John Slade

You'll be lucky to get any help with this request. Anyone who's building needs those plans every day and probably wouldnt entrust them to the mailman anyway. The plans are highly treasured and revered. Some even bow towards Mesa, AZ every morning. There's a sample page or two on the cozy website if this helps. http://cozyaircraft.com Regards, John Slade

For those using Polyfiber's Smoothprime and considering Top Gloss a word of advice... Don't. Smoothprime is great stuff, but the Top Gloss leaves a lot to be desired. I'm no paint expert, but here's my experience for what it's worth.... I was told (or read) that Top Gloss is good at blending and small patch work. Not true. I installed fuel caps after finishing and polishing the strakes (dont ask) and was told by Polyfiber that the best way to "blend" the two areas was to mask, then color sand the join. Forget it. This paint will NOT feather. Sanding the join was like watching a receding coastline. Tiny bits would break off the new (two week old) paint as soon as they got thin enough. I'm not even sure that another coat on top will cover the bump between the two previous coats. The only way to remove the bump entirely would be to remove all of the Top Gloss paint, rub everything down to primer and reprime. In general, the paint goes on fairly easily, and it's non-toxic, but it takes a LOT of work to color sand and buff-up a good shine, and the paint can peel off in chunks once it comes loose. I'm repainting my strakes (with Top Gloss), but when I repaint the whole plane (I'm sure I will have to) I'll use a different gloss paint. My 2c John Slade Cozy IV # 757 http://kgarden.com/cozy She has brakes!

>now if I can just convince (read "persuade" or "bribe") the wife....... Ahha! Now we come to the meat of it. Sounds like this is an area you definately need to work hard on. This project is going to take a lot of time and make a lot of mess. Spousal support is essential. I'd venture to suggest that "bribing" and "persuading" aren't good enough. You need to get her on your side, sharing the dream. Try project visits where she is included and gets to meet and talk with the builders / flyer's wife. Take family trips to fly-ins. If you're already a pilot, take her flying to exotic places. Bahamas, Key West, Pittsburg... Let her have the controls. Get her hooked on flying. Set her up on a pinch hitter course and/or aerobatic flight. If you meet resistance to all the above, you may be headed toward the dreaded AIDS (Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome). Try leaving copies of Sport Aviation and the Cozy literature around the house. The best approach I've heard is that the wife / significant other buys the plans for the builder as a birthday / Christmas / Anniversary present. Once you have the plans, encourage her involvement - include her in the decisions on ordering details, airplane type, engine, nose-lift etc. etc. Get her to read Chapter 3 (at least) and understand the safety / strength issues, then have her inspect your work. Discuss what you're going to do and where you're going to go together when the plane is finished. Good luck. John Slade

Rick, I think that the overall intent is to create an aesthetic scultured shape, both inside and out. There are very few flat surfaces on the Cozy and square sides inside the nose would look pretty weird. Also, you need all the space you can get inside the nose when it comes time to fit the pitot system, static system, brakes cylinders, rudder pedals, nose lift, GPS antenna, Heater radiator, AC Evaporator... Finally, and perhaps most important, curved shapes are stronger than flat ones. My 2c. John Slade bleedin brakes

Actually the article IS still available in the archives at: http://www.boston.com/globe/search/ Search for "plane scientist crash history" or something in the past 12 months and you'll find it. You have to pay $2.50 to see the thing, but here's an extract..... TYPE OF PLANE THAT SCIENTIST FLEW TO HIS DEATH HAS A CRASH HISTORY Published on August 5, 2002. Author(s): Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff The type of home-built plane that an Idaho scientist flew to his death off Martha's Vineyard over the weekend has been involved in at least 32 other accidents since private pilots began building them in their garages in the 1980s. Fifteen people have now died in the accidents, including John Denver and the 8-year-old son of bestselling author James Gleick, according to statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board. Timothy L. Crawford, of Idaho Falls, was flying his....

>I'd say "T" the lines, install facet pump. This would work OK until the day someone else flys my plane and decends on the left tank. Besides, I just sold my facet pump. I still prefer the idea of a motorized on/off valve in eash return line. If only I could find a suitable valve.... If you INSIST on having access to every drop of fuel, then a facet pump could be added to this system. Regards, John

Jack, Dale, >One thing that has happened on more then one occasion is the aircraft pulling enough G’s to cause the solenoid to engage in flight. This was discussed and generally described as "an old wives tale" in the aeroelectric list fairly recently. I forget the details, but I think "Ol' Bob K." said something about it taking more G than you or you're airplane will ever take. As I remember, the concensus was that this is not an issue.

