John Slade

No. Do a search on IVO in the NTSG reports and you'll find out why. A lot of the stuff is fairly old. Perhaps they've improved. I won't be the one to find out. One of the stories - a Velocity that crashed (3 on board killed) was from my airport. Admittedly this guy did a lot wrong, but... The ACRE list has been pretty negative about them on a structural standpoint.

Oops. I said wider (which is true), but I meant wiser.

Thanks for the "perhaps". It's appropriate. There are a lot of people installing rotaries in Cozys and many people wider than me putting them in RVs. Mine is probably the nearest Cozy IV to completion with Paul conner, Steve Brooks and Bulent Alieve close behind. A lot of what I'm doing has already been done in pushers by Greg Richter (Cozy III 13B turbo), George Graham (custom LongEx), Perry Mick (ducted fan custom long EZ), Brice ? (3 rotor turbo cozy IV) and a few others I cant think of right now. Reading my web site ( http://kgarden.com/cozy/chap23 ) will provide lots of detail, but here's a quick summary: I have a 6psi pop-off valve (a radiator cap) installed on the 65mm throttle body to keep the boost down, at least to begin with. I also have a manual wastegate push-pull cable. The cooling is definately an issue and I'm going a bit off on my own in this area. Greg and George have large scoops. I have a large rad under the engine and two stock 3rd gen oil coolers. I'm (currently) using just the plans NACA scoop for intake air, with a plenum to feed the heat exchangers. I also have a large cooling fan in there, plus an exhaust aumentation setup around and behind the turbo. I agree that the best thing to do is watch and wait. As far as the work involved, it's no picnic, it presents a few challenges and it takes time, but I'm hoping the results are worth it. Time will tell. Yes - expect me at Rough River.

OK, One day you'll have to bring the wife. We can have a steak, then enjoy the REAL hot tub. By the time you're flying to the Bahamas, I'll be flying to Europe.

Jon and I have been talking about ways to add value to the forum... I suggested that we add a "hot tub" section when we revise the hierarchy (Jon is working on this and should have it ready in the next week or so). By the way - the proposed new hierarchy is at http://canardzone.com/?Section=ProposedHierarchy Does anyone have any more comments or suggestions before it's implemented? My idea is that the "hot tub" is open from say 9pm to 12pm Eastern (sorry No4 what time is that for you?) each evening. Anyone can climb in and simply shoot the breeze about anything. The messages here wont be archived, and will be deleted once a week. Clothing would be optional. Since it was my idea, and I'm the one who actually had a hut tub on the patio while building the plane, I'll try to be there for a while each evening, at least until something hits the fan at work, or my engine starts. I suppose this would be better using an instant messenger type system, but lets try it with the forum as a start. Another thought I've had is posting a short daily update on my progress. I always find it interesting to read about where others are up to. Doing this daily would be too much for the whole build, but I'm guessing I'm about 10 days away from engine start, and from there it'll be debugging, taxi testing and flight testing. It occured to me that people just starting, considering starting, or well through the process might find a few details interesting as I "close" in on the big day. This could be combined with the hot-tub thing, but I thought of doing it in a rotary engine thread since much of it will be rotary related. Thoughts anyone?

Interesting perspective on flying techniques, Jim. I'd like to read more stuff like this. Maybe we need a section for flying experiences (Jon?). As for fuel, Rich says he had about 5 gals left in the left tank and switched to the right tank (with 15 gals) about 15 miles out. He didnt touch the fuel selector again until after touchdown when he turned it to off. The left tank ruptured on impact.

Easy. You keep the hardener level fairly low, then dump a bit more of one in when you want to change the ratio. Sounds haphazard, but it works fine. You get the nang of it quickly. As for calibration - the pump is not capable of being out of calibration. Calibration is fixed and cannot be changed. It's always right. The only way it can be out is if air is pumped in one side - this is obvious when it happens. Pump v scale is one of the issues which will never be settled. I'd suggest trying both methods and decide for yourself which to use.

