Long-EZ Stolen in Ohio

[TMann]

A long-ez project was stolen from the shop of a dedicated builder during the past 24 hours. It has downdraft cooling, Infinity retractable main gear and a host of other bells and whistles.

 

Below are some before (the theft) and after pictures. It seems the theives are trying to delay discovery of the theft by parking a lawn tractor in the same location.

Look closely and you can see the difference!

[Cozy Girrrl]

Uh I don't know TMan, there's an uncanny resemblance... you sure that was a Long-ez?

 

 

[JLKnolla]

Congratulations Waiter!!!!

 

Now we await reports from the airport.

 

Must say, Waiter's Long, along with Wayne Blackler's are probably two of the sexiest EZ's on the planet.

 

Excited to hear how it goes re-assembling the upgrades into an actual airplane.

[Phil Kriley]

That's a big step - I trust the move went smoothly! Congrats!

[Limo EZ]

Waiter,

 

Get that thing flying and bring it over to Lorain County

 

Joe Berki

Limo EZ

[Waiter]

Airport Report;

 

I moved the EZ to the airport on Friday, EZest move I ever made.

 

I moved the EZ out into the driveway, backed the trailer under it, then retracted the gear. The EZ squated down on the trailer, nice and , well, EZ.

 

 

As of Sunday Morning, Its fully assembled (wings, canard, canopy).

 

I taxied it yesterday with no cowling, No handling issues, it does ride a lot harder then the original gear.

 

I still need to do a couple minor fixes on the lower cowl and the plenums, then paint the cowling.

 

I have a nice set of Race car scales (barrowed) so I'm weighing it this morning, I'll keep you posted.

 

This afternoon, I have the FAA inspection for my new Airworthiness Certificate)

 

We are having a Flyin here at Toledo Metcalf (TDZ) (Sunday 21 Jun), If your interested and in the area, stop by.

 

I needed to redo by Airworthiness Certificate mainly because my Operating Limitations name Hollister Airport, Calif as my Phase I base. That will change to Metcalf (TDZ). The FAA is giving me 5 hours of Phase I for the gear change.

 

Hopefully, I'll have it in the Air the first week in July.

 

Unfortunanlty, the Lawnmower works great and gets a couple hours flight time every week. I prefer the Lawnmower over the snow blower :-)

 

 

Waiter

[TMann]

It all sounds great!

[Cozy Girrrl]

We are looking forward to watching you modify the lawn mower.

[Edge 513]

We are looking forward to watching you modify the lawn mower.

New Retracts on the lawn mower... now thats gonna be something.

 

Wishing you well in your endeavors, Waiter. :brocolli:

[Waiter]

PIREP;

 

Paperwork is all taken care of. I have a new Airworthiness Certificate.

 

FAA gave me 5 hours and 20 Takeoff/landings.

 

My biggest surprise was the weight. 1170 lbs (OUCH). I'm about 1/2 inch aft of limit, so may need to add ballast in the nose.

 

My original weight was 950 (Great American prop, fixed gear)

 

I was looking at about 1050 - 1075, so I'm about 100lbs heavier than I thought.

 

I'll think about this some more.

 

Waiter

[Waiter]

A picture is worth a thousand words

 

Waiter

[TMann]

Most cool, John. That truly will cause the intercepters to be scrambled.

 

I'll be very anxious to see how you like the new gear. You will be a good judge as you had the same platform running the fixed gear previously.

 

Are you still running the same diameter prop or did you take advantage of the extra clearance provided by the new gear and go larger?

[Waiter]

Same prop and engine. However, I did switch to downdraft, this should account for a few kts.

 

Waiter

[Big Steve]

I am curious why would down draft cooling give you any more than updraft cooling?? My Longeze had armpit scoops just like the ones you have on the top. What is the difference?? Steve

[longez360]

I am curious why would down draft cooling give you any more than updraft cooling?? My Longeze had armpit scoops just like the ones you have on the top. What is the difference?? Steve

You are 100% correct Big Steve, it likely wont. Any delta in cooling drag is due to the new design aerodynamically, not 'draft direction' or necessarily thermodynamic cooling philosophy. Having looked at some donwdraft installations, there are cerntainly more lower drag updraft systems flying than downdraft, that's for certain. Most probbaly think it's the other way around.

 

Having studied both directions and their applications, and applying what I believe is as low drag as I could get cowling a 360 on my LEZ whilst meeting the requirements of the Lycoming specification for the O-360 (temps in cruise and climb) I do not believe anyone should see much (if any) delta in performance. There is massive margin in performance reported out there. A friend told me he topped out routinely at 200KTAS in his RV4, and we found out he topped out at approximately 180... "Must be the prop. The other is 20 knots faster" he said. Bull dust.

 

I converted to downdraft cooling from updraft (Berkut to Blackler). My total inlet area (4 cylinders, induction and oil) is 20sq in, down probably 35%. My wetted area was up slightly, and the frontal area down. My cylinder scoops operate in lower pressure. My temperatures however were way down as compared to the old updraft system. I saw a net drag reduction, but not one one might expect, and certainly not earth shattering!

 

I just couldn't stand the alum baffling leaks (finding foam dust in the wingtip light lens covers - yes many of us have a cooling plenum that includes the wing cores), and the theory of balancing 4 cylinders and oil with one plenum where one change impacts another. I chose to dedicate my cooling and address each requirement separately. It worked well.

 

If you want low drag, go look at Klaus's aeroplane N57LG and as for how much he cares for downdraft, check out pictures of his new Savier EZ N360KS. I'll wager he has an updraft NACA for the O-360.

