Kent Ashton

What does this mean? Dead?

The $29K Hanson-refurb Varieze listed last May (Barnstormers) is relisted today for $35K with a new Trig/ADSB transponder. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=63399

It must be working for you but I see that a Skytech can draw 80-120A so I am puzzled why a 40A breaker doesn't pop. P. 2-5 here https://skytec.aero/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ES1033-Rev.-.pdf

Seems a bit unusual to run 40 amps through the cockpit for the starter. Normally one would use a small current from the cockpit button to operate a starter relay. If all the starter current goes through the button, it has to be a pretty stout button to avoid welding the contacts together. Take a look at Bob Nuckolls' diagrams if you are not familiar with them. http://www.aeroelectric.com/PPS/Adobe_Architecture_Pdfs/ The usual way is to route the battery and starter currents through the master contactor, then to the starter contactor and starter. The master contactor is not designed to switch starter amperage but after the master is on, it can pass through that amperage. If the starter contactor sticks, you can turn off the master. Those airline-style belt buckles are pretty common. No need to change unless you just want some high-buck belts.

Here is the ad. No price, no hours on the engine! I will never understand why they make you beg for this information. https://www.aircraftdealer.com/aircraft-for-sale-detail/Cozy_Cozy_/2008-Cozy-Cozy-Mk-IV/69428.htm

On Craigslist today--3 days old-- a whole lot of Long-ez parts. Good price. https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/avo/d/spring-city-long-ez-build-kit/7060427903.html

This Long-ez tub today, Barnstormers, No pics. Fair price with the gear, foam and glass: LONGEZ KIT BOATSTAGE W/GEAR • $2,500 • AVAILABLE FOR SALE • Longez kit, in boatstage, w/foam to almost finish, fiberglass cloth, prints w/serial #, have pics • Contact Ricky Escovedo, Owner - located Oroville, CA United States • Telephone: 5109108536 • Posted January 23, 2020 This EZ on Trade-A-Plane with O-360. He must have a ton of lead in the nose. Rather ambitious price IMO considering engine time, somewhat dated avionics, and little things that need fixing. N916TB. Also a Gee Bee! No price.

This Varieze today: VARIEZE, BUILT IN 1994 • $18,000 • AVAILABLE FOR SALE • Bought an RV4 and now need to sell my Varieze after 25 years. Built by myself with friends help, vanilla EZ with a lot of potential. O-200 with 650 hours since new both engine and airframe. High compression pistons, 8 inch Sabre propeller extenstion, newly installed Hal Hunt exhaust system, lives in Boulder Colorado. LongEz landing gear. Good basic plane. • Contact Michael Malocsay, Owner - located Golden, CO United States • Telephone: 7203204189 • Posted January 22, 2020 It's nice to be able to buy from the original builder. Also this Velocity project (pics 2,3). Judging from the dirt it has spent a lot of years in storage but the price seems reasonable: VELOCITY-KIT / 30% COMPLETE • $18,000 • REDUCED FOR QUICK SALE • VELOCITY ''KIT"" 30 % complete with lots of extra's . IVO three bladed Prop. Panel full of instruments , radio's GPS KX135 and special C Breaker panel. Also a damaged Velocity for special interior parts. ( FRANKLIN ENGINE WAS SOLD- GONE ) KIT COST 35K $$ Radios cost 2.8.K $ Prop cost 2,200 $ Instruments cost about 4K $ Total 44 K $$ . Located at Bracket Field , So California. FAST FOUR PLACE AIRPLANE , easy on fuel , prop in back , clear out front. HAS THE GULL WING DOORS, Looks COOL KIT # 397 LOWERED THE PRICE AGAIN & AGAIN Grumpy • Contact lynn swann - WILLOW RANCH, Owner - located Lucerne Valley, CA United States • Telephone: 909 831 8272 • Posted January 22, 2020