Note: This is just "off the top" based on my own experience. Others may argue points and techniques. Thats great. You're milage may vary. There is no right or wrong way. This is just what worked for me. You'll learn what works for you. This, and further discussion is intended to give you a starting point.... The fuse sides will be your first big layup. Make sure everything you'll need is at hand and the cloth is cut slightly oversize and ready to unfold. Use cheap gloves so you can pull them off if you need to take a "break". Don't even start if the ambiant temp is below say 65F. 72 is much better. The part must also be at these temps. If the part is at 55 and the air has just been warmed to 75, you'll have trouble with the epoxy wetting out. Use all slow epoxy from a hot box and have a hair drier handy. Lay the first ply. Get the threads straight, then go pump 3 or 4 squirts. Paint the stuff on quickly not worrying about any gaps. Go for max coverage. Moving quickly, do about a 4 sq ft area. Now get you're hair dryer and start stippling (up and down with the brush) dipping in the pot and warming the part ahead of you as you go. The white areas will start to go dark. Once you have the whole area pretty much dark move on to the next 4 sq ft area, pumping 3 or 4 squirts when you run out of epoxy. If you're brush starts to go a bit hard, dump it and grab a new one. Same with the pot of epoxy. You need to get that stuff out of the pot and onto the part as fast as you can without just dumping it on. Work quickly. Once the first ply is all dark squeege it lightly to remove serious globs of excess, but mostly just lay the next ply on top, pull it straight and then start in at the stipple stage. The excess from the first ply will soak through and wet out the second. Now stipple and paint to get the second ply all dark. Keep going and follow all the instructions in the plans. When you're done, and the last ply is done, lay 4ml clear plastic over the top, wet you're sqeege with epoxy and squeege through the plastic. If it starts to go white you're pressing too hard. Lift the plastic locally and add more epoxy. You should see the bubbles moving ahead of the squeege, and the color change is obvious behind it. Work from the middle outwards. Expect globs of epoxy to come out of the edges. Where the part curves and the plastic wants to crease, cut it with a blade or scissors and let it overlay itself. Once the plastic has been squeeged do your final check of the layup looking for any white spots, clean up you're tools, wipe the brush and put it in a bottle of MEK, wipe out the epoxy cup and then go check the plans to be sure you followed all the details correctly. Keep some epoxy to do a scratch test. Let it cure overnight, even if it looks cured 4 hours later. Next day you'll have the sides of you're airplane. I hope this helps someone.

When you've done the back of the seatback, try doing the front using plastic peel ply. See if you like the difference. Its good to try this out on a flat surface first. Search for plastic peel ply to find the thread on this.

>What is the purpose of the 1X10's wouldn't a 2 x 6 do just as well? Either would work fine. >4 X 4s or more 2 x 6s for legs? Toe nail them at the end or screw them on. Don't matter, so long as it's solid and doesnt move. I used two 2 * 4s and screws. >Height is a big concern Plans height was fine for me at 5' 7". I'd make it a bit taller if you're a tall person. >would the split table be a good idea or a waste of saw power... Depends how tight you are on space. My table spent most of it's time being my organization area. You'll find yourself working on lots opf jobs at once and its very nice to have someplace to spread everything out. >Wax with johnsons paste wax weekly, no silicones Hmmm. I'm not sure about that one dust. My table was fairly well beat up by the end of the job, but wax and epoxy dont mix. I'd rather keep wax away from the shop and sacrifice the table.

Obviously I vote for the Cozy - fast, economical and EZ to fix you're mistakes. I've watched a local builder working on an RV over the last few years. Way too many rivets for my liking. If you screw up a panel it's trash. No so with fiberglass. As for skis, you're talking to a guy who took his skis in a PA28 Cherokee. I think they'd fit inside a Cozy, but the pax might be a bit uncomfortable. I'd bet you could add a belly pod that would hold skis. One set on each side of the belly brake. However - I wouldn't consider this as an important critera not matter how much you love to ski. For the difference in cost you could fedex you're skis ahead everywhere you go for 10 years. The other important difference between the RV and Cozy is simple. The RV looks a lot like an Archer. The Cozy looks more like a spaceship. Aesthetics is everything when you're looking at the beast you've created. The Cozy just looks COOL.

>With the MGS system what pump do you recommend? I have the stick-stuff unit. Worked well for almost 5 years. >What are the differences between the 285 and the 335 systems? The main advertised difference is a higher tg (melting point in simple terms) for the 285. I've used both and found the 285 to be a little better. It wets out easier (if that's believable - the 335 is excellent) and it stays liquid longer. Its a little more expensive, but if I were doing it again (which wont happen) I'd use 285 together with the appropriate hardeners. I noticed a few questions that dont seem to have been answered... >what else will I need besids a few things from home depot to make the jigs? Not much. A smart level and a dremel. Many swear by the Fein tools. I've never seen one. >As far as tools go I have a drill press, a table saw, a router >table, a cheap jig saw, a cordless drill and various hammers and >screwdeivers. Add a dremel (actually I'd recommend the cheaper and better Black & Decker version) and a good Stanley knife. My FAVORITE and most used "tool" was a piece of 1/2 inch plywood cut the right size to hold a small 50 grit belt sander belt with a good and tight fit. This gives you a 2 sided flat sanding board. Very handy for all sorts of jobs. At one point I had three in various grits, one made with with 3/4 ply with a curved end and a flat end. >Do the ACS chapter kits have everything I need to complete the >chapter material wise? I would expect so. The Wicks chapters do. Note, however that you WILL screw something up here and there. If you need 3 nutplates, that what you get. I cant count the number of times I ran out of nuts, bolts, nutplates etc. in the earlier chapters.

