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Cozylover

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    Cozy 3

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    Belgium, Europe
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    Airline Pilot A330& A340

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    #020

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  1. Thanks very much PaulL..... But this still doesn't answer any of my questions above.... Anybody? Brgds, Biggles71
  2. Hi CANARDIENS, In June, I have posted, how my nosegear got damaged on my European COZY 3. Please see the post (June 24th): "Blocked Oil Breather caused engine failure at 200ft", for more info on that. Anyway, I'm getting ready now, to install a new: * Brock NG-15 * Brock Nose gear Fork * Ken Millers Slick Nose gear tire * Ken Miller's Anti-Shimmy system As the non-builder, I can surely use all advise from you guys.... So few questions: 1/ When installing the NG-15, I believe the parts need to be floxed to the strut and then bolted together. Can anybody describe more in detail what the exact procedure is? 2/ On first sight the nose gear strut, does not seem to be damaged, by the slide after the nose gear fork broke. This part seems to be very strong. If damaged where would the strut normally fail ? 3/ Any specific tips on Ken Millers installation of the Anti-Shimmy system ? Remember, I have the older (but as a new part) Brock LEZ fork and NG-15 on my COZY3, and will convert the system to the Belleville washer system sold by Ken Miller. I understand that a press is needed to remove the old mast and then install Ken's one. 4/ All other thoughts and extra info more than welcome.... Safe flying, COZYLOVER
  3. Hi Canardiens, As I explained in my previous post;"Blocked Oil breather caused sudden engine failure", I broke my Nose gear fork on my COZY 3. In the meantime I have ordered and received a new Nose gear fork & NG15A from Ken Brock. The NG-15 was still intact, but I prefer to change it as well. My old nosegear had the Belleville washers installed as a Shimmy Damper. The one I have received from Brock does not have the system with the washers installed, but a different system... Do some of you guys fly it as it comes from Ken Brock or do you have all a different setup? Also, when I install it what parts need to be greased...? Any other extra pre-cautions on installation? Thanks for your usual help, Biggles PS: I have tried to upload some pictures with this email to explain. If they are not there, you can email me privately and I'll send them.
  4. Hi Canardiens, Lately I experienced quite a nasty engine failure (at 200ft after T/O), due to a blocked oil breather. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please read the first post of this and then continue... In the meantime I have received a very comprehensive explanation from a Lycoming guy... Here it comes: Biggles From: "mahlon_r" <mahlon_russell@t...> Date: Sun May 16, 2004 10:03 pm Subject: Re: Oil breather blocked, caused sudden engine failure. Biggles, Not all Lycoming's use the diaphragm style fuel pump, but most 4- cylinder engines and carbureted 540's do and a few IO-540's as well.The O-235 series uses the diaphragm style pump. The other style fuel pump Lycoming uses, is a rotary pump..This pump is mounted with 4 nuts in a rectangular pattern. The diaphragm pump is a lever action,style pump that is mounted with two bolts. The first thing you need to know is that the diaphragm style fuel pump's relief valve is vented into the crankcase. What happens, is when the breather is restricted or completely plugged up, the air pressure inside of the crankcase increases due to the fact that the natural blow by past the piston rings is no longer vented to atmosphere. The more you run the engine, the more the pressure builds with a plugged breather. The fuel pressure keeps increasing as the crankcase pressure increases, due to the fact that the pump is sensing a higher reference pressure through its vent into the crankcase. Eventually the crankcase pressure rises to a point, that the fuel pressure becomes excessive and this high fuel pressure literally forces the needle valve in the carburetor open, when it really wants to be closed. Once this happens, the float level in the carburetor rises and the engine gets richer. eventually the float level becomes so high that the float chamber overfills completely, and fuel overflows out the bowl vent, in the carburetor throat, into the engine's inlet airflow. This produces an extreme, overly rich mixture that won't burn properly and the engine stops running. Basically, it's flooded. Had you pulled back on the mixture control you might have been able to find a sweet spot and kept it running! Once back on the ground, with the engine shut down the crankcase pressure eventually equalizes back through the rings through an open intake valve to be at atmospheric again. So when you try and restart, it fires right up like nothing was wrong. You have to continue to run the engine to build up the crankcase pressure until the whole thing happens again, to re-experience the problem again. If you don't run the engine long enough you think the problem went away. It is a really dangerous condition