dust

OK so I'm putting pods on, can I give them a "porpoise" shape to reduce drag. I only have to glue up 26 2x4's to turn 48" x 16" body on my lathe, think I'll stand to the side when i turn it on

Well, after my foray into cross country flying and going through way more fuel than planned (still had 1 hr of fuel on board (well ok, 50 minutes)) I'm thinking of making the strakes wetter, anyone done this? Smaller/no storage back or front and extending wet portion further into strake.

Ok, so I've spent years building this plane and have this whole scenerio built up in my mind, flying everywhere fast, when I want. So my buddy buys an airplane in Florida, Spruce Creek (Daytona), and I immediatly offer to go down and sit with him to ferry it back, I am not licensed yet but can hold a heading and can trim altitude just fine. But the real reason I am going is to insure that a close friend doesn't make a bad decision on his first long cross country. The plane is far more than the 172's etc he has trained and flown in in michigan. He has 250 hrs and 25 in cross country's. We made it from spruce creek, Florida to detroit, Michigan in 3 hours and 18 minuites flight time, we had a strong head wind that cost up 40 mph! Not bad heh, 920 miles in 3 hrs 18 minuites with a headwind, the only problem with this scene is that we also waited for weather in marietta, GA for 3 1/2 days and then rented a car and drove 12 hours along with the flying. I took clean cloths for three days because I knew I should, but I was sure we would make it back in a day or at worst 2 days, WRONG. Once you get more than 300 or so miles away from home, you don't have to worry about a weather system, you have to worry about 2 or 3 weather systems! Watching the weather channel and calling for weather reports and tuning to the airport atis in the hotel room is very educational process. We capped off our learning experience in two ways, the first was on wedesday afternoon, after 300 and 400 foot ceilings all day we decided at 1:30 to give up and rent a car. We made car arrangements and called flight services one more time. The local ceiling had finally lifted to 2000 feet, 60 miles northwest we would hit clear to 12000 + and we could make springfield ohio in a little over 2 hours, winds permitting. We preflighted and loaded the plane, changed our gps and were on the runway taking off at 2:30, enough time to make it to our destination before sundown. We tookoff and climbed to the bottom of the clouds and leveled off at 1000 ft agl. We were almost clipping the bottom of the clouds, we were looking at antennas that were at 600 or 700 feet our agl.(they were on hills) we went 20 or so miles and turned around and returned to the airport. That foray into bad weather info cost us three hours and an extra nights stay in a hotel in the mountains of tennessee as weather system no 3 decided to dump 2" of snow on us while driving. I could just read the news report, two men die in weather related auto accident after deciding not to risk bad weather in an airplane. GET YOUR IFR to allow going over the top, Pack 4 days Clean cloths, because even IFR won't get you through ice and thunder storms. Don't expect to make it anywhere on time.

Kevlar also has another problem, it is strong in either tension or compression,( I forget which) but not both, these planes need strength in both directions. It is VERY hard to work with, it doesn't sand, it balls up.

Well, ifin it is ready else turboed 360. The continental is 2 stroke turboed,fuel injected, single lever cs prop diesel. Holds sea level to 8000 feet, weighs in at about 315. There are three of us building two planes, one for one and one for two. The planes are currently absoloutly identical at this stage and we are on chap 20. Having partners is great, no one has taken a sick day and between the three of us we can usually scrape together a complete and fully functional brain. Our progress is slow, but constant, plane day is saturday or Sunday, and in four years has only been cancelled 6 or 7 times.

Both of them are coming along fine. Building a cozy isn't hard work, just read the plans and do what they say. It is just plane and simple fun!

remember Vne is indicated airspeed not true airspeed

Well, I sorta do, my tech advisor holds the worlds altitude record C1.a of 35,027 feet or 10,676 M. He did it in a long ez. He had 30hp at that altitude and it was quite cold (about -60 f) He was hoping for mountain waves that day and go to 50,000, but that didn't happen

Well the cozy, as i am building 2. It is a "rutan" Nat puffer pays a royalty to burt rutan on each set of plans and he is the only rutan derivative to do so.

whats the prop reduction unit weigh?

Are you going to run a very small propeller or add even more weight to the heavy engine with a speed reduction unit. Sounds like a heavy auto engine to me.

OK builders, this site is full of you, open up your shop, post you location here and invite slave labor to come work, take it from one who has mastered many slaves, makes the work go faster and the day more enjoyable. We are three builders, building two planes and laugh at the single builder doing it with just 2 hands instead of 6,8 10 or 12 each work day. OK nonbuilders, this site is full of you, go work at these shops, don't go visit, that takes up valuable work time, go and become extra hands for a day, while you work you will learn all you need to know. We have had at least 8 slave laborers over the years, one is there 1 out of 3 weeks, one carrier pilot is there everytime he is in town, one cozy plans owner drove from IOWA to work for a day and he is coming back in febuary, he was pleasantly surprised at the ease of construction. Brighton, MICHIGAN - use forum message center to make arrangements.