>I also owe an apology to Mr. Marc Zeitlin.... You said you were good. I'd say that was a huge understatement.

Remember - this was a fuel injected airplane. No carb heat fitted because you're not supposed to be able to get icing with FI.

I have no experience of using scales. The whole idea of the pump appealed to me and I used it for the entire build. I think it comes down to convienience and speed of operation. How long (in seconds) does it take from deciding you need more epoxy during a layup to continuing the wetout with a new batch? Using the pump and mgs I'd guess at 30 seconds. What???? you say - what about the 2 minute mix time? The 30 seconds includes mixing. Burts original 2 minute mix was for the old smelly thick stuff. Mgs hardener is slightly colored and you can SEE when it's mixed. Also, when the stuff is hot it's like water and mixes very very easily. Call me a heretic if you like, but a good 20 second mix on the way back from the hot box, scrapping the sides and mixing it well, has never failed me. Scratch tests have always been good, everything has cured just fine. I hate to imagine weighing little bits of epoxy on scales, then pouring them into a cup (leaving different amounts in the original cups because of different viscosity.) I often use 1 pump of the handle. Most commonly 2 pumps. Occasionally 1/2 a pump. Scales might be ok when mixing a good amount of epoxy, but with the new low viscosity stuff you dont tend to do it that way. You mix 2 squirts, wet it out, then go back for another 2 squirts. This way the epxy is always hot out of the box and wetting out is more like painting than squeeging. As for mixing fast and slow - I would tend to keep the hardener level fairly low and just dump a bit more fast in if it was a cool evening, or slow if it was a big job or a warn day. You loearn to judge where the ration is and how much to add to get what you want. You only really need all slow for maybe 4 or 5 big layups. Most of the time it doesnt matter much what ratio you're using. I vote PUMP

Jim's right, Burt would make it lighter and simpler - because that's Burt. Is that what you really want to know? When thinking of a "super" cozy, many builders lean towards luxury, size and power. I'd like to see a pressurized twin design, but the Defiant isnt it. We've discussed this here before. Any "improved" design, even if it were to be laid out for us as well as the Cozy is, would certainly involve considerably more effort for us homebuilders to finish one. You've probably heard of the 80/20 rule - 80% of homebuilt starts dont finish. With the Cozy I'd guess that its more like 60/40. Just about anyone can build one of these babies. A "super" Cozy, if there was one, would probably be closer to 95/5. When I throw my leather seats up in the air, they come back down quite quickly, but so would 250 horses. With a few "minor" exceptions I think the best way is to keep to the simple track, built it, fly it, then once you're one of the 40%, add improvements when you know what matters and how to do it.

Actually, Dust, there are a couple of other differences: John------------------------Dust Works in shorts-------------SKI gear Almost done-----------------Nowhere near

Oh, by the way, Jim. Do you think it might be possible to avoid mentioning human excrement (liquid or solid) in a couple of your future posts? Thanks.

Scott Wick, Vice president of Wicks Aircraft just made a post on the Cozy list. I'd repost it here, but wouldnt want to ruffle any feathers, so I'll just invite him on over.

Tim, you'll need a smart level fairly early on - chapter 6 or so. The laser level wont be used until chapter 14 or so. There's little to be gained by ordering all the chapters at once. I'd recommend getting the first 4 chapters, then when you're approaching the last of these, order the next 4. Better for cash flow and better for storage. This also allows you to test the suppliers. An exception if cash flow isnt a major factor might be to order a full roll of BID rather than the chapter amounts. You might also get all the nuts, bolt, washers, rivets, nutplates, aluminum etc in one go. I can't comment on West, but I can tell you that MGS is excellent. I'd recommend the 285 version. Get an epoxy pump as well.

Froidian slip, perhaps?

