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The N23RR adventure begins!!!


Bugstrider

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We closed the deal on a VariEze and now the adventure begins!  Obtained it from the original builder’s family who want to see it get back into the air.  I am limited on space in our county rental hangar and will be selling our 67 C-150 to make room for our new fast mover.  I am very humbled and grateful by the opportunity that the builder’s family has provided me regarding this VariEze. 

N23RR has several updates such as LongEZ gear, new-er avionics (new when updated in 09), electronic ignition on one, mechanical mag on the other, overhauled prop with dynamic balance, B&C lightweight alternator, low time O-200 just to mention a few.

on the to-do list: CI, ADSB and Navigation lights, seat cushions  and a possible Lithium battery update as well.  Oh yeah, insurance and some additional flight training.

In the process of moving it from its old home to its new home.  Not too bad since it is only about 45 miles away.  Got to use our hitch extension that allows support from end to end on the wing and canard.  Keeping it slow on back roads due to possible excessive lateral wind load on the vertical.

Thanks to all of you that I have talked to via email, IM and phone.  More are coming.....😉

Cheers

Trevor

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Edited by Bugstrider
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Thanks guys!!
 

Wife is at home resting after hip surgery so I decided to make another run for the other wing and PVC support structure.  Allows the wings and canard to stack while supported..

 

one can never have enough pool noodles, carpet remnants, and old comforters. Lol 

 

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Does anyone have any suggestions to obtaining some seat cushions for the Var-Eze?  I see OregonAero sells just the cushion uncovered pads, but did not know if they were worth the cost of $380 per seat.  Upholstery for the cushions would be an additional expense.

Any used seat cushions for sale out there?

 

Cheers

Trevor

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Marc has a wealth of knowledge.  My son and I visited him last summer in Tehachapi.  He was a great help for me to understand some of the key things on my VariEze before I got it back in the air.  A fun fact is that he shares a hangar with Mike Melvill.  We got to spend 30 minutes talking with Mike about many of his test flight experiences at Scaled Composites.

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On 3/10/2021 at 7:07 PM, Bugstrider said:

Does anyone have any suggestions to obtaining some seat cushions for the Var-Eze?  I see OregonAero sells just the cushion uncovered pads, but did not know if they were worth the cost of $380 per seat.  Upholstery for the cushions would be an additional expense.

Any used seat cushions for sale out there?

I made my own from pieces of polyurethane foam (aka "memory" or "Confor" foam). Two layers if I remember correctly: firm on the bottom and a softer one on top. The foam cuts very cleanly with a band saw. I sewed the covers myself but next time I'll probably have a pro do it.

 

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14 hours ago, slk23 said:

I made my own from pieces of polyurethane foam (aka "memory" or "Confor" foam). Two layers if I remember correctly: firm on the bottom and a softer one on top. The foam cuts very cleanly with a band saw. I sewed the covers myself but next time I'll probably have a pro do it.

 

Thank you for that info.  Did you get the foam at the local fabric shop, Hobby Lobby or an online source?  I will do a search for online sources and thicknesses.

Cheers

Trevor

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On 3/12/2021 at 8:35 PM, bmckinney10 said:

Marc has a wealth of knowledge.  My son and I visited him last summer in Tehachapi.  He was a great help for me to understand some of the key things on my VariEze before I got it back in the air.  A fun fact is that he shares a hangar with Mike Melvill.  We got to spend 30 minutes talking with Mike about many of his test flight experiences at Scaled Composites.

That is awesome!!

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On 3/15/2021 at 12:40 AM, Bugstrider said:

Thank you for that info.  Did you get the foam at the local fabric shop, Hobby Lobby or an online source?  I will do a search for online sources and thicknesses.

Cheers

Trevor

I bought mine from McMaster-Carr but that was 20 years ago.  There are many online sources these days.

Someone posted the original article about using Confor foam for added safety on this site or in the Cozy Builders Mailing List (Google Groups). 

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Looks pretty clean Trevor! It looks very similar to mine.  I see you have the B&C alternator there too.

The plastic tube is for the tank vent lines.  Mine had the same.  They weren't cracked and were still flexible, so I kept mine. 