Well when I mention the price of the aerospatial(sp) they laugh, so I am hoping for 35 or so price tag. The final decision hasn't been made yet, but when it is, there will not be a vapor engine. I want this engine so bad i can taste it! I have been promised engine #1 and no there is no waiting list, I was just promised it by someone that can follow through on his promise. Information on the engine is little more tight lipped than when the nasa funding was involved. They have met the specs of the NASA funding and don't have to say any more. What little i can say is the engine is flying in a cessna 337 and has met and exceeded all specs. It is currently overweight, but the diet plan is in effect and should come in complete at 315 lbs and that I WANT THIS ENGINE!

Thats my plan

Don't go on to chapter 6, then you will be beyond hope, you can then sit on the floor or a board in the plane and make plane noises and that will be a reason to keep building. Stop NOW or you may finish the project. Review the reasons above, i'm sure you can rely on one to stop you

John, I figured you had, hope that came through in the post. My method of study is to read everything and ignore the details and just learn the general info and then to know what I have to look up later, when the time arrives. Great to know that the bundle size ends up being superflouis (wish I could spell or gave a dam about spelling). Of course we will do some test calculations when we get there. On a lucky note, a buddy ownes an electrical controll engineering co and worked his way through college in aironotical engineering as an A&P, sooooooooooooo, he has voluntered to do ladder diagrams for us, he he he

He is listed, as flying plans 90

doesn't this reply need another edit and to be placed in the "reasons not to build" thread. Watch out - with an aditude like this you will actually finish the plane

John, I think your problem with the plans construction method stems more from your engine installation than from a shortcoming in the plans, I too hope to be doing what you are doing, installing a liquid cooled engine that is new to the cozy and to be honest about it, i am not looking forward to it. Every minor change we have made to the plans has taken an inordinate amount of time, as we had to figure it out, not just do it. Installing all of the stuff you are doing is not a small undertaking and takes a tremendous amount of time. I fear it will also take quite a bit of tweeking once you are flying. I am not saying this to insult you, only to point out to non builders that your problem in this area is one of experimentation (designing complete systems for liquid cooled engine, air conditioning etc.) not of building a standard lycoming powered non air conditioned plane. We decided to make a landing gear cover under the inspection cover to tightly seal the nose gear, very simple, very time consuming. Aluminum brackets,split cover in the middle to allow taking it out with nose on plane, wooden forms to lay up cover over etc., way more time than it would appear to take for a simple item, let alone on a complex installation that you are completing. Enjoy the build, dread the design hehehe

There is one main thing to learn, one important tool to acquire. The desire to finish Don't stop building. Don't think about flying the plane, that will happen if you just sit back and enjoy the build. It's the coolest hobby i can think of, enjoy it!!!! It isn't work, it's play. Is it challenging, yes, all accomplishments are, can you do it, YES. Will you make mistakes, undoubtedly, will you catch them, YES. Will they be costly, probably not. ENJOY THE BUILD. I've said it, hell I've shouted it, the plans are so good they tell you when to go pee(they really do), OK, i mean visit the restroom. Everything you need to know is in them, forums and groups like this are fun and appear to be needed and are needed for other planes, both kit and plans, but, for the cozy they are window dressing. Please tell us when you get in and make "plane noises" you must follow traditions, think it's silly, who among you hasn't done it with a big fat grin on your face???

I think my solution is the most elegant. My partner will figure it out Mike

The videos are uneeded, just a day in a shop and you will be shocked at how easy it all is. I have two hobbies, plane building and furniture building. In furniture building a joint has to be cut perfectly, in plane building it has to be cut close. When two parts are joined in plane building (foam/fiberglass)the gap is filled with eithor micro or flox (the plans tell you which) and then pinned into perfect position, no such thing in furniture. Foam cuts and forms EASY, glass is white on roll and clear when wet out and dragging a squeegee accross it leaves no line, it has the correct amount of epoxy Thats why we NEED more people to open up thier shops, it gets rid of the fear of the materials real fast. We just need someone in Houston to speak up or you can get a transport to selfridge ANGB and I'll pick you up and house you while we take advantage of your free labor, I mean train you. We will be making fewer parts for some time to come. Mike

well, before we taped the fuselage together, my holes were clean and smooth, not since then. I plane on eithor gromets, plastic pipe or something else similar to solve the problem Mike

Anyone who knows me, knows what I am going to say next. Find a local cozy builder and help him out. Great fun, great learning and great wages. (slave that is) Mike

I thought that the load had to be increased based on the bundle size? Mike