A while back, I cut the power on takeoff and practiced a return-to-the-runway. I figure 500 AGL would be quite doable. 300' AGL would be dicey. Try it for yourself. It's nice to fly a stall-resistant airplane for this maneuver. 3 Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidhawk9 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Good write-up Kent, I completely agree. Pushing the glide just a bit further than it looks like you can make is a recipe for serious disappointment. I recently flew a type I hadn't flown in a year, and so practiced some glides for my own currency. Happily I nailed them, but admittedly this particular aircraft glides a bit like a Space Shuttle, which I think actually makes it easier in some ways. I have tried the return-to-runway 'impossible turn' in several different aircraft. It certainly varies a LOT with the characteristics of the aircraft in question, and can require some aggressive maneuvering - which is VERY risky if you are in a stall-able type and not practiced in such flying. And most people are not, and would likely fail to complete the turn safely. I try to practice some 'emergency' or 'off-nominal' procedure on every flight, if practical, to maintain some currency in them. And a good flight simulator is a suitable place to practice some of the more hazardous maneuvers in safety, it can be educational and enlightening. 2 Quote Aerocanard (modified) SN:ACPB-0226 (Chapter 8) Canardspeed.com (my build log and more; usually lags behind actual progress)Flight simulator (X-plane) flight model master: X-Aerodynamics (GMT+12) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Zeitlin Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 9 hours ago, Kent Ashton said: Just reading about a guy who lost his engine at 9500 feet and landed 100 feet short of a runway doing a fair amount of damage to his Cozy... I concur with 95% of what you wrote, but there's this, with respect to your note and Cameron's followup regarding glide, in THIS particular case. I have not seen the posting either of you are referencing - maybe it was on FB, because it doesn't seem to be on any of the mailing lists. But I have spoken directly to the pilot in this case and it's possible that I have information that might not have been publicly posted. I was not asked to keep this private. The engine failure occurred at 9500 ft., and the distance to the airport to which he attempted to glide was (IIRC) 17 NM Interestingly, these are exactly the numbers that _I_ experienced during my propeller loss - we were at 9500 ft., gliding to an airport at 500 ft. elevation that was 17 NM distant. We arrived at the airport 1000 ft. above pattern altitude - IOW, 2K ft. above the airport, with (obviously) more than enough energy to make the field. So when the pilot told me that he landed 100 ft. short of the threshold, I was very surprised, because there's no way he shouldn't have made it as long as the wind was not excessive (which it wasn't). After a bit of questioning, he told me that he, too, arrived at the airport very high - approximately the same 2K ft. AGL as I had and that the issue occurred because he misjudged the unpowered APPROACH. In this case, there was no issue with glide rings, L/D ratio estimations, or anything like that (although obviously all of those are important) - the issue was completely in the pattern approach positioning - over the airport at 2K ft. AGL, we should all be able to touch down on the runway. I was not in the plane - I don't know how that type of error was made - but I will say that although I attempt all of my landings in my plane with the power pulled to idle at mid-field, downwind and try to touch down within 500 ft. of the threshold, one of every 10 landings or so require a blip or two of power, if I've misjudged the wind or my IAS a bit. But when I do NOT have the knowledge that my engine is working, I do not rely on the ability to blip the throttle - I shoot for a landing brake down touchdown at 1000 ft. from the threshold with the LB down, and retract it if necessary to improve the glide. In any case, THIS particular accident was caused by a misjudged unpowered approach - NOT a distance glide issue. 1 Quote Marc J. Zeitlin Burnside Aerospace marc_zeitlin@alum.mit.edu www.cozybuilders.org copyright © 2024 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidhawk9 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Thanks for the additional info, Marc. I agree it is a good habit to make all approaches a glide (where practical) as practice - will certainly work strongly in your favour should the fan get quiet for real. I've been doing this for most approaches for many years, and like Marc, I probably have 1 in 10 that requires a blip of power due to wind being a bit stronger than expected, distance slightly misjudged, or simply a failure occurring between the panel and the seatback. 