I talked about the airmanship involved in flying a circling approach or low pattern here https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18661-kents-long-ez-project/?do=findComment&comment=63773 The Lancair accident below is a textbook example. The pilot had electrical problems but in the end, he put himself on a downwind displaced 1500' from the runway at only a few hundred feet above the ground and attempted to make a 180 deg, 750' radius, nearly-level turn to final, stalled the airplane and killed himself and his passenger. Why would he do that? Because at 325' AGL, on a downwind displaced 1500' from the R/W, the "look angle" to the runway is about the same as for a 1000' AGL downwind displaced 5000'. However, not only is the turn significantly tighter, it is almost level. When I flew Tweets, 80% of students attempting their first circling approach would make the same mistake. When you are out flying sometime, try flying a 300' AGL pattern and see what I mean http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2020/01/loss-of-control-in-flight-lancair.html

I noticed this ad on ebay today: It is probably the same as the Open-EZ plans that are available on this site but it might be handy to have on a CD if you just want a cheap source to study the construction. These days, even original plans are a little dated. There have been many good ideas and improvements to the EZ since RAF closed shop that have not be incorporated in the plans but the basic design is still quite viable. Follow-on owners would probably do well to have a copy of the plans, too. [FYI, Burt said publicly a few years ago that he did not object to persons building from copied plans but he hoped they would not call it a Long-EZ in order to reduce his potential liability.]

Perhaps you could convince someone on the canard-aviators list to send you some copies. https://canardzone.groups.io/g/canard-aviators I am not aware of any digitized versions, not to say they are aren't any. Maybe the TERF CD. Another idea: Do an FAA registry search for Varieze owners in your area and start calling around https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/

It's "Zinc Chromate" but that's an old-fashioned coating. 🙂 You might read this thread on the Cozybuilders list. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/cozy_builders/PirmQw044uE/NFgNM0E8CQAJ I paint the engine mount with white Rustoleum. It is easy to touch up or remove if you need to weld a crack. I use a two-part epoxy primer on the aluminum pieces which has great adhesion, then paint over that if you like but AFAIK, powder coating is more chip-resistant than paint. Folks say the powder-coat oven will ruin the aluminum heat treat but I just read a study that says no. I have no opinion on powder coating except that processes like that slow down the building.

This fellow in Alabama has two Varieze projects for sale $3500 and $5500, as well a a hangar full of canard airplanes he is working on. Here is the link or search FB for Tony Warnock https://www.facebook.com/groups/25741482604/

Here is a description of the corrosion problem from Marc's site. If you google a bit you can find pics of it http://www.cozybuilders.org/Canard_Pusher/RAF_inspection.pdf

This Varieze today: I didn't find a Varieze registered in Loveland (Larimer County), CO but the seller was on this list in 2009. I would not count on getting any response with a PM, though https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18558-varieze-parts-for-sale/?do=findComment&comment=27119VARIEZE VARIEZE • FOR SALE AS IS • Currently stored Ty.258 engine 0200 Ty..1600 Too many projects. 15000. Obo. Raymond Parker513-884-9637 • Contact Raymond Parker, Owner - located Loveland, OH United States • Telephone: 513 884 9637 • 513 583 9637 • Posted January 12, 2020 And yet, there are buyers out there: Mr. Ryan, may I introduce you to Mr. Parker 🙂 E-RACER OR COZY-3 • WANTED TO BUY • Prefer flying but will consider Damaged or Project. Text only. • Contact R. Ryan, End User - located San Diego, CA USA • Telephone: 858-229-4875 • Posted January 12, 2020

Apparently he has owned it for about 10 years. https://prijet.com/ownership/N45790 It is not too comforting that he can't produce all the log books and hasn't heard of the wing fitting corrosion issue. I would expect a 10-year owner to know the airplane inside-out even if he didn't build it. You might also talk to the last owner (Kilbarger). Let us know what you find out.

This Aerocanard FG airframe today on B-stormers. Offered at a discount from his posted quickbuild price ($39,900) https://aerocad.com/ I do not hear of people building these much. Nothing wrong with them and at less than $35K and all the labor to get to the QB stage, the price seems fairly attractive. AEROCANARD FG • $35,000 • ACCEPTING OFFERS • All completed airframe ready for engine/avionics and finishing. Contact Al at AeroCad 314-837-5500 • Contact Al Aldrich - AEROCAD INC, Owner - located Florissant, MO United States • Telephone: 3148072560 • 3148375500 • Posted January 9, 2020

Howdy. There was a Varieze on Craigslist in Wake County until a few days ago. The ad has disappeared but may have just expired. This one https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=64825 He was asking $16K

On Ebay, in Advanced search, you can search “completed listings” and you might find what they have sold for. That’s what the pawn shops use.

