Kent Ashton

Ever notice that HOTAS is never just written "HOTAS" or "hands on throttle and stick? It is always written "HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick)" like they are describing it for their Grandma. It is left to the grandma to figure why this fighter-pilot lingo is employed. Don't all airplanes use hands on throttle and stick? Mine does. Do you have a mic button on your stick? You're HOTAS-equipped! 🙂 Sorry, "HOTAS-equipped (hands on throttle and stick)".

Barnstormers today: Phil Camarda has a pretty good website. http://www.longezpilot.com/ I see he is selling his EZ. Pics on his website and in the ad. Probably well-built but a little pricey.

I don't know anyone off-hand. They generally have to be built to fit the airplane. A welder could do it if you cut and fit the parts yourself. I suggest making a simple jig for the welder to get the width correct; the tubes can twist during welding. You want to make sure it will fit on the airplane when it's done! I think I used a bend like this https://secure.chassisshop.com/partdetail/C42-290/ and you can buy other smaller bends to complete the structure. A mistake I made was to use four pieces of angle vs two longer ones. Relieve the longerons generously for the angles and reinforce them with UNI and BID to replace the glass you remove. Here are some other ideas. Another place that sells the bends is MarkWilliams.com

Tire marks to align the wheelpant hole with the valve stem. I made a small template from poster-board and spray-painted the marks.

Just saw a post from a Czech builder wanting a Long-ez POH for an O-320 engine to satisfy Czech authorities. Probably someone has done this but I don't know one offhand. I told him to just revise the few pages in the regular POH that discuss the engine. Every EZ is different anyway. Found the POH here https://www.rutanaircraftflyingexperience.org/post/2017/07/05/rutan-long-ez-poh Also get a copy of Lycoming's Operator's Manual. Good stuff in that too. https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/files/O-320%20Operator%20Manual%2060297-30.pdf

I posted this one in the wrong topic so I'm repeating it here: I see that Charles Furnweger(sp?) sold his Cozy project. He was asking $18K for the airplane and $8K for the rotary engine, engine mount, and Real World Solutions redrive so I imagine he settled for close to that. Fuselage and canard mostly complete. No wings or winglets. http://cozy.caf.org/index.php A chap named Tom from Florida was the buyer. Interesting that he started in 2005 and got this far. Taking too long tends to sap one's enthusiasm. I see guys today that seem to be taking about 4 years. IMO, that's about what it should take. He did nice work though. Maybe we will see that one flying soon.

From the Things That Make You Go Hmmm department: poster says: I hand-propped my O-320 for a while. It was not too scary after I did it a few times. I did not have a primer in that airplane--it had a pumper carb--so it was sometimes tricky to get it to start. If I'd had a primer system I might have continued but I finally put on a Skytech starter. I've watched many Variezes start with just a flip of the wrist. Not sure why someone would prefer this DeWalt rig.

The engineless Varieze listed back in November for $11,500 https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=73292 reduced to $7500 on today's Barnstormers. In Wisconsin.

This varieze on Barnstormers today. Built by a guy named "King" if you are wondering about the name. https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N6LK

The Open-ez (Long-ez) plans and manuals are in this topic. There are quite a few building from them. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/forum/394-open-ez/ ------- Jon, I suggest this topic "Open-ez" should be in the header on the first page of the site.

A Roncz usually has offset torque tubes that do not require a big wide hole in the side of the fuselage. If that's the case, you can usually seal it with a small bulkhead on the canard. See pics I grabbed off the web (Hat-tip Tarmacgrazer and LongEzPush). To get a final fit I waxed up the torque tube section thoroughly and fitted the canard with a gob of micro that filled any gaps. Be sure you can remove the canard after that! Also consider that water could freeze around the offset gap and lock your canard. I have do not know of anyone who actually experienced that but perhaps it can happen. I do not have a picture of a boot--only read about them. Also read that the big wide hole for the non-offset torque tube could be helped by a big wide piece of plastic or something on the torque tube that slides but still covers the hole. I will put in a pitch here for https://canardowners.com This is the follow-on to the old Central States Newsletter which always had great tips about things like this. I do not have subscription now but I think you can get into their archives and you get a good newsletter. Hours of good reading in the back issues.

A nice person from the FAA called me today to say they did not agree with me on the "tenant-at-will" issue above. Well, at least they agreed on some other objections I raised. The FSDO told me the lease issue was "too hypothetical", i.e., that an airport was unlikely to use a lease provision like this to evict a troublesome tenant but I know better. They would. Some years ago the FAA held that a tenant could be excluded from a federally-assisted airport if he complained too much and his complaints became a "financial burden". Of course, the right to complain is protected by the Petition clause of the 1st Amendment. A court can sanction you for frivolous complaints, make you pay the other party's fees, even dismiss them early-on, but you can't be denied the use of an airport because you legally complained. Nevertheless, the FAA has used the rationale in several cases: Skydive Monroe, Inc. v. City of Monroe, Ga., FAA Docket No. 16- 06-02, Director’s Determination Mar. 30, 2007, where the FAA held that a sponsor has “a right to protect itself from unnecessary litigation or financial burdens that could harm the airport or negatively impact other airport users.” Skydive, p. 15. JetAway Aviation, Inc. v. Montrose County, CO, et al, FAA Part 16 Docket 16-08-01, Director's Determination, July 2, 2004, where the Director stated "One example of where an airport sponsor may exercise its proprietary rights is to protect itself as a going concern in the face of litigation." Airport managers and their municipal attorneys study these cases. If they can justify an eviction because a tenant complained, they will.

Waste of time (pic).

Cheap Quickie today. No engine but pifff, that can be fixed. Barnstormers

Retrofit offset torque tubes on a GU canard. http://nickugolini.com/Website/OffsetTorqueTubes/Offset torque Tubes.htm