1 Quote Aerocanard (modified) SN:ACPB-0226 (Chapter 8) Canardspeed.com (my build log and more; usually lags behind actual progress)Flight simulator (X-plane) flight model master: X-Aerodynamics (GMT+12) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted May 20 Author Share Posted May 20 (edited) I have suggested that when trying to sand a wing flat, rub it with an aluminum bar which leaves light smudges on the high points. My friend could only find a _zinc_ bar which REALLY leaves smudges on the high areas. Interesting. I think he is overdoing the rubbing a bit but you get the idea. Edited May 20 by Kent Ashton Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mquinn6 Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 Interesting solution Kent. I go the opposite and use drycoat (https://www.amazon.com/3M-05861-Guide-Cartridge-Applicator/dp/B000PENEMM) and sand until I do not see any black remaining (or fiber!). More than one way to skin a cat. (cat does not appreciate either) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted May 20 Author Share Posted May 20 2 hours ago, mquinn6 said: Interesting solution Kent. I go the opposite Hmmm. So you powder-black the wing and sand it off the high spots but what do you do about the low areas that are still black? Just micro over the black/low areas? I suppose that would work OK Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mquinn6 Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 I have been lucky so far that I have enough micro on that I have not cut into fibers (ok, ok, I did in one area but it was easy to spot... and I am not going to fret over the area on the fuselage that it happened). By sanding ALL of the black - I feel it helps me reduce the weight - rather than build UP more micro and add weight. (and for a good bond one would (should) deep scratch the low spots before adding more micro). So far so good... YMMV 😉 (and there are lesser expensive brands - and I have seen people use black lacquer paint and do a VERY find mist coat for essentially the same effect) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted May 20 Author Share Posted May 20 (edited) 4 hours ago, mquinn6 said: By sanding ALL of the black - I feel it helps me reduce the weight - rather than build UP more micro and add weight. (and for a good bond one would (should) deep scratch the low spots before adding more micro). So far so good... YMMV 😉 Wait a minute, my friend. If you sand off the high areas and sand off the low areas, the net effect is ????. Yeah, it is not an exact science but the logic does not compute. 🙂 I like the black lacquer for finding pinholes and defects Edited May 20 by Kent Ashton Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mquinn6 Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 so you coat the entire surface with drycoat (or lacquer) - then sand. It takes the high spots and makes them white.. the low spots are still black. Keep sanding - this adds lightness to the aircraft as there will be less of something there. Sand some more, and some more (watching out for break thru to the cloth!) - then if no cloth - and no more black - you are dead smooth AND you have less material. Making it lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted May 25 Author Share Posted May 25 Couple of ideas seen for flipping a canard. It takes several flips to complete the whole build. First idea from Alex Liedl. I think the second is Wayne Hicks'. I flipped my EZ pretty easily by bolting a rather long 2X6 to one strake and rolling the airplane over on the end of the 2x6 with the nose on a pad. 1 Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted June 4 Author Share Posted June 4 Hertzler cowlHertzler cowlQuestion was asked about Gary Hertzler's airplane. It was covered by Cafefoundation.org but that website is a little squirrely these days. Article can be found on the Wayback machine https://web.archive.org/web/20211205013012/https://cafe.foundation/v2/pdf_cafe_apr/WMEA.pdf The thing I liked was his custom oil sump that accommodated an intake tube and allowed for a very compact cowl. pics Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voidhawk9 Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Is there an advantage to heating in intake air? Or is the advantage just in packaging? Quote Aerocanard (modified) SN:ACPB-0226 (Chapter 8) Canardspeed.com (my build log and more; usually lags behind actual progress)Flight simulator (X-plane) flight model master: X-Aerodynamics (GMT+12) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mquinn6 Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Heating the air AFTER it has been mixed with fuel (NEVER BEFORE as fuel atomizes fullest in cooler air) will provide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted June 15 Author Share Posted June 15 FYI, I saw an ad on FB by "Aviation Spare Parts & Services LLC" for a Uavionix AV-30 at a pretty good price: $1400 shipped vs $2000 most places. I asked how they wanted to be paid and got this email reply. The company's FB page looks squirrely to me. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089777207912 and there is very little google history. Company is it is in Anaheim, CA but the Calif. Sec. of State does not show such a company. Comments on Yelp regarding the credit union to receive the wire say the credit union does not cooperate in returning money from scammers. I tried googling various names in the email but did not find much. One FB commenter said "scam" but did not explain. I guess I'll pass. Quote We accept payments via direct wire transfer or CashApp. We offer express delivery through FedEx or UPS. Please let us know your preferred shipping method. Upon payment confirmation, we will immediately schedule your delivery. Please provide the following delivery details: - Full Name: - Legal/Delivery Address: - Email: - Phone Number: Once your package is registered with your chosen shipper, you will receive a tracking number to monitor the delivery status. Below are the payment details for order confirmation: **Direct Wire Transfer:** - **Account Holder Name:** Derrick Samuel Rivera - **Account Number:** 1300000427102 - **Routing Number:** 251482833 - **Account Name:** MEMBER ONE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION - **Bank Address:** 40 Member One Wy, Rocky Mount, VA 24151, USA - **Home Address:** 2243 Mountain View Terr SW Apt 11, Roanoke, VA 24015 **CashApp:** - **Name:** Therie Kelly - **CashApp ID:** $TKellyLue Our cashier responsible for scheduling your delivery will confirm your payment. Please proceed with the payment using one of the options listed and inform me once completed. Best Regards, Keith Watt Sales Manager Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zolotiyeruki Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 Did you post that info on their post? I've seen quite a few postings under that company name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 12 hours ago, zolotiyeruki said: Did you post that info on their post? I've seen quite a few postings under that company name. I don't post to FB. Maybe it's not a scam but they want money wired to personal credit union or CashApp accounts and the "sales manager" gives no business address in his email. The three names given in the payment email do not Google-up anything. Sounds fishy to me. Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 More on "Aviation Spare Parts & Services, LLC": In reply to my question "Where is your company incorporated? Your website says Anaheim but I do not see Aviation Spare Parts & Services Llc on the California Secretary of State list", company answered: Quote We have recently expanded our customer base in Australia and Singapore by opening branch offices in these locations. Consequently, our online presence is being updated. We are currently upgrading our website to include additional payment options like BTC and to facilitate our company's entry into the NFT market. Due to ongoing maintenance, our website is temporarily unavailable. For any immediate concerns, please contact our President & COO, Derrick Samuel Rivera, directly at (415) 855-0916. Non-responsive answer. You would think a company doing business in the U.S. would be happy to provide a business address, where it is licensed and/or a bank reference. The offer of BTC payments and NFTs are also seem rather suspicious to me. No, I will pass on this one. Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aclouston Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 Hi Kent In April 1st 2020, page 19 of Kent's project you put a post about oil flows around NACA inlets. One of the pics, (from Terry Schubert) is showing Klaus Savier's NACA installation. I believe that is from the installation on Kyle Fowler's plane. I just read that article a few days ago but can't seem to find anymore. Does that ring a bell? I'm still trying locate it. It was a promotional article from Klaus's company explaning the installation from a crew clming in Canada an doing the mod in very short time. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Ashton Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 On 8/6/2024 at 2:05 PM, Aclouston said: Hi KentIn April 1st 2020, page 19 of Kent's project you put a post about oil flows around NACA inlets. Here is the post. I don't recall any other article. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18661-kents-long-ez-project/?do=findComment&comment=67608 Klaus used to sell (maybe still does) a molded NACA inlet that was quite a bit wider than the standard one. The standard size seems to work in most cases but adding some angles (vortex generators) ahead of the point seems to increase flow into the scoop. I have found that the flow on the belly wants to jump over the inlet and vortex generators tend to swirl air into the duct and even out the flow. I suppose that that far back on the fuselage, any disturbance to the flow--like from a nose wheel or landing light--is going to cause greater turbulence at the NACA. Quote -KentCozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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