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Kent Ashton

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Kent Ashton last won the day on February 13

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About Kent Ashton

  • Birthday 01/01/1882

Flying Information

  • Flying Status
    1000+hrs, Cozy III, IV, Long-ez

Personal Information

  • Real Name (Public)
    Kent Ashton
  • Location (Public)
    Concord, NC
  • Occupation
    retired USAF

Project/Build Information

  • Plane Type
    Cozy Mark IV
  • Plane (Other/Details)
    Ellison carb, 2 LSE igns
  • Plans/Kit Number
    150

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  1. IMO, cooling air that doesn't go through the fins is wasted--it adds cooling drag with no effect. I use intercylinder baffles top and bottom, and wrap the fins between the cylinders so that the air must go through the fins. I also use various bits of sheet metal to seal the depressions in the case between the fins to stop air from escaping there. Some pics in this reply https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18661-kents-long-ez-project/?do=findComment&comment=90258
  2. I typically fly at about 150 KTAS at 7.5-8 gph, usually 12,000 MSL or higher if weather permits. 400-600 miles is quite doable. Consider also that at 100F the airplane needs longish >4000' hard surface runways. It is not a great IMC instrument airplane IMO but OK with an autopilot, I suppose. Mine leaks water in in the rain and I slow down to prevent prop damage to my wood prop. I would not like to fly it in heavy cumulus as you might encounter in the tropics but I would feel that way about any small airplane. If I had to land on a dirt strip or a runway less than 2000', I would consider that dicey. I might not be able to take off again.
  3. There might be other sources but one is https://www.aircraftcovers.com/LEZ (shown below) $1600 for a nose/canopy/engine cover, though. Another option is to take your old cover to an awning/upholstery shop and get it copied or cut it up and make patterns for an awning shop.
  4. You only need builder logs (or pics, or notes) when the aircraft is first inspected by the FAA for an Airworthiness Certificate. You would not need them after that and often, they don't tell you anything substantive. In fact, you don't need aircraft or engine log books either. All you'd need is Bill of Sale, renew the A.C. and get a condition inspection from an A&P or the builder with a repairman's certificate. Also, other little checks of the transponder and ELT.
  5. We discussed this Cozy III a few days ago. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/64692-assistance-with-purchase-of-my-first-canard-cozy-mkiv-near-denver/#comment-120523 The engine is high time but I have overhauled a couple myself, sending parts out to the overhaulers and reassembling it with the help of an A&P the first time and on my own the second time (the A&P was not very careful). I don't know much about the Aeromomentums except they will involve a radiator and new engine mount, probably new cowls so I doubt it will save you much $$ or work. Build log is not needed since it was once licensed. The POH is OK--Nat's first iteration was called "Cozy", later "Cozy Mk IV". If you accept the round-dial instruments, I'd say the engine will be the most work to get it going.
  6. There are many canard builders and owners in France. I have a friend at Vannes. Several canards on the field.
  7. Well, as I said, the Rutan canards cut wing and canard cores from several foam blocks. A wing is three sections joined with micro. Wings and canards are cut lengthwise down the middle and rejoined later with micro. I don't see why you couldn't separate your templates into half or so, and cut cores that way, join them together with micro. Take a look at the Open-Ez builders manual and you'll see what I mean.
  8. I don't know much about the Q200 but it appears a 10" block is spec'd because they want to get two cores out of a block, so maybe you can get by with the 8" blocks from Spruce cutting one core at a time. The Rutan airplanes cut wing forms out of one piece of foam, then cut the form in half to construct shear web and center spars on the back half, then the front half is micro'd back in place. Generally, the foam is just a shape over which to add the fiberglass spars and skins. It may add a little to the strength but if two pieces of foam can be joined with a micro joint, I would think that'd be fine. I'd figure out how to use the foam from Spruce or Wicks. If I had to join two pieces of styrofoam to cut out one shape, I would join them with dabs of pour foam-enough to hold them together for the hotwire, cut the shape, the pull them apart and rejoin them with micro. I'd be just a good as a single contiguous shape (IMO). http://quickheads.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2399&Itemid=790