Hmmmm. I don't do it because I know you've asked that it not be done, but I'm still trying to understand why you have a problem with this particular issue, Marc. The only reason I can come up with is that you feel that the "content" of you're list is an asset in some way, and has value over and above that of "freely available information". That conclusion bothers me slightly. If I post somewhere - flyrotary, cozylist, my web-site, aeroelectric list, where-ever, I'm posting information or comment for public consumption. Period. I don't know who's receiving the information - I just hope its of use to someone somewhere. So, if ever anyone feels that something I posted someplace might be valuable somewhere else they have my permission implicit and explicit to repost it. (not the whole damn website, by the way - that MIGHT eventually have an asset value all its own, but quotes and images from it may be freely reposted.) How do other members feel about comments on this list being reposted on other lists? Marc? Is it ok the other way around? If so, why the difference?

I agree that the "ruckus" should stay in the database. I'm one for "letting it all hang out". (see http://sunsportgardens.com/ for my favorite weekend retreat). For example, when Marc (very rarely) bites someone's head off in the Cozy list, he usually does it in public. i.e. I believe that "Justice should be seen to be done." This helps people to behave, since they know they're gonna get a public bashing if they don't. If I have a problem with someone's post, I tend to react as a member, not as an "administrator". Sure, I CAN go and amend or delete the post, but I'd rather leave it there, and comment on it in public. This way I can be jumped on by other "members" if I'M out of line, which has been known to happen. I suppose multiple one word posts by the same member might be considered differently, but lets leave that alone and move on. I've said I think of this forum as a club. Certainly it's a valuable information resource too, but as someone said earlier, one of the forum's strengths is the ability to simply chat with friends about things we love - airplanes and flying. Building a plane hour after hour, day after day, week after month (need I go on) can be a very lonely business (unless you have slaves). When you work on the plane alone, as I did, you carry a big responsibility. Every day you're making judgements that could affect the lives of yourself, family and friends. There's no-one to turn to for advice, or to double check you're work. (Dust * Clifford - you guys have it too easy). Its nice to sit down after a day of building, thinking and deciding "it'll do" to relax and chat light heartedly with good people of like mind. Maybe as well as a "coffee house" we should have a "hot tub" section where everything we said gets deleted every day, and we know that before we get in. So; lets keep using this medium for both purposes. "Feel good because I have friends out there who are going through the same thing" and "how do I.....". In order to promote the latter "information resource" side of things I'm going to think up a few new threads on building issues which might help start useful discussions in new areas. I'd ask that others with experience in something relevant do the same. Let's get this forum MOVING Meanwhile, Jon is looking into the software so we can all rate threads. I'll continue to chatter with my buddies each day in the same inimitable way that I've enjoyed for the last 5 years. If I p.ss someone off now and then, so be it. Ain't gonna spoil my day. Speaking of which - where the hell are you, Wayne? Got that strake finished yet? Come on get on with it - all you gotta do is hack off chunks of frozen epoxy resin and warm them by the fire. PS - It was 81 here yesterday.

An update on the insurance front. My local Aviation Insurance agent (see yellow pages) got me a quote from Global Aerospace. $7200pa hull or $3100 liability only. I told him I'd think about it.

As someone on the Cozy list said, this move probably makes sense from Wicks' point of view. As an executive at Wicks I can see not wanting to pay royalties to the main competitor. Other companies supply fiberglass, foam, aircraft hardware etc. etc. They don't have to work with a compressed margin and pay their competitors, so why should Wicks. As for support, these days most support comes from other builders through forums like this. We pay for the newsletter. I'm happy that Nat will get reimbursed by Spruce for his efforts in supporting builders and marketing the Cozy at fly-ins. Who we choose to buy from doesn't affect that arrangement. It only affects the Spruce bottom line profit. I'm pretty much done buying parts, but my current procedure will stay in effect when I do. For small orders I just call Wicks. Period. 4 days later, like clockwork, the right parts arrive on my doorstep. For larger orders I check the price at Wicks and Spruce and maybe a few other places. If there's not much difference I buy from Wicks. They've been wonderful for the past 5 years and I have a lot of loyalty to them. If the price is radically lower at Spruce I'll buy there. (happened twice recently). Spruce have been making an effort lately, and they deserve a fair crack - but only if they're competitive with price and they continue to keep the customer support at an acceptable level. For new builders considering placing large orders I'd recommend the following: Read the plans until you find a fairly complex question relating to materials or parts. You WILL have such questions. Call both suppliers and ask your question. When you're order arrives there's almost bound to be something not quite right. See what kind of reception you get when returning or exchanging something. You're going to spending around $10k at one of these suppliers, so it's worth building a relationship with one of them. Price isn't everything. Consider the quality of the service you get from each supplier, and form you're loyalties based on that. My 2c.