Kent Ashton

Here is a pic of Canard Owners and Builders in your area. I did not want to post the names because you have to be a member of COBA https://canardowners.com/ to access them but there is lots of info on that website and the cost to join is reasonable. There are probably more canard owners near you than pictured. You might post an inquiry on canard-aviators@canardzone.groups.io and get a response there. Checkout my "Sales I've seen" topic here in CanardZone. There are good many EZ for sale out west. Yeah, the EZs are fun but will your wife enjoy riding in back (or you in back 🙂 )? Mine would rather ride in the Cozy.

Seen on FB. Builder is contemporary with me. I recall his mention in the Cozy newsletters. Located in Iowa, it appears. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N750CZ.html

Looks repairable to me. The wing damage could be patched. It is a little concerning where the force on the canard might have displaced the canard bulkheads and/or damaged the canard but that can be rebuilt, I expect. People have rebuilt MLG strut ends or replaced whole struts. New paint, probably. Yeah, a big job but no worse than the drone-EZ we have seen earlier. This one will fly again, I would bet

Regarding this damaged EZ above https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=85051 Owner/executor says he is asking $12K. Airplane has been trailered to Roselle, IL

Seen today on FB

I have seen insurance companies accept time in a Cozy with an experienced Cozy owner. They are very similar and the dual controls are helpful. Worth asking the insurance broker. A vanilla CFI might not want to fly in the back of an EZ with no throttles or rudders.

I agree about the rope-over-the wing/winglet but not the last statement. EZ/Cozys on the nose are pretty stable but it would seem that an EZ in a windstorm with winds blowing from the tail-quarter could lift a wing and the lifting force would have 10 or 12 feet of leverage on a ground tie-down at the wing bolt. I doubt the part on the airplane would fail but it might pull out a ground tiedown. I do not find any standard dimensions for airport-installed tie downs but they are often pretty far apart especially if sized for larger aircraft. I would rather have my ropes close over the tiedown point. I use the hole-in-the-spar&winglet-overlaps with a steel insert in the hole and large washers on top.

From the catalog of bad ideas: Saw an EZ heavily damaged when the wind ripped tiedowns out of winglets. It appears there was nothing really holding them in the winglet. Nat's hole through the wing spar & winglet layups works for me. A loop of rope over the winglet is probably OK, too. I do not like the tiedowns which hinge down from a wing attach bolt. It seems to me that wind-under-the-wing could exert a lot of leverage at that point and rip out what was put in the ground. The Facebook sites are always having people ask where to find Long-Ez plans and builder's manuals. Of course, they are all found at this site in the Open-ez topic, free for download. Help them out. I do not patronize FB.

Lots of good ideas and discussion seen in the latest edition (July) of Canard Owners and Builders news. https://canardowners.com/ [subscription required] There was a novel idea for a nose lift and a good discussion of corrosion in Vari wing-attach fittings and lift tabs. Saw this EZ advertised. I doubt it will sell very fast at that price.

Here is what the seller posted today. Will be interested to see if he gets that for it. (I will boost my airplane $30K!)

Seen on the Cozy list today. No price. Pic grabbed from the web. email drthane at yahoo dot com Appears to be in Venice, FL https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N656TE

It seems to me that the folks who have tried molded parts did it because they anticipated starting a business and filling a demand but the businesses didn't develop and the demand is low. It is not like making custom parts for thousands of motorcycles. Really, the hand-work is fun and the sanding is not that bad. There is a learning curve but I have stripped/refinished one airplane and built two others. Here is a post with pics https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18661-kents-long-ez-project/?do=findComment&comment=68608 1. Fill as you go along. Don't waste epoxy 2. Use West and West Microlight filler--easier sanding 3. Mix thick and put on heavy the first time. Use a heated dry-wall knife to smooth it down. 4. Stop standing as soon as you see cloth. 5. Identify high and low spots by rubbing with an aluminum bar 6. If there are more than just a few high/low spots, do a complete refill. Spot-filling doesn't work well due to hardness differences in your filler-mixes and the teeter-toter effect of the sanding spline or high spots. 7. When you are happy with the final sanding, spray a guide coat of black sandable primer and sand it all off to expose those last final defects.

Who will bell that cat? Airplanes developed by a group do not usually pan out. Interests change, distance is a problem, getting individuals to do things is problematic. You see that our friend Royal was one of many who planned to digitize the plans but has disappeared for two years. Molds have already been developed. Search for "A-solution" (or Berkut). If you want to build and Open-EZ just start ordering materials and build one. Along the way you will see lots of builder ideas you might incorporate to customize it for yourself. A fancy molded airplane will triple the build time and get you to your destination only slightly faster. Just do it.

Yes, a spring. It takes more friction to hold the elevator down, heavily loaded, slow speed. I thought your tanks were already closed up.

I have changed my pitch trim a half-dozen times. I tore out the Cozy's electric motor idea shown earlier in this topic. It complicated removing the canard and I was always putting my hand on the trim switch aft of the throttles and running the trim to the extreme, where it would jam. Search back and you will see my installation in the EZ which worked the same but was easier to install and disconnect. I am happy with the piano-spring Davenport spring but the EZ's spring installation was easier to install on the torque tube. This geometry (pic) is about right for my short Cozy springs. I only have to move the trim lever about 3/4" to trim for two people or solo. It could easily be used with the regular fiberglass Davenport spring. Cozys are not sensitive to pitch trim. I will often set it once and not move it again for that flight. I have lost 30 lbs on my LCHF diet and figured I should re-check my ballast and stall characteristics. With 40 lbs of lead shot just ahead of the rudder pedals, it will fly level at 55 KIAS and show a canard stall at about 50-52 KIAS (uncalibrated). I think this is a little closer to a wing-stall condition than before but there is good warning from the pitch forces and nose-high attitude. Probably fine to fly around at 55-60 if one is smooth with the controls. My former approach speed was 70-75 KIAS solo-dual. I think I can reduce that to 65-70 solo-dual. At KRUQ yesterday, solo, with light winds on R/W 2, (pic) I could turn off at taxiway G with medium braking which I often sailed past before. That's 2109 feet. That's about as short a landing as I can expect and I need to thicken my cushion to see better over the nose to do that. A lot depends on having clear approaches. It is tricky to duck over trees, especially when you can't see the tree tops. 🙂 BTW, are you aware that terminology-wise, this runway is not "Zero Two". It is just runway "Two". I hear "02" a lot but there is no "0" with the number. I always think "rookie" when I hear someone call it 02. 🙂