Kent Ashton

Nice Marc, but there might be more to repair there after a tipback. I have had two of them in different airplanes. It broke the pant-fairing around the strut and did other damage but I was able to patch them up. Come to think of, if you use a bracket like mine, it might be good to make it the arms out of horizontal pieces that will bend. In my case, the aft end of the pant was forced up and the pant rotated around the outside axle nut. My bracket did not bend very much which damaged the pant a little more. If the bracket had bent, maybe my damage might have been limited to the fairing I have seen guys that made a very strong rigid arm on the strut that stuck out in the rear of the pant to catch the airplane in a tipback but it does not seem very practical. Yeah, wheel pants are a pain.

Bruce, a good way to search the web is with Google Verbatim. https://www.google.com/webhp?tbs=li:1 Then select IMAGES and your search words. It will search only for the words you enter. Search for COZY WHEEL PANT BRACKET or COZY or LONG-EZ WHEEL PANT BRACKET will bring up many photos and expositions on how to mount wheel pants. Google does not seem to catch all the photos on the other canard forums and groups so you will have to search them separately. Many ways to do it but for the inside mount, I use a steel bracket--maybe .040 4130--with two nutplates (pic 2, bracket is reversed from the first pic) which gives a three-point mount (nut, bracket, bracket). The bracket is drilled for the axle bolt pattern. For this bracket, you would would have to remove your axles and sandwich the bracket between the strut and your brake lines. Below is a photo from outside the wheel showing the bracket. The bracket can be bent to match the inner contour of the pant. One of the best Ideas I read for drilling the pant to the bracket was to position a laser pointer to point at the nutplate hole, then mount the pant and it will show where to drill for the bolt. Or at strong light inside the pant will show the nutplate hole. It is a very fiddly process.

Today's Barnstormers: E-RACER PROJECT • $15,000 • AVAILABLE FOR SALE • E-Racer project for sale. Canard complete, wings need winglets attached (included) I have most of the gear pieces as well. Fuselage has bulkheads installed and nose gear. Spar had not been drilled for wings or installed. Factory strakes and cowlings included. Lots here. no engine Text if interested. • Contact Martin Skiby, Owner - located Bakersfield, CA United States • Telephone: 661-340-0575 • 661-393-5418 • Posted November 22, 2019 The glass work looks pretty good. More pics in the ad

Discussing misfiring with my friend with a new-to-him Cozy said "I thought the left mag was on the left side of a pusher". Well I suppose it could be but it is dangerous to get this confused. The "left mag" on a tractor airplane is usually the impulse mag on the left side of a tractor airplane but it is on the right (starboard) side of a pusher. This is important because starting on the non-impulse mag or in "both" can result in a kickback that breaks the starter. Also, the mags must be wired correctly to the ignition switch so that when you intend to disable the "right" mag (on the left side of a pusher) in order to start the engine, you are disabling the non-impulse mag. Also #2, as even newbies know, mags are hot unless they are grounded-out. Turning a magneto ignition switch "On" is actually opening the ground wire to that mag and un-grounding it. Incorrect wiring might mean you are making the wrong mag hot. This has occurred with incorrectly wired or defective key ignition switches. IMO, it is better to use toggle switches for mags, then use a key switch for starting. A broken "P-lead" wire also makes the mag hot so be careful with those, too.

Just reading this 2017 Varieze accident. Water and debris in the fuel. Engine found to be corroded by the NTSB. http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2019/11/fuel-contamination-rutan-varieze-n830s_19.html The 35 year-old, 691 hour airplane only "flew" 2.1 hours from 2015-2017. It was inspected 4/2017 and registered to the non-builder pilot in 6/2017. Pilot said he had flown a dozen trips in it before the 9/2017 accident. Take a look at the water and gunk in his fuel in the pic below (annotations mine) or here https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/document.cfm?docID=477708&docketID=62975&mkey=96064 Here is my suggested scenario: An older Varieze becomes inactive, sit outdoors with mogas in the tanks for some years and also got rain and dew in the tanks past 35 year-old o-rings. Non-builder seller gets a light condition inspection from a shop not used to dealing with Varis and sells it to new owner. New owner takes the inspection at face value. After a few trips the gunked-up fuel finally catches up with him. I don't think I have ever seen more than two drops of water in my tanks or gascolator but my airplane is hangared. Frankly I get a little careless about sumping the tanks for every flight but I do faithfully check the gascolator screen and Earls inline filter for debris every year. Rare to find anything. I suppose this much water and dew could leak past 35 year old fuel cap o-rings. The report does not discuss mogas that I could find. That gunk in the tanks--that was there for a while.

