rmaddy

Steve, Here are a few other considerations to making such a "radical" design change: 1) Virtually all pilots fly with their left hand and manipulate controls with their right. Millions of right handed people have learned to fly this way with no problems. 2) If you choose to fly your plane reverse handed you will have a hell of a time trying to fly any other airplane. 3) When the day comes, you'll have a very hard time selling your plane either as a finished plane or uncompleted project. It's just so non-standard. 4) Such a major change, while doable, will add a lot of time to your construction and lower your odds of ever finishing. Now, having said all that - go for it if you want to. It's your plane, your project, and if it is what you want to do, more power to you. I just wanted to add some food for thought. Enjoy

Actually I looked at this from the opposite direction. I read the original question as "Is the Cozy an appropriate airplane for a new pilot?" Certainly building a Cozy has nothing to do with being a pilot. Almost anyone can build a Cozy. You learn as you go. I started mine having never worked with epoxy or fiberglass. I also started building my Cozy just a couple of months after getting my PPL. That was 4.5 years ago. I haven't flown in the last three years. I'd rather spend the time and money on my Cozy. When my plane is done in another 3 years I will get current again at the local airport in some old Cessna, find a Cozy I can shoot some landings in, and then fly my own Cozy. I'll have a whopping 140 hours by then, 130 of which will have been from 6 years earlier. This puts me in nearly the same spot as Raky. I've had about 20 minutes stick time in the back of a Long-EZ and no stick time, so far, in a Cozy. I'm not worried at all. I think most people will tell you that a Cozy flies better than any Cessna you might fly - just a lot faster. It's up to you. You can get your license now and start building too. Depends on your time and finances. You can build the plane and get your license just before finishing the Cozy. Do you want to fly or build? That is the most important question. I chose to give up flying until I'm done. It wasn't easy. I work 150 feet from one of the main runways of the 2nd busiest GA airport in the country (KAPA). My cube window looks right off onto the runways. I watch planes all day. More incentive to hurry up and finish. Speaking of which - I think it's time to go sand the outside of my turtleback to shape so I can glass it. Later

I was never short on any of my spar caps (all 8 of them). I always made sure I ordered enough extra for at least one more layer than specified incase my troughs were too deep. After I finished the second wing, I had some 3" tape left. Not sure how much but it seemed to be about enough for an extra layer. Make the troughs per plans. If you manage to get all the layers in place but still need more - add the extra to fill - better a hair low than a hair too full. It's easier to sand the foam down then to fill up around an overfilled trough. Like others said, just order some extra. Actually, I'd order all called out for in the plans in one shot, plus an extra 8 yards or so. This stuff is like gold and there is one machine in the world that makes it. Get it while you can. I've heard of 6 month outages before. Personally I don't buy the thinner vs. thicker epoxy argument. It takes a certain amount of epoxy to wet out glass. Then again, John may be right and I'm just using too much MGS Enjoy

This was brought up in another thread. There was a discussion of this topic on the Canard Aviators forum back in August of 2003. Follow this link to read it: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canard-aviators/messagesearch/11797?query=speed%20brake%20holes Enjoy

I wouldn't call myself a predecessor quite yet. I'm still at least 3 years from flying, but thanks. But I'm working on the roof of the boat, I mean plane. Soon it will look like a plane - finally. How can I have worked for over 4 years appear to just have a tub? Oh yeah - the wings, canard, and spar are hanging from the ceiling. I just have a boat tub on saw horses. That's all anyone sees when they visit. One of these days I'm going to assemble everything I have, sit it on the gear, and probably cry with pride at what I have sitting there in my garage. Oh boy, I better wear my mask next time I do a layup. This is quite the pile of dribble.

Just curious but are you looking for something like http://www.maddyhome.com/cozy/tips but on a grander scale?

You're simply reading plans written before MGS became popular. The use of MGS is fully approved for the complete construction of the Cozy. I'm one of MANY builders using it. Enjoy.

Search google.com. You will find a couple for X-plane.

Let's not forget you need space to store completed parts. I started in a 1.5 car garage. After chapters 6 and 7, I had little room to get around to build anything else. With your space you may want to do chapters 4 and 5, then skip ahead to 10 and 11, then 14, 19 and 20. After you get the spar and wings put away on the ceiling, you can go back and do 6, 7, 8, 9, and 13. Then it's probably time to find more space. Get started, you'll figure out what works for you. Enjoy.

You should save on shipping by buying in bulk but you need more space to store it all. Plus, consider using Wicks. DO NOT use ANYTHING from Home Depot for your airplane except for jigs. The proper wood for your airplane is vastly superior to anything you can buy at a hardware store. Materials for the aircraft are not a place to go cheap. NEVER replace an appropriate aircraft part with a cheap alternative such as hardware bolts. Good question? Check with AC Spruce on that one. This is what I like about Wicks - they itemize all the chapter and section parts so you know what you're getting. All Brock parts are sold separately. Neither Wicks nor ACS sell the Brock parts. You also need to order the main and nose struts and canopy separately too. No. Choose the system you like. Most newer (last 4 - 5 years) seems to be using MGS. Poke around here, there has been many discussions on this topic. Good luck. I know of a few people waiting over a year for their retracts. The use of main retracts is a religious discussion I won't get into. If you go that route, there are some Brock parts you won't need for chapter 9 and of course you won't need the main strut from Featherlite. You may also want to join the Cozy Builders mailing list. Go to http://www.cozybuilders.org. There is a searchable archive at http://www.maddyhome.com/cozysrch. Welcome to the wonderful world of Cozy building.

I don't have the exact numbers in front of me but it's easy to figure out. the F.S. of CS-109 is shown on page 16-2 or 16-3 and the F.S. of the IP is shown on one of the big M drawings.

I just found this page and I was laughing out loud for a while. http://myweb.cableone.net/oz2000/aircrafthumor.htm Enjoy

All the builders' sites you mentioned, including mine, have many links on them. I'm sure the others won't mind, and I sure don't mind, if you pirate all those links and add them to your site too. I chose my links based on vendors I have used and those I probably will use, though I haven't added them all yet. I've also added builder's pages to my links based on how useful they are to me. This criteria is mainly based on being further ahead than me so I can check out my own upcoming work. There are just so many useful links it's hard to keep track. Enjoy.

This can found on the cozybuilders.org website under the newsletter section.

I removed it after I finished the interior work in chapter 8. BTW - while mine worked just fine, it wasn't the most stable in the world. It did it's job and I took it apart never to see life again. Along these lines, I've seen some builder go to some extreme lengths to over design jigs and the like. If you plan on building more than one plane it probably makes sense but most of us use the jig once and take it apart. Don't waste a lot time over doing this sort of thing. Enjoy.