Kent Ashton

Seller Scovel above is on Ebay today, item   125489708856  More pics in the ad.  Decent price if it goes for $9K.  He probably has a lot more than that in it . . . plus his labor.  Ya know how they say when you want to sell your house, remove all the family photos and personal items so the buyers see visualize it with _their_ stuff?  🙂

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125489708856?

--more:  I saw this homemade compressor for a Continental made from 1" channel and washers.  Builder says he can hold it compressed with a bolt in the perimeter of the head.  (pic)  It was appealing but I had already broken down and ordered a Valve Wizard tool, much praised by the RV crowd.  At $160 it is expensive but an adjustable tool from Aircraft Tool Supply is about $60 and a little fiddly, they say.  https://valvewizard.com/index.html

    Trouble is, there are different wizard models for the parallel-valve and angle-valve Lycomings.  (pic 2, angle-valve model)

Valve spring compressors - I got ahold of a scrap cylinder with valves and thought I would take the valves out for grins.  It's good to tool-up for this job because if your engine develops "morning sickness" (sticking valve), you will need to drop the valve into the cylinder to perform the rope trick.  I saw this valve compressor at Spruce (pic 1) and tried to make on (pic 2).  A day's worth of fiddling later, it did not work because it does not compress the spring evenly (pic 3).  I have seen several homemade compressors similar to pics 4) that seemed to work but got tired of trying to fabricate tools  --continued

I used the bundle Marc suggested.  The antenna is embedded in the foam just underneath the instrument cover.  It works in the "sniffer" mode

I will just add that the Cozy III was not designed for heavy people. (used to own one).  Nat and Shirley Puffer were little people.  It is just a Long-ez with a side-by-side cockpit so visualize two people in the front seat of a Long-ez.  I was about 215 and I flew with a few people that size or heavier.  However, I didn't want to have to do an off-airport landing at that G.W.   I don't recall the weight but I suppose I flew it in the "takeoff only" zone a number of times.    I did everything I could to reduce the G.W--smaller battery, moved the battery aft, removed the starter (later used a Skytech starter), lightweight alternator, but there is only so much you can do.  Mine used an O-320 also. 

Cozy III first seen here at $15K, reduced.  More details in the first ad

https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=87652

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COZY III PROJECT • $11,000 • FOR SALE AS IS • The Project is in the 90% complete, 90% to go! More information and pictures are available. • Contact Michael Scovel , Owner - located Livonia, MI 48154-1937 United States • Telephone: 313 608-7202 • Posted August 30, 2022

1 hour ago, mquinn6 said:

If this was never registered with N number - does it have a "title"?

Ad says it was "flow [sic] for many years" so it was probably registered.  Someone with a FB account could query the seller.  Yeah, it'll be a headache if they try to pass a previously registered aircraft as a "project".  Your saving, Mike, is that there is no evidence in the existing FAA records that your airplane was ever registered, right?

1 hour ago, TrevorH said:

Well, I passed on the project. It seems someone else had previously tried to remove the spar on this Mk IV and gave up. It had only been floxed in and none of the Bid reinforcements had been installed. Here”s what I found inside the fuse at the forward lower front face of the spar. Someone went wild with a Sawzall and sliced the spar.  The other issues with this project were too numerous to list. I’m back on the hunt for a worthwhile Cozy Mk IV project.   

My non-engineer opinion: If they didn't slice into the UNI spar caps, the spar could be repaired there.  Hard to say, though, without seeing what else is wrong.  In that particular area there are a lot more BID layups.  If worse, maybe the price justifies hauling the spar to the dump and building a new one.  We must think creatively.    🙂   I can't believe why the seller allowed someone to do that without cash-in-hand.  Guessing that the current owner is not the original builder.

14 hours ago, zolotiyeruki said:

Over on Facebook, a Vari-EZE airframe, with matching trailer, for $4,750.

Good price.  I wonder if the EAA Chapter has a good title they can convey?