This Varieze in N.C. No pics. Seems to be N45790. https://charlotte.craigslist.org/avo/d/garner-varieze/7023158501.html https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=45790

This EZ project today: LONGEZ • $5,000 • PROJECT FOR SALE • 60% finished. Wings, gear, cannard, elevator, canopy, engine mount done. No engine or instruments. • Contact Dennis Cote, Owner - located West Richland, WA United States • Telephone: 209-484-5043 • Posted November 17, 2019

There is big thread over at HomebuiltAircraft.com. I think it's going to be a big, overpriced turkey with no market. "Homebuilt" airplane, YGBSM!

Saw this EZ, N916TB, on Trade-a-plane and here http://airplanesusa.com/?planes=1986-long-ez. O-360! Asking $49,000. The panel looks like a B-52 panel. Funny that these seller sites will not let you copy-out photos but I took a screen shot. Bwwah, ha, ha, ha. More details in the ads

A few more pics of "A-solution :

Bumping this "A-solution" project which is back on Barnstormers today. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=63573 His broker is doing a terrible job of marketing it. Same asking price, no pics and a bare minimum description that tells nothing. However there is plenty of history and pics of this project at http://forum.canardaviation.com/showthread.php?t=4928 or search for the builder Bob Setzer. I pulled off a few pics (sorry, not in order): Fuselage plug used to make molds, mold for the belly, plug for a centerspar mold, canopy plug, retractable gear. Lots more pics in the CA thread. An incredible amount of work went into this project.

Bill Walsh's semi-annual attempt to sell his projects on this FB post https://www.facebook.com/groups/homebuilt.aircraft.exchange/permalink/1714396972013026/?sale_post_id=1714396972013026 First seen here: https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=61273 On the plus side, projects at this stage are pretty easy to finish to your own satisfaction and the FAA won't question who built it. On the negative side, I imagine that if a buyer has never built a composite airplane, it could be a bit intimidating to jump into a half-finished project like this but the learning will be pretty easy there is no reason why it couldn't become a flying airplane (or two). It's not an airplane for big people, though.

VariViggen: I recall someone looking for one of these within the last year. No pics in the ad. I would guess it is without an engine. VARI VIGGEN • $5,000 • FOR SALE • Vari Viggen Winter project airplane, was a flying airplane at onetime. Appears to be good workmanship and was in process of restoration by previous owner. Airplane has SP wings with winglets. Lots of spare parts that go with the airplane, canopy, fuel tank, main gear, cowling, nose cone, ect. Airplane is setup for 0-320 series engine with exhaust. All electrical appears to be complete as well as flight control rigging. Will consider all offers. $5000.00 OBO. 940-683-2553 940-389-0115. • Contact Harold Love, Owner - located Bridgeport, TX United States • Telephone: 940-389-0115 • 940-683-2553 • Posted November 12, 2019

Reported sold: N19LE. This one: https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=63668 The last asking price I heard was $25K; I think it went a bit cheaper. This Varieze today in Barnstormers N9LX (pics 1,2): http://www.aviationdb.com/Aviation/Aircraft/9/N9LX.shtm 1985 VARIEZE • $15,000 • FOR SALE • 1985 Varieze, SN # 1448. 1350 T.T. 0200 Continental. "0" STOH. Electric starter gen. Radios and more! $15,000.00 OBO. 209-333-7345 • Contact Joel Helicopter - ALPINE HELICOPTER SERVICE, INC, Friend of Owner - located Woodbridge, CA United States • Telephone: 2093688530 • 2093688530 • Fax: 2093332162 • Posted October 28, 2019 This Long-ez in pieces N95SD (pics 3,4,5). Could be a good value if there are no surprises. http://www.aviationdb.com/Aviation/Aircraft/9/N95SD.shtm ASSEMBELY REQUIRED • $18,000 • FOR SALE • Some assembly required. I have a long ez that needs only a small amount of work to get it flying. It comes with a low time engine 0-320 D3G 178 hours since major overhaul. The last overhaul was done in 1995. I have bore scoped the cylinders and they look great. The engine comes with exhaust, carburetor, bendix mags and new motor mounts, head gasket sets and motor stand. The push rod tubes are plastic and got cracked during shipping, but I have new push rod tubes ready to install. Open to all reasonable offers. The plane is currently at Stockton Metropolitan Airport. • Contact Adam Coyan, Owner - located Mi Wuk Village, CA United States • Telephone: 2097708759 • Posted October 26, 2019

A Velocity owner asked me the other day "What's a Molex?" Indeed. I have puzzled over them myself. Here's a good tutorial my Cozy buddy pointed me too. http://tech.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/

