Kent Ashton

Just reading about the crash of this prototype, killing the head man/designer. They have a done a lot of work on it--built molds twice and are gearing up for a builder center. Now this, the 2nd prototype (pic) crashes just after takeoff and they probably have no idea why. What is interesting is that the pilot designer only had 370 hours TT and 4.7 hours in 2018. His last medical was in 1999. The crashed example had only flown .3 hours previously. I would guess he felt some pressure to get it ready for SunNFun. http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2019/03/fatal-accident-occurred-march-23-2019.html https://issuu.com/inflightusa/docs/online_issue_march_faber https://www.commutercraft.com/features-2 The test pilot who flew prototype #1 reported I know that when I don't fly for a month or two, I can tell it. I feel rusty and not as comfortable. Well, maybe it will go on without him.

Bit of good news today: I have mentioned my illegal eviction some years ago, from the Concord Regional Airport. When I was fighting that I asked my congressional Representative Robert C. ("Robin") Hayes (R-NC) to ask the FAA why the agency was permitting a federally-assisted airport to evict an aircraft operator. Hayes--an heir to the Cannon Mills fortune--secured millions of dollars in federal grants for this airport and he stored his own twin-engine airplane there but he wouldn't lift a finger to help me. His assistant told me "We can't [question the FAA]". Of course, that was a B.S. Congressmen make inquiries to the administrative agencies all the time. Hayes went on to become the head of the Republican party in N.C. His assistant went on to become our current Representative. Well, imagine my delight to read that Hayes was indicted this week for corruption, bribery, and lying to the FBI in connection to campaign donations. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/us/robin-hayes-nc-indictment.html It may not have been exactly corrupt for Hayes to funnel federal money to his hometown for a public airport, keep his own personal airplane there, then not give a hoot if the airport complied with its grant obligations, but it danged-sure is close. His indictment is consistent with what I thought of him. What is the larger lesson here? It is that public airports are often corruptly operated. They receive 1/100th the scrutiny of the average school board. Concord Regional, for example, does not have an airport advisory board and even as late as a few weeks ago, airport leases did not reflect the latest FAA rule on working in hangars. The Charlotte-Monroe airport nearby does not publish a waiting list for its limited number of hangars--it is apparently kept in the airport manager's hip pocket. My own airport does not announce its advisory board meetings. FAA officials love to make grants but [yawn] its a lot of work to enforce grant obligations. Thanks to fences and gates, the public doesn't know much about its local airport. It is only by aircraft owners standing together that we keep the government honest. I learned a lot in my fight with Concord Regional. The only reason I gave it up was that the stress gave me a heart attack but I am happy to help anyone who has an airport problem. PM me.

Two today: First a chap on the Cozybuilders list selling a project. He says Then this Long-ez, N79YT https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=79YT LONG EZ AIRCRAFT • $45,000 • AVAILABLE FOR SALE • Long EZ for sale. good plane. built 1984 650 hours. new engine 0320 160 hp. asking $45,000. Basic IFR panel, no GPS, no ADS B. Will install new upholstery to suit buyer. can provide photos. No one over 6 feet tall please. • Contact William R. Oertel, Owner - located Norco, CA USA • Telephone: 951 751-8627 . 951 738-8300 • Posted April 2, 2019 Couple more pics in the ad. Oertel is a well-known canard mechanic in California.

We saw this SQ2000 in June, last year. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=61757 Apparently a 2008 build by David J. Hanson, pics here http://www.n416.com/builderdh.html and here https://www.longezpilot.com/PG10 SQ 2000.htm Then transferred to Ticon Storay of Fayetteville, AR in 2012. https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N440DH This guy? https://www.facebook.com/ticon.storay Registration canceled in 2018 https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftrenewal_reports/CanceledReg_Results.aspx?NNumtxt=440DH&PageNo=1 Now it has a new panel (sort of) and new paint in San Diego. I did not find a new registration under that N-number or the seller. There are few pieces of the puzzle missing here. 🙂

I replaced a winglet once. It’s documented in my Kent’s Long-ez thread. It sounds difficult but actually can be done fairly easily. Probably not much more work than making someone else's wings fit. I show a jig in the thread to let you check the alignment. Might be interesting to make one and see what you’ve got. Good luck with the sale.