Today, this Defiant project being sold by the Rutan Flying Experience. No pics with the ad RUTAN DEFIANT PROJECT • $1 • FOR SALE • Make offer Rutan Aircraft Flying Museum Defiant project. Need sponsors needed or sell outright. • Contact Richard Zadow - ZADOW-AIR AIRPORT, End User - located Waller, TX USA • Telephone: 832 428 5864 • Posted January 7, 2020

There is not much Dragonfly discussion on this site since the 2008-2009 timeframe but maybe you will get lucky. I see that there is a (yuck!) facebook page with around 350 members https://www.facebook.com/groups/162738144297634/ and this one with 800 or more: https://dragonflylist.groups.io/g/main Corvairs have a good bit on online support. https://www.experimentalaircraft.info/homebuilt-aircraft/corvair-aircraft-engines.php I was just watching a youtube video of Wynne the other day filmed by a guy who had taken his Corvair College course. Also watched one of a guy modifying larger VW cylinders for a Corvair. That looked pretty easy.

Wait, I got that wrong. They are a more-normal 60' and 75' wide. I was reading the length in meters. :-( The widest runway I have heard of was at McDill AFB (Tampa) which was about 360' wide but has since been resurfaced.

Funny story: I had a buddy with a new-to-him Cozy III that decided one day to fly out to this high altitude (5737' MSL) Arizona airport with his lady friend http://www.airnav.com/airport/KSJN After a mexican lunch, it was summer and the temperature was warmer. The winds slightly favored the shorter 3400' runway rather than the longer 5300' runway so my friend automatically chose the (shorter) runway. Also my sea-level dwelling buddy did not think about leaning to peak power before takeoff. He had taken on enough fuel and tamales to get back to California and had his lady in the left seat which delays rotation. As a result of all this, he barely got airborne before the end and scared the heck out of himself. The long runway was 1622 feet wide. The shorter runway 1037' wide. I don't think the wind was a significant crosswind for the wide runway but if it had been, he could have used the canard-airplane strategy of lining up on the upwind side of the runway and beginning the takeoff roll angled away from the crosswind. As the airplane accelerates, any crosswind weathervanes the airplane to align it with the runway. This allows you (maybe) to use less brake early in the takeoff and by the time the rudders become effective you may be aligned with the runway. Of course, we do not have the tractor-airplane advantage of a prop blast on the rudders to give us rudder authority early on takeoff. Using brakes to control runway alignment in a canard airplane will significantly increase the takeoff roll. But IMO the big error was forgetting to lean to peak power. At 5737' MSL on 85 deg F day, the density altitude could be as much as 8800' http://www.pilotfriend.com/pilot_resources/density.htm A carbed engine leaned to peak power is only putting out maybe 75-70% power at that density altitude and at full rich, it was probably putting out much less than that. Fun, huh?

This EZ project today, dirt cheap (and a little dirty): I am feeling the need to build something and very tempted by a project like this but I want to make the back 2" wider and made some other mods and this one is too far along. Wait! I already built and EZ with those mods and sold it. I am so confused. :-( Anyway, good price here. Don't let the color put you off. My last one looked that that too. More pics in the ad LONG-EZ RUTAN • $2,500 • PROJECT FOR SALE • Some fabrication complete. Included - Engine Cowling, Canard, Instruments and Plans. My father-in-law was a pilot and airplane mechanic and when he bought the Long EZ years ago he intended to finish it but it never happened. We inherited the plane and don't have much background on it. It's stored in a warehouse near Glenwood Springs if you'd like to see it. Please email for more photos. • Contact Steve Aitken, Owner - located Carbondale, CO United States • Telephone: 970-309-1508 • Posted December 30, 2019

Seen on FB posted by Matthew Hughes of Alberta Canada. He says he is looking for about $30K for it.