Sad to read of the death of Cozy designer Nat Puffer at age 96.   https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000434649/      I have kicked around homebuilts long enough to hear many guys talk about ideas to design an airplane and market it but when you consider what it takes to develop those ideas, draw up the plans, build a prototype (twice!), revise plans, market the plans at airshows and devote  thousands of conversations to builders and potential builders , collect information and publish a newsletter . . . not many individuals have the follow-through to do all that.

I do not know what motivated Nat to do that.  Certainly he could have just built his own airplane and been quite happy with it but he chose to do more.  Maybe the income was decent.  800 plans-sets at $500--if that is how many he sold before selling out to Spruce--is a good motivator but perhaps he saw it as a legacy.

I'm only sorry Nat did not offer the design to a builder who was really interested in supporting it.  I wonder where we'd be today if we hadn't had the support of Marc Zeitlin.  In 100 years, will the Cozy Mk IV be a thing?   Folks are still building Long-EZs nearly 50 years after they debuted, so maybe.

12 hours ago, Midengineracer said:

I can't see the report, but February 1989, ran out of fuel (bad pre-flight, didn't fuel up per investigation) significant damage. August 1989, forgot to extend the gear, minor damage.  1993 retract rod fractured, nose gear collapse on landing rollout.

I updated the link, try it again.   The aircraft looks pretty good for all that banging around.  If the repairs have been well-done, it should be OK. 

Ah, here’s the report.    Only had 4 hours.    I guess he was having too much fun.  🙂

https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20001213X27785&AKey=1&RType=Final&IType=LA

Today's B-stormers:  Pretty reasonable price, I'd say.  30 years ago I  paid about that much for a similar VFR C-III with a 1700-hour engine.  I had a lot of fun with it but the Mk IV was a better fit (2 inches wider cockpit).  I think it cost me about $7000 to rebuild the engine before I sold it so maybe pencil-in $10K to refresh the engine (if needed).  Still a fair price if there are no big surprises.   A/W certificate issued in 2020 so it is a fairly recent completion.  The older one I bought had been painted in a brittle lacquer over a black, waxy anti-UV primer and I had to strip and repaint it.  Yep, I learned some hard lessons with that airplane.  No interior pics in the ad here.  Heavy people >200 lbs need not apply   🙂  N611CZ

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EXPERIMENTAL COZY • FOR SALE • EXPERIMENTAL COZY 3 PLACE 611CZ: Built by owner and located at ALO Waterloo Iowa. Great American prop; Lycoming 0-320-E2D - 150 HP, Slick mag, electronic ignition; good compression; past TBO. To be sold as is. $20,000 or best offer. Contact Rex Pershing at 319-230-0962 for details. • Contact Rex Pershing , Owner - located Cedar Falls, IA 50613 United States • Telephone: 319 230 0962 • 319 260 1077 • Posted August 25, 2022

9 hours ago, TrevorH said:

I can bring a reciprocating saw and/or oscillating saw to do the job [and cut out the centerspar]

Ha!  No I wouldn't do that.  Here are some pics I saved.  Folks have trailered them flat with no problems but if I were you, I'd build a frame that will support the aircraft on its side, nose down, or on a 45 deg. angle.   Until the strakes are added, I'd be a little cautious about putting a lot of stress on the centerspar attachment.  I think I would support the airplane on its side

I saw an email response from Mike Busch today saying helicoil inserts that are 1/4" long are a problem and should be replaced.  Apparently, Lycoming makes special Helicoils and inserts them with an expensive kit but it is not hard to do.   See   https://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/detail.aspx?id=4260-18     

      There was an old Service Instruction (I cannot find it in the current list) that discusses replacing spark plug helicoils.   See S.I. 1043a here    https://support.cessna.com/custsupt/contacts/pubs/ourpdf.pdf?as_id=50867  I don't find any curent S.I. on the subject.