I see that the SQ2000 previously offer for $50K or trade https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=62991 is up for auction again with bidding closing April 8th. https://online.auctionnation.com/auction/17437/item/sq2000-canard-experimental-aircraft-4-seater-lyc-io360-200hp-exterior-color-white-interior-color-blue-2133973 Ad says "Wings have a dutch roll, Bill [Ortel] is recommending new CozyIV or LongEZ wings get fitted, the factory ribbed/molded wings ran heavy @ 120lbs per wing. Looking into other correction options right now. Being sold as is." There must be an interesting story with that one. I seem to recall Marc Z. has discussed it but I am not motivated to look it up. According to the ad, the seller has put lots of new stuff on it but good luck selling it with that condition. 54 TT hours in 10 years. I am guessing the seller just wants to get his hand out of the jar. 🙂

A Varieze project in Seattle. https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/avo/d/seattle-rutan-varieze-project/6854929024.html. Couple more pics in the ad.

Just talking to a gent who was severely afraid of liability on the experimental he bought and was taking extraordinary measures to "protect his family". Briefly, he was reluctant to ask his relative with an A&P to complete his condition inspection because it might make the A&P/relative liable for something. Let's think about this: First: An A&P is only certifying that on the date he inspected the airplane, it was an a safe condition for flight. Thus a plaintiff would have to prove it WAS NOT in a safe condition on the inspection date and the A&P KNEW or should have known that it was not. How the heck can anyone prove that without overwhelming evidence?! An A&P who takes ordinary care and checks potential AD's can easily avoid that. Further, a plaintiff would also have to prove that the "unsafe" condition caused the accident, show why the condition was unsafe, why the A&P should have known it was unsafe and that the A&P knew all that at the time he certified the inspection. If the unsafe condition was subsequently caused by something the pilot/owner did to the aircraft after the inspection, the A&P is not responsible for that. And the plaintiff would have to prove this on a aircraft that is built by amateurs, not required to meet any particular FAA standards, not required to use any particular TSO's parts, not required to be built to any particular plans and was probably maintained by other amateurs over the years. IMO it is virtually unprovable which is why such lawsuits are almost never brought and the few times they were, the plaintiff lost. Second: If you are NOT worth several million dollars, it isn't worth a lawyer's time to investigate an aircraft accident, educate himself about experimentals, then try to prove the almost-impossible-to-prove. Lawyers are after big fish or the easy slip-and-fall. They do not want to spend weeks preparing for a case they could easily lose, or earn 1/3rd of a $5000 award. Nor do they want to pursue a case against a person who cannot pay. Third: If you have liability insurance, that entitles you to a defense by your insurance company. The insurance company's lawyers will fight hard or settle at the company's expense (up to the limit of the policy). Also most professional A&Ps also have their own liability insurance. Moreover, if you have no liability insurance, and very little money, you are virtually assured that no lawyer will take a case against you. Fourth: IMO, you are more liable to have a serious liability problem by trying to land on a highway and causing a chain reaction accident that kills a bunch of people. Was that the A&P's fault? Maybe, but the A&P did not choose to run the airplane out of gas and land on a busy road. It's probably all on you buddy.

Good Van's thread here about baffles: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=37835 Note the side of the cylinder that does not pass air and how to make a bypass there. On a pusher it is the front of #3 and the back of #2. Also note how cylinders are wrapped to force the air to flow through the fins. (pics 1, 2). The thread mentions Porsche cylinder baffles (pic 3). Porsche doesn't wrap the cylinders as I would expect but maybe they are designed for easy removal and maintenance. Lyc cylinders wrapped with aluminum are a PIA to take apart and sealing up all the little irregular shapes and holes is a task. For updraft cooling, I have settled on pieces of aluminum that wrap the cylinders, separate pieces in the center of the cylinders that seal the gaps, and some silicone wraps in various spots (pics 4, 5). Sometimes I see updraft pusher cylinders that are not wrapped on the bottom. It's hard to quantify the effect. There is likely a blast of air on them from the updraft flow but does it penetrate the fins as well is if they were wrapped? I don't know. You can fiddle around and get good cooling but the ideal is to get good cooling with the least amount of air used. For that, every bit if air has to go through the fins. On the Cozy, I found that even with decent wraps and sealed holes, I still needed ramps in the bottom cowl to direct more air to the forward cylinders. (pic 6). On my downdraft EZ, it was not so critical to wrap cylinders--just bring the air into a box on top of the cylinders. No matter how you do it, you will see a better idea later. 🙂

Here is a prop that flew through freezing rain--my once-beautiful "Ashton Blue Blade". 😞 The pilot did not know to reduce RPM. It can probably be repaired with some JBWeld but the leading edge fiberglass wrap has been breached so it might need some glass work and it will certainly need stripping, refinishing and balancing. Another reason not to fly hard IFR in these airplanes but if you do, pull it back. Pilot said he also got ice on the canard. Scared him pretty good. Old lessons for new students!