Yes, Matt, you have it. Its a kind of "suck it and see" experiment. There is one "worst case" that bothers me ... low on fuel during decent you're running at idle and transferring fuel at 30 gals / hr. Lets say you have 10 gals / side ... if, for whatever reason, the return goes the wrong way you'll run a pump dry in 20 mins. What we really need is a simple on off motorized valve with metal fittings. One each side and the transfer problem is solved.

Back to the fuel problem... I'm now in the process of installing the plumbing. Another builder (whose name I won't mention in case he wants to remain annonymous) suggested an interesting alternative to the motorized valves for switching returns. The pressure in the return line is very low. Why not just T the returns, he says. Hmmm. I talked to Tracy Crook about the fuel pumps. He tells me that the pump will run at about 35PSI and, worst case at idle, I'll be returning about 30 gals/hr. Tracy also mentioned that the filters should go on the engine side of the pump, not the tank side. This saves the pump sucking through the filters and, presumably, protects the injectors from eating bits of pump. He has a gascolator on the suction side of the pump. I wasnt planning on installing gascolators. Maybe I should. Tracy felt that the return flow direction might be influenced by minor differences in restrictions to the flow. I think the fuel would tend to flow to the tank currently being drawn. Once a tank is full I doubt the return will force fuel out of the vent rather than simply flow to the other tank. Worst failure mode I can see is an overfull tank venting fuel and an increased pilot workload. The idea is so simple that I think I'll try it and see what happens. I'll put the T in a place where I can easily retrofit motorized valves later if I dont like the behavior. I also ordered a set of capacitance probes and duel guage from http://www.recreationalmobility.com/ These seem like a reasonable deal. The probes can be bent and cut down to 12.5 inches as needed. Rather than have them "sticking out of the top of the wing" like one plane I could mention, I'm planning on installing these sideways in the rear baggage area. Has anyone installed similar probes? Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

Yes, Mike. It makes sense to me. Anything that will firm up those damn wing jigs and save all the repeated measuring and fiddling can't hurt.

Hello Rob, welcome! I just noticed that you're post hadnt received a reply. Let me give it a stab... <snip> Some sources are quoting that 'crashes' at 55 mph are more survivable than crashes at 70 mph. I have read that the cosy main gear is supposed to break off on impact to prevent nosing over. I have also read some of the newsletters relating stories of successful forced landings. Can anyone out there add to this knowledge base? Was this a consideration for anyone of you builders? <end snip> Check out the NTSB reports. I don't think you'll find many Cozy forced landings. The few crashes there are seem to be mainly pilot error. Also, you might weigh the greater glide efficiency of a canard against the slower landing speed. Its better to glide to a better spot and not have to crash in the first place. <snip> How does one verify the lay-up quality of workmanship with composites? Do you all just go on faith that each epoxy layer has cured correctly or are there some tell-tale signs to look for? Do you keep the left-overs (in the cups) for inspection after cure? <end snip> It's fairly easy to tell that you had a "normal" cure. Scratching the left over epoxy also indicates it's cure quality. The French FAA actually REQUIRE that builders do keep the cups annotated for the part and date. >How do you perform maintenance checks on a composite airframe? >How can you tell something's amiss? You tap on it. If there is any delamination you hear a hollow sound. Delamination is a very rare occurance, and is about the only thing that can go wrong with a composite airframe. <Snip> Do you check for 'flutter' during the individual test phase of these aircraft? I know about the problem of overweight elevators, but even when everything balances out correctly, are there any special maneuvers during the flight test? <end snip> I think this is just done by approaching max speeds very carefully. The main thing is to ensure that the elevators are properly balanced (nose heavy). The Cozy plans address this issue in some detail. >I hope I'm not boring anyone with this...I'm just a curious newbie! Not at all. Ask all the questions you'd like. Sorry if you felt ignored. Regards, John Slade Cozy IV #757 http://kgarden.com/cozy

>I am walking around today because I learned .... Well... hobbling, at least.

If memory serves, he has 1/2 inch lines direct to a small header tank in the hell hole, then two pumps and filters on the firewall. Return is to the header.

Well thanks, Mike. Since you love sanding so much, why not pop down to West Palm for a few days. I'll let you sand my wheel pants!