     However, this current S.I. 1042AH discusses short and long reach plugs   https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/files/SI1042AH Approved Spark Plugs.pdf   Also confirms to use copper anti-seize

SPARKPLUGS - I have not had a spark plug blow out but others have.  A recent post on the Cozy list described an 18 mm adapter + 14 mm auto plug blew out of an IO-360--top one in pic1.  His other adapter had cracked threads.  I have used adapters with 14mm plugs as well as 18mm Autolite 386 plugs and 18mm Bosch M8ACO.  Never had any problem with any of them but the adapters are a bit fiddly and I can't tell any performance difference between the 14mm and the 18mm.  Using 386s at the moment.  It seems that the 18mm was mostly developed for tractors.  They are cheap enough that you can toss them every year or so.

I looked at some scrap cylinders I have as well as a new Superior Millenium and they all have very few threads in the sparkplug holes--about 5 threads (pic 2).  An 18mm Autolite 386 has a 1/2" reach and it only has about 5 threads too so I suppose it is a good match (pic 3).   An aircraft plug has about 6 threads with the copper washer used (pic 4, an REM38, electrode removed). 

None of them stick very far into the cylinder (pic 5).  You can buy Autolite 388s with a 9/16" reach but they do not seem necessary.

Lightspeed says torque the insert to 25 ft-lbs and the 14mm plugs to 15 ftl-bs,  Lycoming torques 18mm aircraft plugs to 35 ft-lbs.  I gather some brass inserts are of higher quality than others.  Don't know which, though.

With inserts or 18mm A/C plugs I keep a string of copper washers handy and anneal them after a couple uses.  Get them cherry-red and allow them to air cool which softens them.  Somewhere I read to use copper anti-seize on sparkplugs and don't get the anti-seize on the business-end of the plug.

I do not know if heat-range is very critical in these old low RPM, low compression engines.  If your plugs are fouling it can be lead, oil, or carbon.  Lead must be blasted off with a machine, carbon can be removed by a lean runup and running lean when able.  Oil, you can't do much about except refresh your cylinders.

Reasons why a plug might blow out?  I'm guessing old, beat-up inserts, improper torque or maybe an old copper washer which does not seal as well

Wikipedia says the Rutan EZ was 710.    The one I built with an O-320 was 993.  I see that Phil camarda shows his 0-320 model at 1006.     https://www.longezpilot.com/N6PC page8.htm
 

I suppose an O-235 airplane with no starter, small battery, small wheels and brakes, small canopy, small alternator, manual gear, short nose, carbon cowls could be quite a bit lighter but I’d say most are at least 800-850 with the smaller engine.   That is just a W.A.G.

This EZ- N787EZ-- relisted today on Ebay (pic).  Was $117,000 in 2018 here,   https://www.canardzone.com/forums/topic/21972-sales-ive-seen/?do=findComment&comment=62642     buy it now at [cough] $89K.  O-235!  His ballast must be gold bars.  Ebay Item #    334538608538

However, I was just comparing the prices of stuff in the Spruce catalog.  A gallon of MGS285 resin went from $157-->$278.  EZ-Poxy $109-->$172.  Oddly enough, the cost of BID (RA7725) has gone down 30 cents but Spruce shows "no stock".

So I guess we have to recalibrate our aircraft prices.   A $75K Long-EZ does not sound so bad.

Saw this pic of a battery mount on the centerspar.  Imagine what could happen if this airplane runs off into a ditch or some other sudden stoppage.  Heads up!

Above:  I see that Infinity is selling the retracts for $6K.   http://www.infinityaerospace.com/infgear.htm    Sounds like the seller is trying to get all his money back on the retracts then $12K more for the tub, canard, canopy and parts.  Not too far off the mark, I would say, but I'd make an offer well below <$12K and let him keep the retracts. 