A rollover seen on FB (pics 1,2). Credit Bob Hutter. It is fun to see how people do these things. The 3rd pic is what I built for my Long-ez. I found that making the longeron angles in four pieces allowed it to warp a bit when welding--better and stouter to have continuous angles at the sides, I think. If I was building one again, I would put some strips of Fiberfrax on the longerons to protect the glass before tacking it up. Also plan a recess for the angles before glassing the wood longerons. I like these better than the composite rollovers I see. You can weld mounts for a GPS or GoPro and they make a good grab-bar for getting out of the back seat.

Fuel valve maintenance: I use the cheap Weatherhead fuel valves ($27 vs $200+ for the high-buck valve) but they require maintenance. There is a deldrin(?) spool in the valve that will begin to stick after a few years and the valve will become hard to turn. Folks who ignore it have found the valve will jam, then you crash. 😞 To prevent that, I burn most of the gas out of my tanks and prop the airplane nose up so I can take the top off the valve without spilling fuel. Then use a tiny smear of Fuel Lube or EZTurn on the spool. A small tube of lube is a multi-lifetime supply. The first time I lubed the spool, I used too much lube and found bits of it later in the gascolator screen. It does not dissolve in fuel and can gum up the screen. It only needs to be lubed about every 5-8 years. Prop is taking shape. I am finding it a fair bit harder to carve a tapered prop (pic 3) versus the last one with a straight trailing edge (pic 4). With the latter, the templates are easy to position off the trailing edge. With the taper, the templates have to be positioned off the centerline which is somewhat tricky to draw accurately and gets rasped-away as you work.

The wrap on the CHT probes is a fiberglass braid that came on the probes so I used it. It is tie-wrapped to intake tubes in the pic so the extra braid is probably not really needed and it absorbs oil. Since then I make my own CHT probes using fiberglass-wrapped wires. It is pretty tough stuff. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/18661-kents-long-ez-project/?do=findComment&comment=61850 The caulk is GE Silicone II https://www.acehardware.com/departments/paint-and-supplies/caulk-and-sealants/caulk/1092691 Clean the fins first with some lacquer thinner or acetone Squeegee the caulk into a layer of BID between plastic, cut to fit and stick it place. . It will stick well and can be trimmed with a razor knife. Yes, two Lightspeeds. I have been thinking about going to Earth-X batteries and save 40 lbs but they are SO expensive. Still, they're said to outlast 3 of the SLA batteries.

My Uavionix EchoUAT and SkyFYX-EXT are showing targets but apparently I am not putting out data. I thought maybe the problem was old software in the Garmin 327 but $180 and a software update later, no joy. I have asked Uavionix--waiting for a reply. It somewhat frustrating that there is no troubleshooting information on their site. It could possibly be a wrong setting in the App. Greensboro approach told me my UAT was working but I can't generate a performance report. ------------------ Odds and ends: (1) How many times have you installed the flywheel and prop extension, maybe the prop too, and --duh!--you forgot the alternator belt? (2) Here is how much fin space I allow on the bottom of the cylinders; seems to be about right. (3) A picture of a wrap made of silicone sealant from the home stores. It holds up well there. Even around exhaust pipes, it will last a long time before it gets old and cracks. (4) A method of attaching the additional filter and fuel lines on an Ellison. I installed the fittings, then packed the tube with sand and bent it. You could try to freeze water in the tube or use an alloy made for bending tubes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood's_metal If you use sand, pull a cloth through the tube to get it all out. (5) I like this quick way of attaching wires to engine mount tubes: a wrap of baffle seal material and a tie-wrap. (6) Finally, I am working on a spare 2-blade prop for the Cozy.

I have seen the ad on that one (N8HA) but never see any pics or info. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=62563 I suppose his price for an '86 O-235 airplane ($32K) could be reasonable but she (his wife apparently) has been trying to sell it since October. I just shake my head when the the seller doesn't post any pics. Here is a post on how to find other canard owners that might know about the airplane or would look at if for you https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/33309-varieze-builderpilot-wanted/?do=findComment&comment=63092 Lots of canard flyers in the S. Cal. area and they meet regularly at Chino for breakfast.

This Varieze project in Missouri today. No pics: VARIEZE • $6,000 • CLEANING OUT THE BARN • Varieze project with 0200 older overhauled.75 percent done .pictures on request • Contact William R. Rhymer, Owner - located Joplin, MO USA • Telephone: 1 417 529 6086 • Posted March 16, 2019 His January Barnstormers ad was asking $5,500.

