John Whalen

For Jim Sower and others: Have you investigated any other retractable gear other then the infinity? I was wondering if a person could use a Piper or Cessena Gear of off a retired plane and modify the gear length as required for the Cozy? Just a thought on the retracts issue as I am also looking at them for a off field landing safety factor and for the improved speed. John

For those considering the solid state AI's using Fibre Optic/MEMS Gyros one thing to keep in mind for IFR operations is that these gyros have high drift rates (10 degrees per hour or higher in some cases) in all axis and require GPS to maintain accuracy. The GPS signals are used to correct the drift of the accelerometers and gyros. I'm not sure if BMA or any of the others face this problem or they have higher quality solid state gyros that have low drift rates. I have recently completed a study for a portion of a Masters degree that demonstrated that without GPS solid state gyros with the excption of very expensive high quality versions have high drift rates. That is to say if your flying along IFR at night and the GPS goes down you could have a fairly high drift rate creeping in to your attitude and you would have no indication. My advice would be to ensure at least a backup AI, airspeed, and altimeter along with a VOR/ILS receiver and separate nav display for the VOR/ILS. I have alos followe with considerable interest the developments at BMa and I am seriously considering the system for my plane when I get to that stage if they come up with a method to receive signals from a TSO-129C certified GPS. Moving map combined with the HSI and AI should add greatly to both the pleasure and safety of GA. John

I knew I read it somewhere here is the link. Hope this helps! John http://home.hiwaay.net/~sbuc/tvrvbg/_borders/IFR%20equipment.pdf

In order to fly IFR you require instruments that meet the various minimum TSO standards. For example, you require a TSO 129C GPS for IFR operations and you require your altimeter and Mode C to be checked by a FAA approved testing agency. The FAA doesnt specifically say you require certified instruments except for the GPS as in the case of Blue mountain Avionics who are not certifying their GPS but if you hook up VOR/ILS equipment that meets the TSO standard you can then get an inspector to sign off on you using it for IFR. That means with an inspectors concurrence you can use the uncertified Blue Mountain system provided you don't attempt any stuff with the GPS as sole means navigation as it is uncertified. check the Blue Mountain Avionics website they had an opinion from the EAA written for them. Its on the discussion board under IFR equipment I think. Others may have even more info on this question. John

DeltaHawk has another update and are awaiting FAA inspection to go flying appparently. Might just be ready for me in 2 years. To bad Mike aka dust is just that much to far ahead to wait. John

Marc Keep the information flowing despite the uncalled for comments. I have a question for you and other members, if you were to look ahead would you anticipate in 3 years there might be a suitable diesel in the 180-220Hp range for a Cozy. There seems to be a lot of development work underway by quite a few reputable companies, the question is whether they will make it in the next little while. I anticipate needing an engine in three years or so and having grown up on a farm around diesels am quite comfortable with the concept and their simplicity and for my family anyway always seemed to be working fine. Some of our engines had 5000 hours with no problems and a lot of those hours were at or near maximum RPM. It would be so nice to ditch the mixture, spark plugs etc etc for a single lever diesel. Enough rambling from me, comments from the crystal ball gazers is appreciated. John

Any long time followers of the DeltaHawk have any comments regarding its development and potential to actually make it to market. From the website it appears that they may make it this yearand start sales and certification. I won't need an engine for 2 more years but I am looking forward to trying this one on for size. Any comments? John

Mike: I was reading up on the new Diesel from TCM. Do you have any idea on the price???? and when it may be available. I see they are getting support from NASA to help it come to fruition As well is the Deltahawk diesel the same one that is talked about on the back issues of the Cozy discussion group as long as 6-8 years ago that still hasn't made it to market? According to their website they are planning selling the 200Hp version for $24K sometime this year. John

For all those Canadian Cozy builders just a question about the CARS for experimental aircraft. Who will you be using to fly the initial 5 hours or am I misreading the requirement to have a 100 hours on type pilot fly the first few flights? As well Dan thanks for the tip I totally forgot being posted out in Winnipeg for the last 6 years about all the fiberglass fishing boats in NS. There is a fairly large composite aircraft parts maker as well in Lunenburg, NS - Atlantic Composites that is a division of EADS the AirBus parent company. I will have to check with them when I get there for possible supplies even if its by promising someone a flight. For the other Canadian cozy builders any comments on insurance and whether this might be a problem??? and if any of you have suggestions of possible carriers? Thanks for taking the time to answer! John

Dan: Would you have the time to post the various suppliers you are using in Canada? or are you planning on perhaps a website where this might be available? are you using Wicks etc for the packaged supplies? I may have to use a drop location in Maine when I get to Nova Scotia and just fly over from Greenwood to pick up supplies shipped from US dealers if most is not available north of the border. John

Any builders out there familiar with the IK 2000 product. It seems to be a relatively cheap electronic engine/flight monitor system. Any comments would be appreciated. IK Technologies John

Very interesting debate on BRS systems. If I might add two cents worth I would suggest investigating parachute systems that form part of your seat back as in the military for multi-crew airplanes without ejection seats or even the back packs that we wear for aircraft that are ejection but not integrated into the seat. They would at the very least provide reassurance to scared pax even if maybe not much help. The broken rip cord for the fake T handle is quite the innovation and seems to be a cheap easily engineered solution! Jobs at aircraft manufacturers await! I have to agree with a number of the contributors, the engineering and evaluation would be quite the undertaking and require lots of $$$$. My preference would be to fly the aircraft in barring a disaster precluding that option. We were always taught in the Canadian Air Force if you can't eject stay with the plane you have a much better chance of making a forced landing and surviving even under difficult circumstances.

I am new to the forum and am wondering if we could get a thread going of Canadian builders. I am looking to start in the summer of 03 when I get my new house completed in Nova Scotia. My biggest concerns are the lack of suppliers using our severly devalued currency and shipping equipment from the USA. If there are any Canadian builders on the forum who would be willing to swap information, how to's and pitfalls it would be greatly appreciated. John