[TMann]

I am curious why would down draft cooling give you any more than updraft cooling?? My Longeze had armpit scoops just like the ones you have on the top. What is the difference?? Steve

Theory has it that with the bumps (for cylinder clearance) on top combined with either the P-51 or an NACA scoop on the bottom you have more drag than having only intake on top where you already have a drag area. One vs two.

[Lynn Erickson]

I am curious why would down draft cooling give you any more than updraft cooling?? My Longeze had armpit scoops just like the ones you have on the top. What is the difference?? Steve

with up draft cooling the cold air is heated by the exhaust pipes before it goes up through the cylinders and it also comes in contact with more of the hot engine case/ oil pan before the cylinders.

[longez360]

Same prop and engine. However, I did switch to downdraft, this should account for a few kts.

 

Waiter

It looks absolutely sensational, Waiter.

 

Looking forward to some flight test results.

[Beastus_Maximus]

Waiter, I am thoroughly impressed, I had talked with you a little bit before you started the whole ordeal last summer, and it looks to me like you have hit a home run.

 

I cant wait to see it with the cowlings on and hear the report on the first flight.

 

Bravo Zulu to you sir!

[Waiter]

I am curious why would down draft cooling give you any more than updraft cooling?? My Longeze had armpit scoops just like the ones you have on the top. What is the difference?? Steve

 

As Tmann pointed out. Basically, I got rid of the two humps on top of the cowl, and converted them to air intakes for the cooling.

 

Also cleaned up the belly and lower cowl to smooth out the airflow on the bottom cowl.

 

Heres a photo I took when I was fit checking the cowl.

 

Waiter

[Marc Zeitlin]

My biggest surprise was the weight. 1170 lbs (OUCH). I'm about 1/2 inch aft of limit, so may need to add ballast in the nose....

You know, John, I have all the respect in the world for you regarding the changes that you've made to your plane, but this type of empty weight in a Long-EZ is a real issue, and I think that needs to be made clear to those contemplating builds and modifications.

 

With a DESIGN empty weight of 750 lb (per the Long-EZ POH) and a MGW of 1325 lb, you are 420 lb (56%) overweight, and now have 155 lb of payload that you can carry, including fuel, pilot, passenger and baggage. Even at the "every once in a while" weight of 1425 lb (or whatever it was within 25 lb of that), you've got about 255 lb. of payload. Neither of these even allows full fuel, much less a pilot at the same time.

 

Now, I now that there are Long-EZ's flying at 1600 lb. or thereabouts, and if you increase your MGW to that level, you now have 430 lb. of payload, which gives you full fuel and a very small pilot (with no passenger or baggage), or two mid-size people with about 15 minutes worth of fuel. But flying at 1600 lb (275 lb, or 20% above DESIGN MGW) turns a 5G airplane into a 4 G airplane - still above "Normal Category", but below "Utility Category", and also reduces takeoff and landing performance, not to mention slowing you down (heavier is slower).

 

To me, this is a cautionary tale for builders. Keep to the plans; keep it light. Sorry to use you as an example, but this is the same type of comment that I make to COZY builders when a COZY comes in in the 1350-1500 lb empty weight range - there's something wrong at that point that's compromising both performance and safety.

[JLKnolla]

Waiter,

 

Just looking for ways to help you pin down the weights - I know you are very competent and detail oriented but offer the following for whatever help it might be (if any):

 

Did you keep a W&B change record as you went through all the mods/upgrades? Either actuals or estimates?

 

Specifically:

- DD Plenums and hardware

- New vs old cowl

- Oil Heat (incl, hardware, lines and oil)

- RG install (incl, hardware, lines and hyd fluid)

- Paint (and filler, etc)

- other convenience items

 

Are you including some tare or other non-essential weight?

 

In retrospect, did any of your repairs/mods/upgrades possibly include weight not accounted for in your estimates?

 

Are you convinced the scales were properly zeroed out and calibrated?

 

Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it and not have serious issues to deal with. Regardless, the plane really looks good and you have also done a tremendous service to all Long builders and pilots with your excellent website.

[Lynn Erickson]

PIRP;

 

 

 

My biggest surprise was the weight. 1170 lbs (OUCH). I'm about 1/2 inch aft of limit, so may need to add ballast in the nose.

 

My original weight was 950 (Great American prop, fixed gear)

 

I was looking at about 1050 - 1075, so I'm about 100lbs heavier than I thought.

 

Waiter

thats a bunch, what did you put in there. the gear should add an extra 75 lbs. and the prop about 35 lbs. where did the extra 100 lbs come from. some in the big tires and brakes. but the are no wheel pants. some in the wheel fairings. go thing is it does not hold as much fuel as it did?

[TMann]

The Empty weight on a Berkut 540 is 1150 lb

 

One of the limiting factors for gross weight is the capacity of the landing gear. This plane has a lic. gross weight of 2200 lbs.

 

Now before we go there, I realize that the operational weight will affect how many G's this bird can handle.

 

Waiter has been very forth coming with what he has found so far.

I'll be very anxious to see how these changes actually affect the flight characteristics of this bird.

[Waiter]

Marc hit it right on.

 

I've got thousands of hours in EZs, Its always amazed me how much difference a mear 100lbs makes to the performance of my plane.

 

I think JLKnolla has the list of culprets, Also add to the list a second small battery (dual electronic ignition, dual batteries)

PLUS

Electric nose

Electric Pitch trim

Electric speed brake

Fuel Injection

 

Scales are reliable - We weighed two other planes the same day and they came up very close. Also gave them the 182 test, thats how much I weighed when I stood on each scale (Nice little scale set, digital readuot, select/deselect each load cell, etc)

 

 

Waiter