The Ramirez-Florida-Aerocanard project here has reportedly sold. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=63031 I sold my BD-5 project too. Chap coming in a few hours to pick it up. https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=62990

This Varieze today. I could not track down an N-number. Crete is just S. of Chicago. SUPER NICE VARIEZE • $25,000 • AVAILABLE • Excellent condition, new paint, new interior cont 0-200 SMOH 752hrs tt, plane 569hrs tt Call or text • Contact Felipe Gonzalez, Owner - located Crete, IL USA • Telephone: 7735718138 • Posted March 13, 2019

This on Barnstormers, N8HA LONGEZ • $32,000 • BACK ON THE MARKET • LongEZ reupholstered seats. Call for details. Recent annual done • Contact William D. Day, Owner - located Talent, OR USA • Telephone: 541-890-6676 • Posted March 12, 2019 https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=8HA First seen here back in October https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=62563 No info, no pics, no sale. 😞

Ah, the Picasso-on-the-curb has been to the Antiques Road Show. I'm expect an ad for a $50,000 Long-ez but maybe showing up on her doorstep with 1000 $20s would look pretty good. From the same heir this morning:

Yeah, you and a dozen others! At this point, it's still a-pig-in-a-poke. No price, no information, no idea about the avionics. It appears to have a Hertzler prop but old 4-into-2 exhausts. A lot depends on the model engine and hours. The idea of getting a cheap airplane at an estate sale is enticing but I wouldn't drive from Minnesota without better info--especially with a dozen wolves growling over the carcass. Be patient, you will find one in your neighborhood.

Pew, active day. I'm exhausted. This Varieze N924FS No pics. https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N924FS VARIEZE • $18,000 • FOR SALE • 2015 Varieze. Sold W/O engine. 2015 Sun & Fun Grand Champ, Glass panel. Call for pics and details • Contact Joe Bryant, Owner - located Seattle, WA USA • Telephone: 206-788-5413 • Posted March 11, 2019 and this Dragonfly w/ pics N103AW https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N103AW DRAGONFLY MK II HOOP • $8,000 • AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE SALE • Dragonfly ARF. Great Plains 2180 / Ellison throttle body. It was a flying aircraft with only five hours on it. Excellent workmanship. Needs paint and wiring. Engine starts easily and runs great. Panel is setup for a tablet based EFIS and Avmap GPS. GPS included with sale.I was going to use this setup with a backup airspeed. I have the steam gauges that came with it. I have pretty much everything to get the airplane back together and flying again except radio and transponder. It could be flying in a very short time. 8K OBO. The first picture is before it was disassembled and sanded. • Contact Len Shockley, Owner - located Talbott, TN USA • Telephone: 931-881-4133 • Posted March 11, 2019

Gonna turn this into a sticky on how to find canard owners. 1. First try the member search page here for your state. That is not a great method because the membership list never gets pruned and members often do not identify their state. https://www.canardzone.com/search/?type=core_members&joinedDate=any&group[4]=1&group[3]=1&group[12]=1&group[10]=1&group[6]=1&group[9]=1&group[16]=1 The following sites also have member search pages. They are not very active now and canardcommunity has been closed for a few years but you might get lucky. https://www.canardaviation.com https://www.canardcommunity.com 2. Join the Cozybuilders Google Group and/or the CanardAviators Yahoo group. They are fairly active and you will often get a reply to your message. The two groups are also somewhat redundant. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cozy_builders https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/canard-aviators/info 3. The Central States Association is an well-known canard group that publishes a member directory. The owner also publishes an interesting newsletter. https://www.canardzone.com/csa/csa.html/ 4. David Orr is getting a lot of members to his Squadron III group and he publishes an email newsletter. https://www.facebook.com/SoCalEzGroupSquadronIII/ 5. You can also search the FAA registry by model and bring up names and addresses. Most owners are pretty happy to show you their airplanes. https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/ 6. EAA chapters in your state usually know who is flying what kind of airplane. If you contact Chapter Presidents, they might give you a contact. https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-chapters/find-an-eaa-chapter 7. Rough River (Kentucky) is a pretty big Fall flyin for canards. Might be worth a visit. https://roughriver.org 8. Then there is (yuck) Facebook. You're on your own there. 🙂

Seen today on FB. Seller in Spanaway, Washington. Only two pics but you can track her down

Seen today on the Cozybuilders list near Allentown, PA. PDF parts list below. Over $9,000 in parts & materials. Quite a nice deal: Cozy MKIV Parts.pdf