because it takes a while for the crankcase pressure to build up enough to make the engine quit. Unfortunately, that seems to be a few minutes into the flight. It is very important to have a vent in the breather line in case the end of the breather freezes up in the winter. In addition to the standard vent, in the breather pipe or hose, what I would do is put a two-inch long razor blade slit in the hose that connects the breather pipe to the engine or in the breather hose, if no pipe is used, right near the engine with the slit up. This is a secondary safety device, when things are normal, the razor blade slit stays closed as there is no pressure in the overboard line. If the breather becomes frozen or plugged for some other reason, the air pressure in the overboard hose will increase and force the slit to open up and the pressure will be relieved. As we have discussed plugging up the breather causes the crankcase pressure to increase, this can also cause seals to blow out, normally the crankshaft nose seal. If this happens the crankcase pressure gets vented and the engine doesn't quit but you get a big oil leak. Since your engine quit and you don't have any oil leaks, I don't think you blew any seals. I would do a few ground runs and if no leaks, then a short test flight and check for leaks again. If none are present, I think you are back in business. Good Luck, Mahlon
  5. Hi Canardiens, A couple of weeks ago, I had a very interesting ( but scary...) incident with my COZY... It could have been the end of my COZY..., and easily the end of me! First, sorry for the rather long post, but I'll first give a brief summary: I own (I'm not the builder) a European COZY powered by the good old Lycoming O-235-C2A. Last February, I changed all 4 cylinders with brand new ones, due to low compression and as well to comply with Service Instruction 1504, which warns about cylinder cracks in O-235 cylinders... After all they had done their part, +2500hrs of hard work. The engine was nicely broken in, flown for a hard hour (75%) with initial seating of the rings observed, by a drop in CHT's. All was normal... Then, |I had to leave the aircraft grounded for almost 8 weeks, due to work commitments in a foreign country, +3000 miles away. So end of April, I had the chance to do the further engine break-in. The annual conditional inspection was done just before the next flight, no major work was needed. During the 2 month grounding, my wood (epoxy covered) prop, was overhauled (sanded, dents repaired, repainted and balanced) by a professional prop overhaul shop and looked shining new. All looked very promising... Weather was nice, wind blowing down the 6600ft runway at about 12kts. Conducted a thorough pre-flight, oil, airframe, controls, etc... and then fueled it up with 15USGAL each side. Runup was normal, temps in the green, ready for action! Initial take off acceleration was normal, although I thought the engine was a little on the rough side. I blamed the little rough running, on the new cylinders, the fact that the engine hadn't been running for 8 weeks and/or due to the overhaul of the prop. After all, it could have been just an idea in the head as well...? Climbed out at about 85kts, was about to retract the gear (the good old manual way), when I changed my mind and left it a bit longer... after all it was, kind of a "test flight", and there was still a little bit of the 6600ft (1900m) runway left in front of me! Just after the thought of leaving the gear down a bit longer flashed through my mind.... " deathly silence"! I had experienced a sudden, total engine failure, from maximum take-off power, to "no power at all". Felt as engine failure due to some kind of fuel starvation, like pulling the mixture to idle cut-off or selecting the fuel selector to the off position. I had about 200ft above the sea level airport, when the engine failed. A split second decision was made to land straight ahead on the remaining runway. All engine controls (throttle, mixture and even the carburetor heater) were quickly pulled aft and the airbrake and both rudders were deployed. Nosing down to the concrete I made a brief flare followed by a "kiss landing". Speed must have been around 100kts. Too fast, but after all, there was no alternative and there was little runway left. I guess, on touchdown, there must have been, about 1000ft to 1200ft (300-400m) left to the end of the 6600ft runway. Maximum brakes were immediately applied. I was ready to retract the nosewheel in case I couldn’t bring it to a halt on the concrete. Somewhere halfway thru the deceleration, I felt a slight shuddering in the nosewheel, followed by a little dip of the nose position and a somewhat faster deceleration. The Cozy stopped about 10m (10yards) short of the runway end. Disembarked and noticed that the nosewheel fork had broken off, most probably due to nosewheel shimmy. The entire nosewheel was missing and the NG-15 was still intact. The parts were recovered in the grass about 200ft on the side of the runway. The first thought that flashed thru my head, was some catastrophic engine failure, due to a problem with one of the new cylinders. With the aircraft back in the hangar and both cowlings were removed, I did a thorough check of the engine together with