unick3

I agree with Marc. Trying to 'adapt' a system to an aircraft application results in a non-optimal solution. I have a Garmin 196 and it does one task perfectly... providing a pilot information he really needs in a quick, ergonomically sensible approach. After three serious in flight emergencies, I don’t want to fiddle with screens or reboots or whatever. I want a device with is specifically designed for its intended purpose (3 of my 9 lives down, 6 to go). Besides, you want to get your airplane in the air quickly. Trying to adapt system requires lots of R and D time. Personally, I would rather be flying.

When John and I set the originally set the forum up we envisioned members posting messages to the appropriate areas. Currently, I think the coffee house does get over used, but with the small number of active members I dont think this is entirely bad. Eventually when we have a lot more activity, I cant start moving threads to the appropriate subject areas.

In the future I think we will see lots more cool (temp wise) colors to paint our planes. The is a LOT of research going on by the military on colors (greens, blues, browns, etc) that are highly reflective and do not get hot. Has a lot to do with thermal imaging of military vehicles by infrared cameras.... I have read about some amazing results.

Group, I want to thank Marc for his interest in the forum and starting this thread. I remember my first post on the cozy email group (7+ years ago?). Being a NewBee, I said something really stupid and was corrected by Marc (yes, I certainly deserved it). This is when I developed a great respect for his knowledge and experience. I have always felt Marc has held best interest of all builders and flyers in the fore front of his actions. The amount of effort to administer/support the email group is tremendous, and yet he still found time to complete his cozy. Amazing. The disrespect of ANYONE by members of this group is not welcome. My apologizes Marc. Whoo, that being said, I appreciate his question as it is one I would have certainly liked to ask after 6 months of operation.... What is so attractive about the forum idea for sharing information (over email), and how do the members feel about it? I am certainly heartened by the responses. Thank you all.... I started this forum solely for one reason... I think it is a better way to exchange information for builders/flyers in a friendly community like format. Period. Being exposed to forums for years, I could clearly see the advantages and wanted to share this experience with others. I am, like Marc, solely interested in promoting information exchange and improving the safety of our sport. I guess I was also frustrated with moderation, no attachments to posting, not knowing who (what experience level) the poster had, no feeling of a real time dialog (instant messaging) with other senders, getting viruses, getting 150+ emails after being on travel for a week, not being able to sell things...etc, of the email groups. As a central storehouse of information, the forum cant be beat. EVERY SINGLE word of EVERY post (greater than 4 characters) is stored and indexed. Searching the archives is just a matter of typing in key words. This something that the CA group doesn’t offer. I have tried to search the cozy archives with mixed results. Email groups keep getting repeated threads. Even though I know we discussed the subject it is not easy to refer the sender to the proper threads (because they don’t exist). Therefore, I ignore the post and don’t respond at all... For me the advantages are: · This group requires almost NO time to administer. · I can easily refer NewBee questions to archives · Allows attachments · Has a calendar of events · You can post buy/sell ads · You can view/post from anywhere (I am in Washington DC at a hotel right now... I cant view my home emails till I get back to my home computer). · More of a sense of community You can edit/remove/change your post at any time Etc, etc My only regret is the forum has not be rapidly embraced by others as there are so many builders with so much experience to offer. I wish I didn’t have to be a member of so many email groups. Someday this forum will be the site for one stop shopping for building information....just not yet. But I am also heartened by the growing interest in the site. I hope to one day take the archives of all the groups I can find and import them into the database. It would make this site a wonderful archived resource. Over time I feel the forum style of information exchange will eventually replace email groups as the numbers of members and participation at this site seems to be continually growing.. Has it been worth my time, effort and frustrations to get it off the ground. I thinks so. Only time will tell. Good flying!

I havent read a thing on when it is suppost to come out. If it does it will weigh a lot. What about the german engine that superior is selling. You can buy it right now.

We got two seperate issues here. Lighning and Ice. There is no cure for lightning except distance (and a storm scope). Forget about trying to embed metal fiber in your glass work. Ice. In the winter when it is REALY cold, you rarely if ever get lightning (not enough vertical buildup for the clouds). Your worst icing conditions (clear ice and rime) is in the spring and fall when temps are near or just below freezing. You can have temp inversions warm/cold layers and water existing in various states. Got to be extra careful. When it gets REALLY cold most of the moisture is in ice crystals. Ice (clear and rime) usually doesnt happen too much if at all. The cloud layers are really shallow too. Usually bases are around 2000 ft and tops about 6000 ft. You need lots of power to quickly get above the clouds if you get some snow build up. I would much perfer to fly in mid winter when it is really cold.

Steve asked me about the remote thermostat. It is a perma-cool #1060. It can be ordered from JEGS at 1-800-345-4545 part number 771-1060 for $38.99. It directs oil to the exterior cooler when the oil reaches 185 deg f. You can keep your engine vernitherm in place. All you have to do is install another oil cooler (small) in your cabin with a small bilge fan ($50 West Marine) to blow air through the core. Use your existing oil cooler in your engine compartment. The West fan generates NO radio noise at all. You basiclly hook it up as shown in the diagram.... Your cabin heater is hot all the time. When you dont want the heat (summer) you just turn the fan off and the outside cooler automaticlly takes over the cooling of the engine..... Simple, automatic and it works.

One of the major re-occuring costs of the ELT is the batteries. Look for one that can use D cells. ACS has a model for about $200 if I recall.