Jim, I'm sure many pilots (and a lot of CFIs I've known) would argue that discipline keeps good pilots from getting to the point where they NEED that last couple of gallons. Personally, I've never needed them in 37 years of flying. That being said, it would be fairly easy to add your "pro" to my system with a facet pump, switch, check valve and a short piece of pipe in the hell hole. Still no need for a header tank. Damn! I just sold my facet pump. I'll have to relay on dicipline.

While finishing off my wheel pants I had a thought... The front of the wheel pant might be a neat place for a landing light, or even a video camera. There's lots of room up there and it would be easy to fit a small bulkhead ahead of the tire.

Hey Mike, I'll be receptive to input about this fuel system (and anything else in the plane) even AFTER I fly it. Of course you're right - fuel starvation comes right after VFR into IFR which is why I've agonized on this one so much. There's pros and cons with every option.... Changing the size of the pipes doesnt make sense to me. The outlet of the fuel pump is 1/4 inch. There's not much point in connecting this to a half inch line. You've gotta have high pressure at the rail anyway. Large lines make more sense for gravity feed systems. The double throw valve from Andair is nice, but fitting it would require four long aluminum lines in the cockpit, or Andair's mechanical remote. Neither option is attractive, partly because of the potential for fracture and partly because this makes the pumps suck a much longer distance, not to mention the expense. The pilot workload is the same in either case - i.e. you have to remember to switch tanks. I'm comfortable with this, and prefer it to a "both" system after many hours in a Piper. At least this way fuel is like Georgia - "always on you're mind". Anyone who see's a problem with any of the above rational, PLEASE let me know.

I hate to tell you this, Mike, but there are a LOT of those "This is the last time I'm gonna do this" times. I thought I was all done with finishing, but here I am today slapping micro on the wheel pants. Just like old times....

For those lusting after a Blue Mountain EFIS - its time to act .... They've added topographical info plus a few other things. The new display looks very cool. See http://www.bluemountainavionics.com Unfortunately, but reasonably, the price is going up from $9,600 to $12,800 on Oct 1st. unless you have a deposit in before that date. I've just GOTTA get one of these things. John Slade No affiliation with Blue Mountain except that I like the people and LOVE the product.

Sold.

Thanks, Nick. I'd never heard that before. Too late for the kelvar, but I'll definately reinforce the edges and smooth everything out.

A final note on the wheel pants... After a lot of shoving, pushing and wiggling, I decided that the pants were about 3/4 inch too narrow at the front of the wheel cut out. I slit them from the nose to the center of the wheel cutout and glassed in the V. Now they fit nicely. They're about level with the wheel rim, so they could be about 1.5 inches lower. I'm thinking of using the same technique to make them a bit deeper. In the end I'm hoping to have a pair of small wheel pants that fit the wheel with minimum drag. Isnt epoxy fun! John Slade

Sounds like a doable, but complicated, idea Rick. If I were doing this again I'd do a front opening canopy. I've seen four or five examples of this in various stages of construction and I think they're worth the effort. By the way, my hinges are totally hidden.... but I'll have to do a kind of "starstky & Hutch" dive to get into the plane.

Whats the recommended way to get those little brass tubes into the nylaflow pipe? I'm having a heluva time trying to squeeze them in. I got one in (practice) using a cigarette lighter to heat the pipe, but I'm sure this damaged the pipe. Anyone been there, done that? John Slade

>What drives your fuel pump? Hellacious switch or relay (SFP)? Switch, but there will be two of them. >What drives your return selector - switch or relay (SFP)? Same switches as above. >Have any of those "screw operated electric valves" ever been known to fail midway? So long as it doesnt fail closed, I'm happy. I'll be doing some testing on this. >I VERY much like your idea of installing a "blank" 1/4 NPT Al plate at the top and bottom of each tank. However, EVERY joint and fitting is a FP, even if not a glaring one. True, but stuffing a pipe through a composite panel and securing it with flox is also an fp. Also, the per plans bend in the pipe as it comes out of the tank seems like a weak point. >I feel that the sump-in-hell-hole gets some unwarranted knee-jerk negative reaction. Agreed, but it's something else that can leak. Pipes are easier to seal. My main reason for rejecting it is SPF. Nicez's belt & braces idea has some merit, but adds complexity. >Has anyone tried a submerged fuel pump in a "sump" as such using avgas Not sure about avgas, but the automotive industry has pretty much settled on this method of delivery. I think a pump in the tank would be tough to implement in a Cozy. I have a Mazda in-fuel pump unit. I couln't see a way to install it either in a main tank or in a header.