an A&P. The lower spark plugs were all black like coal and oily (except the nr 4 one, which was pretty clean). The prop that was shinny white before the incident now had a large amount of black soot on it. There was now evidence of large oil leaks. A little bit of oil/fuel deposit was found on the lower cowling, but nothing extreme. After a thorough inspection of the fuel and ignition system, the engine was started and was found to be running normal. The carburetor was overhauled, since initially a failure of the Carbu needle was suspected causing a much too rich mixture and resulting in a sudden power loss. Nothing was found in the Carbu, except some small sediments in the Carbu bowl, nothing major. Of course I wanted to find out what had caused the engine failure ... During the 8 weeks (before the flight) that the aircraft was not flown, I had prepared a new oil breather canister, to collect the water and oil deposits. The old one had done its time and needed replacement. Basically it's an empty shaving cream canister, that I painted in an ALU color about 6 weeks before the incident. The old one had large 3/4inch holes drilled in the top sides, this to let it breath to the outside. Unfortunately before installation the day before the flight, the holes were mistakenly not drilled in the new one, so the oil breather system was completely airtight and had no breathing function at all, except a very small hole in the plastic tube that connected with the canister. Most probably the engine failed due to an almost total sealed oil breather system. On NOV 27th 2000, Phillip K. Camarda, posted a very similar incident with his LEZ on Marc’s forum. I have copied the following extract of his NOV 2000 post; <<<<< On Friday Nov 24th I called the mechanic that had overhauled my engine and told him what had happened. He asked to see the aircraft and root cause the failure. We removed the upper and lower cowls from the plane and started trying to find out where all the oil had come from. It came from the crank seal and a magneto seal. It seems, what had happened was the engine breather vent line had iced up. The moisture in the engine breather line had froze due to the cold air and caused excess crank case pressure. The extra pressure in the crankcase affected the mechanical fuel pump by adding additional pressure to the top of the diaphragm. The extra pressure, caused the pump to increase fuel pressure beyond the carbs needle and seats ability to stop it from entering the float bowl. Once the float bowl became filled it would run out the float bowl breather port directly into the venturi throat. This caused the engine to become flooded with fuel and drowned out the plugs. The exhaust pipes were filled with black soot and the plugs were as black as coal.>>>> Since I haven't found anything wrong with the engine apart from the oil breather system, I suspect the reason for the engine failure to be the above one. And yes, of course I immediately drilled the holes in the canister! First, I could hardly believe that an engine could suddenly fail due to oil breather blockage, without any serious vibration and oil leakage... but after reading Phillip's post, the story with the excessive fuel pressure, made much more sense! You would rather expect heavy oil leaks and blown seals in a case like that, wouldn't you? By the way, my O-235 has a nose oil seal retainer installed There is no evidence of damage or leaking seals. So, should I do anything special before the next flight, except a full power run-up ... What are the thoughts of you guys...? Finally, “what do I have learned from this incident...? “ 1/ Finish one job at a time... don't say as I did, " I'll paint the canister first and then drill the holes later". Especially when there is a couple of weeks between making a part and installing it. Have attention to details... small things like this can ruin your day... or even worse, "kill you"! 2/ Runway "behind" you, before take-off is useless. Had I not been using the full 6600ft runway length, I would not have been able to stop it on the concrete. 3/ When serious problems develop at low altitude (200ft on mine), do not do any trouble-shooting! Once committed to land, close throttle and mixture idle cut-off, in order to avoid a burst of power during the emergency landing...Fly the aircraft first! Had I been doing some kind of trouble-shooting first, before committing myself to land, I most probably would have not been able to live this story... The airport I took off from, is completely surrounded with residential areas. There is hardly any escape possible a low altitude neither straight ahead nor beside the runway. 4/ After Take-off, Climb at Best Angle of climb to a safe height, especially when flying out of highly populated areas." Altitude is your best friend"! 5/ The fact that the engine was running a little rough on take off, should have been the sign to abort the take-off. Remember, your aircraft talks to you and it’s up to you to listen to it! 6/ Having +7000hrs in aircraft ranging from 1000lbs (450kgs) to 825.000lbs (375.000kg) does not protect one from similar incidents... Experience helps, but does not exempt you from similar occasions. The fact that I used to instruct at this very airport helped me in the split second decision I made to land straight ahead. All comments on the above is more than welcome… If interested I can email you guys privately, some pictures of the oil breather canister and of the broken nose gear fork. Keep it safe, Regards, Cozylover