His comment about the plans is suspicious:  

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It is recommended that a separate plan be purchased so you can register your own build. For $500 to Aircraft Spruce, you can’t go wrong. The plans come with an introduction to fiberglass 101 chapter and a set of drawings for construction. The Cozy Mark IV plans are complete and have been vetted by builders over the years and have inherited Rutan’s legacy of the Long EZ building processes. Ask for Jo

Sounds like he did not own a full set of plans but who knows?  Also, it is fishy to me when the seller shows a picture of somebody else's flying airplane.  Those headrests look huge!   But it comes with lead ballast!   🙂

A friend got me some discarded cylinders to make torque plates.  This one (pic) was pretty dramatic.  Another cylinder had a red mark inside around the spark plug hole as if a dye-penetrant had shown a crack but I could not see one there.  It was quick work to cut the bases off versus the day-and-a-half it took me to make a torque plate from scratch.  They are about $37-$49.  If you have not read Mike Busch's cautions about cylinder work, look them up on Youtube.  Torque plates keep the bearings from shifting when cylinders are removed.

Did you know that in a Lycoming cylinder heads are screwed onto the barrels?  That is right where the crack is--the top of the barrel. 

Another on the Cozy list today:

H Gang.  After a lot of thought, I have decided to sell my Cozy III project.  It is really far along, attached is a list of things that need to be done by Chapter.  I have a gazillion pictures, obviously way too many to show here.  I am going to try to download a bunch of them in a Drop Box folder.  There are two parts of the completion that require a little more effort and thought than most of the rest of the completion.  One is the putting on the Main Gear Attach Brackets Outboard Support pieces if you so choose to use, along with finishing the Main Gear Fairing covering the Main Gear Access Hole.  Second is installing the Nose Retract mechanism of choice.  Currently there is a Brock Retract Mechanism in place.  The plane needs an engine and instruments (Electrical).  I am asking $15,000.00, picking up the project and transporting is on the buyer.  For the price, this is a must see to believe project.  Somebody looking to get a project they can finish quickly this may be the answer.  My reasoning for the Cozy III over the Cozy IV was: side by side seating and being able to pack my wife’s stuff in the back when we travel, secondly economy of travel.  Any questions, please call.

Sincerely,

Mike Scovel

S/E Michigan

 [three one three) six zero eight - seven two zero seven]

EZdriver at sbcglobal dot net

Cozy III Progress Chart (1).docx

Seen on the Cozy list

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My priorities and circumstances are changing and I am selling this COZY project. 

[snip]

The project is going for $7,000.00 Canadian and the buyer will need to arrange for transportation (as did I when I purchased this project in 2020).  The great news is that it comes with the Pre-Cover/Pre-Paint inspection already signed off as you can see here.  The construction manuals and drawings are all included.  I've even gone through all the snags to date from the cozy list and marked them up on the drawings and manuals so that they are all current.

 [Image of canadian inspections in logbook omitted]

The canard and centre spar are completely finished.  The left wing with winglet is completed.  The right wing is done but the right winglet needs a bit more work before it can be installed.  The fuselage has the nose gear installed but not the main gear.  The engine nacelle and canopy plexiglass comes with the project.  There are numerous other smaller items that go with this project that would be included as well. It really is a good deal for anyone who wants to build and not start from scratch.  

 

If you are interested and want more information or more photos please don't hesitate to contact me.  You can reach me at this email address or better yet at dlefrancois AT beyondblue DOT ca.  Use [this email] if you are looking for a faster response as I monitor this email address more often on my phone. 

 

Regards,

David LeFrancois, P.Eng., M.Sc.

3 hours ago, Ashevillian said:

I started building my Cozy in 1984.  Got a good bit built, and then life happened.  Now semiretired, and  working on completing it.  I realized I never got a serial number for Nat.  Any one have any idea how to contact him now?

You don't really need a serial number.  The FAA will let you use whatever number you want when you register your airplane.  However, it should have been written on your builder's manual and a license page. Normally you signed the license page and returned it to Nat and that was your permission to build but that was only between you and Nat.  Last I heard, Nat is in a nursing home somewhere but I have not heard anything new lately.  Aircraft Spruce owns the rights now.  They might have a list but frankly, I wouldn't worry about it.

Seen the movie "The High and the MIghty"?  What a great aviation flick, availabe on Youtube.  I get choked up every time John Wayne nurses that DC-4 into San Francisco.