  9. AircraftSpruce sells the 8" X 16" x ___ blocks for canard builders. I suspect these would do for a Quickie https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cmpages/polystyrene.php Maybe Wicks also. You might call OwensCorning as ask where you might find them in Nebraska. They are sometimes used for boat docks or sliced up for insulation. If the weight is 2 lb/cu ft, it is the same stuff. Here is a dealer in (gulp) New Hampshire. It is likely the same weight as we use. I think Burt used boat-dock billets. https://store.eastcoastlumber.net/products/dow-dock-float-billet-10x20x96|102096B.html
  10. I used to own a Cozy III. IMO it is not so much the gross weight--most builds are pretty stout--but the front-seat weight. You are 240. Designer Nat Puffer was, I'm guessing, maybe 175 lbs and his wife Shirley was maybe 110 lbs. It was fine for them, but that's one reason why Nat designed the bigger C-IV. The front-seat weight affects how fast the airplane must go before the canard can lift the nose and rotate the aircraft for takeoff. It also impacts landing speed. I was 225 when I flew mine and I flew once with a similar-weight fellow but takeoff speed was noticeably higher and I didn't want to have an off-airport landing in it. It's like flying a Long-EZ with two people in the front seat. I had the old GU canard which was affected by moisture, too. One time I took off with my Dad on a moist, foggy day and almost ran off the end of a 3200' runway before I could rotate. Scared the heck out of me. I moved my battery around to try to reduce the load in the nose but it cost me some room in back. I never tried to carry a third person in the C-III. I eventually build a Roncz canard for it but I still consider it a marginal airplane for big people.
  11. Just thinking that if you move the gear leg clamp up the strut, it will increase the leverage of the nose-gear & weight which then transfers into the NG30s. People have had them delaminate from the nose once in a while. Perhaps there is a better way to get more extension by relocation of micro-switches if you have electric gear. Also make sure the nose strut is perfectly vertical when on the gear. If not it will castor in one direction and leave you thinking you have a dragging brake. The nose opening is a big pneumonia hole and the only way I have figured out how to seal it is to build a door or cover on the strut which when retracted, seals against strips built into the nose-gear box. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18661-kents-long-ez-project/page/23/#comment-72419 Alternatively, you might build a cover that seals against the bottom of the nose
  12. Confused. Did you buy this airplane or are you still negotiating? If you can't hook up with Zeitlin, a generic A&P might tell you something useful about the engine but there are likely a dozen canard builders and owners in Colorado who might tell you more about the airplane. I would join COBA https://canardowners.com/ and look COBA's membership for those around you or contact EAA chapters (see EAA.org). Most owners would be willing to take a look for a hamburger. There are many good youtubes and websites showing how to remove a cylinder and borescope an engine--it is actually pretty easy but there are some cautions about not turning the crank, etc. If you own the airplane you might as well learn how to do it. If not, the owner might not want you taking the engine apart. I wouldn't.
  13. I gather you have not read all the comments on this site about Variezes. Use the search and start reading. You likely don't know enough to form an educated opinion about them or the one you're looking at. I like the canard airplanes and have owned a Long-ez, Cozy III and Cozy IV. It can be a multi-year process to rehabilitate a tired old airplane and engine and you could put more money into it than you would ever get back--and that would be time you would not be building any hours.
  14. A friend of mine had a hard time starting his EZ with battery in the nose. I forgot I had made one of these 4-wire ohmmeter testers so we ended up changing his starter cables out to bigger and heavier cables. It seems to have solved his problem but I suspect taking some measurements with this sensitive ohm tester from the great Bob Nuckolls might have found some high resistance in the circuit. He shows that with pretty ordinary resistances in a starter circuit, a 12.5V battery may only deliver 7.46 V at the starter. http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/grnding.pdf
  15. Sorry that I can't help. I had a tip-back once. It broke about 1.5" off one blade of a three-blade. I cut the other two blades off as evenly as I could and it got me home. That might be an option. I am a little surprised that a prop for a higher HP engine would not work well enough to get you home. Yeah, it would not be optimum but if it will get you airborne it might work. I have tip-backed twice and almost a few other times. It is something you have to be aware of. I am pretty careful now. Good luck.
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