  6. In this post you'll find a picture of my installed "Heater Muff". Please read first the post: Exhaust and muff gap". Regards, Cozylover Bjorn
  7. Thanks Jim..., The tip with the stainless steel wool makes sense! I'll try it!Not that I expect wonders, but we'll see. Spodman..., it only gets air from the engine, no extra RAM air. It's still not clear to me if the gap needs to be there or not... I'll post one more picture in a different post,named "picture COZY Heater Muff", just to make clear how the finished installation, looks like. regards and safe flying, Cozylover Bjorn
  8. Hi Cozybuilders and flyers, My cabin heating in my COZY (O-235) has always been largely inadequate. When I lately removed my Exhausts (4 pipe) I noticed quite a large gap between the exhaust pipe and the Muff used for cabin heating and Carbu heating... It's hard to describe, that's why I included a picture of the installation with this email. On the picture, the shroud around pipes 2 and 4 is already removed. Should this gap be closed off with RTV ...? Can anybody please comment on this...? Thanks and best regards, Cozyflyer Bjorn:)
  9. Hi Chuckthedog, Thanks for your reply... could well be true! Anybody else to confirm the above...? Also, if the rocker valve covers won't be "chromed" they will defenitively need some paint...Which paint should I use? I've seen specific "engine paint"..., but would normal paint do the job as well? Any first hand experience more than welcome! Thanks and regards, Cozyflyer Bjorn:)
  10. Hi Cozy builders and flyers, I'm installing 4 brand new cylinders on my Lycoming O-235-C2A powered COZY (Experimental Canard). Strange enought the rocker valve covers are not included with the cylinders (seems to be normal). So I will use the ones from the original engine. Does anybody know if the rocker valve covers, may be "chrome plated"? I suppose car experts can do this... I know this is only an aesthetic thing... makes the engine a bit more shiny, but of course not better... Any consequencies or thoughts on the above? Cozyflyer Bjorn
  11. Hi Cozybuilders and flyers, My last "Leak test", (compression test) on my O-235-C2A powered COZY was not satisfactory. All 4 cylinders were below 70 (in the 60's) and 2 were even just below 50. The engine has 2550 hrs TT and was "opened" by the previous owner and builder at 2100hrs TT. Some new parts have been installed (like new piston rings) at that time, but the cylinders are still the original low compression ones. Oil consumption has been very good (1qt per 12 to 15hrs) and the Oil pressure is nice and high as well. I have not felt any difference in T/O and climb performance during the last flights and the engine runs smooth. I decided to ground the aircraft until further investigation. The compression test has been properly carried out by a licensed and up to date, A&P with a hot engine. Previous compression tests were all in the 70's. A friend of mine, that has an engine overhaul company (for cars and trucks only), will have a look at the cylinders early JAN '04... My questions are the following: What would you guys do....? New cylinders,...? Installing an O-320 is not an immediate option, since I really like the O-235 for it's low fuel burn (especially at 7$/USGAL in Europe). If buying 4 new cylinders, where would you buy them? Straight from a Lycoming dealer, from Superior, or something else? The O-235-C2A is a low compression engine, any idea if I can easily upgrade to high compression pistons? Any consequences? All other tips are more than welcome..... And last but not least, please don't let this post go into another useless discussion on auto conversion versus Lycoming engines..... Best regards, Cozylover Bjorn
  12. Hi Cozy builders and flyers, This is my second post regarding some landing gear problems for my COZY 3 on the same day. First one was regarding the NG-6 Nosegear bearing, second one (this one!) is regarding "Brakes". Please don't let this go into a huge discussion as in the previous (1995) big "brake post"....remember Matco, energy calculations etc... please not Here I go: My COZY 3 is still equipped with the standard Cleveland Brakes and brake discs, yes I know, even not the Heavy duty ones as called for by Nat. I bought the aircraft one year ago from the builder and for some reason he didn't want to invest in the upgrade....Don't blame me, please! Anyhow, I definitively would like to have some more braking power now. My questions are the following: 1/ What would you do in my place... a)buy the Cleveland upgrade kit, b)buy the full Heavy duty kit or even c)buy a full Groove "Ultra High performance kit" ? 2/ Regarding the "Cleveland Upgrade Kit" ( Aircraft Spruce manual p 209, # 199-93), does this fit on the old standard Cleveland wheels without to much hassle. Easy job? What exactly needs to be done...? 3/ I have relatively tight wheel pants, would this installation interfere with the above (Q: 2) ? 4/ Can anybody who has done the Cleveland upgrade kit, comment on the way his/her braking power has increased? Hope the above is clear, and that some of you are willing to clarify some things for me here, Regards and safe flying (or building), Cozyflyer, Björn