You may have to move your breather air/oil separator if you are going to add a starter.  My separator was on the starter pad.  I ended up putting the breather tube back on the original O-200 port (near the prop-end of the engine), but had to make one of those Aerobat-style extended tubes to keep oil from spitting out.  I still have a thin skim of oil on the lower cowling after a flight, but I am not losing anything significant.  I may figure out how to eventually add a separator back into the mix.

I removed all the wiring from the front to the back.  The original setup had the CHT/EGT, tach, oil pressure, temps, etc. all running to individual gauges in the panel in a decent-sized bundle.  I installed the MGL Blaze with the remote I/O box.  I mounted the I/O box right where your air/oil separator is located.  All the engine monitoring (including tach pulse) is wired to that with a single 2-wire shield cable running to the panel.  Cleaned up a lot and works great.

You'll have fun working on that project!

 

 

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12 hours ago, Bugstrider said:

Will be looking into changing out poly fuel lines with more fire resistant aluminumm

The yellow looks like Tygon tubing which is a good fuel tube but limited to 165 deg F.   https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23487&catid=864

Yours is on the cool side of the cooling system so maybe it's OK.  Yeah, flared aluminum lines and AN fittings would be my choice but how to fit them to your round manifold would be the trick.  You might have to build something new.  I would say if you are careful with the clamps (not to cut into the Tygon) you'd be OK and a fire that reach that area is going to be a pretty bad thing no matter what you use.  Aluminum welds can crack, B-nuts can crack, bad flares can leak so there's that to consider.

It is good practice to bead aluminum line-ends to keep flexible tubes from coming off.  Just sayin'.  Beading tools are very expensive but there is a cheap version.   https://www.wicksaircraft.com/shop/1-2-o-d-tubing-beading-tool/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIscT9n8zY7wIVSFtyCh2K1graEAQYBCABEgIoH_D_BwE  You're probably OK if you keep them inspected and there is no pull on the tubes.

Gascolator:  Somewhere I read that it was good practice to safety wire the 3/32" (?) retaining wires that hold the gascolator in place.  (pic)  Apparently a retaining wire can pop out of its hole and release the gascolator.  I go one turn around one of the wires, around the gascolator and one turn around the opposite wire.  The retaining wheel is also safety wired.  There is a screen filter in the top that should be inspected.  Easy to overlook.

Wire protections:  If I have any really important wires, I use about a 1.5" strip of thin RTV sheet--like baffle material--and sandwich the wire in the piece of RTV, then secure it with a tie wrap.  I hate Adel clamps and avoid them if I can.  The RTV piece will put less stress on the wire  than a plain tie-wrap  There is an old wives tail about dirty tie wraps cutting through a steel engine mount tube.  I don't believe in that grimlin but they could cut into a PVC wire cover.   Most aviation wire is not PVC though.

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-Kent
Cozy IV N13AM-750 hrs, Long-EZ-85 hrs and sold

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  • 1 year later...

Good afternoon everyone,

 

kinda dropped off the face of the canard scene due to "life n work". Been attempting to wrap up other commitments so I can get to the fast mover (23RR- now that is finally became official with the FAA). Many, many things to do before first flight......

One thing I want to do is clean up the interior. Looking for suggestions on seat padding. I was planning on a thin layer of the foam used in sail planes, however I would be starting from scratch on the fabric, material and plans for the upholstery. Anyone have an old set of rough sketches they would be willing to share?

I am also considering looking into mounting a landing light in the speed brake like L. Johnson has done in speedy. Just not sure if it's too difficult in a retro project.  I need to reach out to him and ask.

 

Hope everyone is well,

Trevor

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I forgot to mention that I am looking into adding TE fences to improve the slow speed handling characteristics of the VE.  I still have the original leading edge cuffs as well.

any size/design pointers would be appreciated.  I will be utilizing 1mm carbon fiber for those.  Looking into the best height and length design for those.  Looked at a LE that flew into KPVF that had them and they were as tall as my iphone8.  I was planning on a much lower profile sine the airflow over the wing and ailerons is much lower.

 

Cheers

 

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  • 1 month later...

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