Icing on your bird is a bad thing. I have had clear ice, rime ice and snow build up on my canard and main wings. What really freaked me out is when I had icing on my prop.... when half of it breaks off it really give you a shaking up!! Take it from me, the best thing to do is to stay out of icing conditions. The only system I thought would even be possible is a liquid deice system. You pump deicing liquid from the front of the leading edges and use a flinger ring on the prop. The cirrus is using a titanium LE with laser cut holes (800/sq in) to weep the liquid onto the wing surfaces.

I have had two engine outs.... One in IFR 4000 ft and landed on a dirt strip in the woods... the other, VFR, I was able to make it back to an airport with a trashed engine. If I had a BSR who know what I would have done..?? Although the thought of a BRS is interesting, I would rather pick the place I crash. The easiest way to put a BRS on your airplane is on your back. (much cheaper too).

Jack Wilhemson and I solved the problem of low oil temps when using two oil coolers in series. We ran the oil line from the engine to the cabin heat exchanger (a oil cooler) then into a external oil control valve (mounted on the firewall). The control valve is set at 185 deg f. It works like an external vernitherm. It the temp of the oil from the cabin heater is <185 the oil goes directly back to the engine. If the oil temp is >185 it directs the oil to the external oil cooler then the engine. This way the engine ALWAYS sees about 185 deg oil whither or not you are taking heat out of the system with the cabin heater and/or the external cooler. I found the control valve in the Summit catalog (any race car catalog has external oil control valves which are set at different temps) Cost of the valve is ~$35. We totally removed the heat muff. The oil cooler system will BLAST you out of the cabin with enought heat to warm your bones at any OAT.

Dont EVER consider a Ivo. Look at the NTSB reports on prop failures and you will find Ivo leads the pack. I dont know how that guy keeps insurance on his buisness... John is right, the only advantage of a controlable pitch prop is take off performance. With the amount of hp we have in our planes improving take off performance should not be a consideration. Fixed blade props are designed for cruise performance so an adjustable would not be an improvement in this area. They are really not worth the weight, cost or maintence headaches...

If you plan to fly very high, you really need to turbo charge the engine otherwise you will have very little power. A normal O2 system is only good up to 24k then you need a presurized O2 system (to force the O2 into your blood). I cant see any need to fly greater than 20k feet anyway. If you buy a system get a Mountain High system with the electronic flow system. It saves a tremendous amount of O2 from being wasted. I have a small bottle and it will last for at least 8 hrs. Then I bring it home and refill it from my BIG O2 tank. It cost about $.50 per filling....

On these planes retracts makes no sense at all. You gain very little on top end, and carry less fuel. I have two blown engines, (emergency landing on a dirt strips) with No problems with detachment, and two gear up landings (one due to my stupidity, and one with carb ice and the LAST thing on my mind was lowering the gear. I just lowered the gear, and off I flew. Try that with a retract system. Simple, cheap, light, easy to install. I am building another canard and there is no way in the world I would install a retract.

I agree with John. I knew nothing about composites or engines or wiring or finishing or, or, or. When you are done you will know as much as any A&P about your plane. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to diagnose and fix anything on your plane...

I talked to Chrissi (works for Blue Mountain) She said they are discussing having an optional accelerometer which will bolt to the engine to be used to dynamicly balance the engine. You can then balance your engine/prop at any time or just check it out and monitor your engine "on the fly". I think it is a great idea.

What do you mean by an EZ trim? Altitude hold? trim system?

Let us know how it turns out. How do you plan to bend your brackets? On a wood block or in a brake?

Good idea. Here's a thought though, the wheel pants take a lot of vibration and abuse. I would be surprised if the filaments would hold up.

I received a forwarded Email from Wayne Wright and since the time is short, I would be grateful if you would announce the Canard fly-in at Salisbury. It will be held on Saturday October 19th starting at 9:00 AM. As usual a catered buffet will begin at 12:00 noon at no charge. For more information see: http://www.airnav.com/airport/KSBY

It probably not to late for the kevlar (I just did my second pant). All I did was put two layers on the INSIDE of the pant around the hole. Just rough up the glass and put it on. I did the first one hundred hrs or so ago and while repairing them AGAIN, I did the other side.

I am totally convinced wheel pants take a tremendous amount of abuse. With 1600 hrs on my pants I have a recommendation. I had to repaired a number of cracks, also the tearing and ripping of the glass on my pants. Especially around the opening for the wheel. I finally stopped this by putting 2 layers of Kevlar (1” wide) around the opening to prevent tearing of the original glass. Crackes (tearing) develop around the wheel opening because glass does not work well when you have a sharp edge (cut out opening) and then you put it in shear (vibration, wheel contact, rocks, etc). Glass is meant for tension, not shear. Kevlar seems to stop this problem. Before you finish the pants take a close look at any place that could develop cracks (sharp corners, sharp edges of re-enforcing tape (not being feathered out) etc and correct the areas before you have problems because if you don’t you WILL. My next pants will be made out of 1 layer glass and 2 layers Kevlar and every mounting point heavily strengthened (carbon). I am tired of fixing and repainting them (this is the 5th time).

I seem to recall putting mine in to very hot water to soften the tubing before installing the sleeves.

Hi I have seen Jacks hidden hinges on his wings and they really do look good! Add hidden rudder bell horns and it gives the wings a much better (more professional) look. My wings currently have screws on them (but they have not been finished or painted). I am going to go back and mod my wings. I have zipped up all the pdf drawings into one zip file. Enjoy hidden_hinges.zip

How does 50% of retail cost sound to you?