  13. Hi Canardiens, I have 2 Questions regarding the landing gear of my COZY 3. I'll post them in 2 different messages. Let's start with the first one in this post: Since I bought my COZY 3 from the builder one year ago, I have noticed that my aircraft tends to turn left while taxing and during T/O roll on a flat surface with no crosswind. Just recently I was reading an old CSA article by Jack Wilhelmson (issue 52 p28). In that article, he explains how his Cozy didn't taxi straight after having flown a couple hundred of hrs. He then made the upgraded NG-6 tapered bearings, which he still sells today. The same article is in a Cozy newsletter (CNL 64/5) and I believe it was a recommendation by Nat to do the upgrade as well. I still have the standard Brock NG-6 in my COZY 3 which now has about 500hrs TT. My questions are: 1/ Did anybody of you guys had similar problems (aircraft not taxing straight), and did the upgrade really clear the problem? 2/ My aircraft always turns to the left on the ground. If you have this particular problem with the NG-6, does it then not turn sometimes left, next time right... or can it be like that mine where the tendency is always to one side only (mine to the left). 3/ Anybody who has done the change from the standard NG-6 to Jack's tapered one, please comment on the job that needs to be done. How long..., difficult, tricks,etc...? Jack has emailed his Word-doc with the instructions, but I'd like to hear experiences from more people around, since I'm not a builder and no real expert... But willing to learn. 4/Any other thoughts on what might cause my not straight tracking? I checked the brakes, no dragging brakes. On firsthand, wheel alignment seems fine as well. Hope all of the above is clear and that some of you want to share your experiences, Save Canard-flying to all of you, Regards, Bjorn PS: Jack if you read this post, thanks again for your email reply. I would like to have a maximum of "others" experience, that's why I question this group. You'll hear from me!
  14. Hi Canardiens, I have 2 Questions regarding the landing gear of my COZY 3. I'll post them in 2 different messages. Let's start with the first one in this post: Since I bought my COZY 3 from the builder one year ago, I have noticed that my aircraft tends to turn left while taxing and during T/O roll on a flat surface with no crosswind. Just recently I was reading an old CSA article by Jack Wilhelmson (issue 52 p28). In that article, he explains how his Cozy didn't taxi straight after having flown a couple hundred of hrs. He then made the upgraded NG-6 tapered bearings, which he still sells today. The same article is in a Cozy newsletter (CNL 64/5) and I believe it was a recommendation by Nat to do the upgrade as well. I still have the standard Brock NG-6 in my COZY 3 which now has about 500hrs TT. My questions are: 1/ Did anybody of you guys had similar problems (aircraft not taxing straight), and did the upgrade really clear the problem? 2/ My aircraft always turns to the left on the ground. If you have this particular problem with the NG-6, does it then not turn sometimes left, next time right... or can it be like that mine where the tendency is always to one side only (mine to the left). 3/ Anybody who has done the change from the standard NG-6 to Jack's tapered one, please comment on the job that needs to be done. How long..., difficult, tricks,etc...? Jack has emailed his Word-doc with the instructions, but I'd like to hear experiences from more people around, since I'm not a builder and no real expert... But willing to learn. 4/Any other thoughts on what might cause my not straight tracking? I checked the brakes, no dragging brakes. On firsthand, wheel alignment seems fine as well. Hope all of the above is clear and that some of you want to share your experiences, Save Canard-flying to all of you, Regards, Bjorn PS: Jack if you read this post, thanks again for your email reply. I would like to have a maximum of "others" experience, that's why I question this group. You'll hear from me!
  15. Hi Cozybuilders-flyers, Lately I removed my Pedestal mounted "Airpath" compass (Aircraft Spruce 2003 p 345). Stupid as I am, I took a "magnetic screwdriver" to unfasten the 2 screws. Saw the compass do a few strange full turns...and since then, my compass sometimes indicates correct, but most of the time, indicates a false heading (sometimes 180°off) or is even turning around in circles! So it has become pretty useless.... Have a few questions regarding the above: 1/I think the compass needs re-magnetizing, is there a home-build way of doing this? Or does it need to be done by an instrument shop....if yes..., is it worth it or should I just buy a new one? 2/Has anybody of you one of these "non-TSO compasses"? Spruce p345 & Are you happy with them? 3/I plan to install a RAM mount for my Garmin 196...does a handheld and/or the RAM mount, interfere with the compass? Anybody who has experience with mounting GPS's close to compasses? Hope to get your usual help, Thanks, Cozyflyer Björn
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