Some tips on finding owners here https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/33309-varieze-builderpilot-wanted/?do=findComment&comment=63092 There are certainly some owners or builders around Nashville but this outfit in Covington, TN always has a bunch of canard airplanes in repair or construction. https://www.jetguys.co

Good idea and I suspect rewarping could be prevented by building in hard points near the retract arm so the pull is transferred to the outside edges. I thought about trying to heat it in an oven but every google source I found says fiberglass won't straighten. Must try that on a test piece first. Barry, the distortion is pretty strong. I doubt a magnet would do it but nice try. :-)

Here is an irritating little problem with the Cozy. It is mentioned in the Cozy FAQs but easily missed. The problem is that you can build your landing brake flush with the belly but over time, the pull of the retract springs can make the forward edges lift up. The best solution is to make the hinge as wide as possible. Alternatively, it may not happen with an electric landing brake that can be stopped before exerting a pull on the landing brake. Doing it again, I would lengthen the hinge AND use the electric brake actuator. The plans brake lever is tre fiddly.

Yikes! $454 for a single CHT bayonet probe! (pic) And _without_ bluetooth or Wifi. I posted a pic and description previously how to make a homemade probe for less than $10 here. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18661-kents-long-ez-project/?do=findComment&comment=63649 Even my puny mind can figure them out: twist the two wires together, make them contact the hot metal.

Saw this oil cooler door idea (pic 1) on a FB page but I don't like it. The chap has an ingenious linkage to open and close the slots in flight but the problem is that when full open, half the cooler is blocked by the apparatus and even when open, the slots create drag on the air flow. In hot weather, you will want the whole cooler working. I have a pic of a cooler using louvers by Marc Z. that is a better idea but it might be copyrighted so you will have to imagine it. :-) I did not give this enough thought when building the Cozy. Eventually I arrived at this slider (pics 2,3) which is satisfactory but not in-flight adjustable. With experience, I know about where to set it. This time of year (Nov), it covers about 2/3rds of the cooler. In the winter it will block the entire cooler. Doing it again, I would offset the cooler which might have given the space for a cable-operated slider.

A cozy III could be deemed faster because most of them have an O-320. With the same HP an EZ and C-III are pretty similar. Are you a fairly light person? Nat and Shirley Puffer are/were little people. A C-III can be flown with heavier crew but it’s like flying an EZ with two people in the front seat. They are a little cheaper than the -IV but If you’re over 200 lbs you might be happier with the -IV. The C-IV is 2” wider and has some structural improvements over the -III

I met a guy with a beautiful RV-6 some years ago. He had gone to Osh with a pocket full of money and kept offering the owner more and more (the airplane was not for sale) until the owner gave up. Musta paid $30K above the market in those days but he wanted the nicest RV-6 and didn't care about building one. I think it's fine to talk about prices and whether some plane is over- or under-priced. It is just opinion. When the money changes hands, THAT's what it's worth to that buyer. Unfortunately we usually don't know what these airplanes sell for. Perhaps some enterprising reader will do a registry search for some of the old-ad N-numbers and see if the airplanes have changed hands. I sold my EZ last year for $40K but I had lots of offers at $25K to $30K. I would say $95K Long-ezs and $50K Variezes are in the tail of the bell curve but maybe they will find a buyer with a pocket full of cash.

Hey, will you girls stay out of my thread, plz. I post this thread to give folks a handy way to see what has been advertised. Informed comment and opinions about these airplanes is welcome but If you want post snark at each other, use Private Messages.

This Varieze today. N725EZ https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=725EZ Quite a schnozzola on that one. RUTAN VARIEZE ONE OF A KIND • $50,000 • FOR SALE BY PROUD OWNER • 1981 Rutan Varieze, Complete Restore 2018. 1020TT 1020SMOH 406 STOH Millennium Cylinders VERY STRONG C85 with Silver bullet 0-235 prop 2nd Owner ONE OF A KIND. Only one with long nose and strake extensions mods, New paint, new panel, Garmin G5, MGL e1 w/ 4CHT, Garmin 327, and GTR200, and IFLY 740. 700 empty 550 useful 150-160 ktas depending on weight Lands 65-70kts. Electric starter. Great cooling, Clean Wing fittings. Climbs solo 1500+ fpm. Out performs most Variezes. Can fit ANY height pilot comfortably. Flies weekly. times will change. Very reliable. Need bigger plane. Located KHAO • Contact Jamie Hicks, Owner - located Cincinnati, OH United States • Telephone: 432-349-7577 • Posted July 31, 2019

I saw it but have not asked the owner.