Cozy1200

Bruce, Looks fantastic so far. I've got a couple more good photos from the Australian Canard Fly-in. If you see any particular photo from my website that you like, let me know. I'll get you the original.

Chris, Do you have room for another project? Sounds like a great clubhouse.

Yah, What Spod said. Ahh. Hang on, I was one of those builders!

I just uploaded some pics to my website. There's a couple good ones in there. http://www.cozy1200.com/geeklog/mediagallery/album.php?aid=16 or http://tinyurl.com/bgmkuy Also one of the photos is in Avweb's POTW. When I send photos in, I almost always make the top 5, but never the top prize. The top prize gets a hat. I've wanted one of those hats for couple years now. http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/1305-full.html enjoy.

My table is 40w x 36h x 9'L. I wouldn't want it any lower. AT times I think it would be nicer to be higher. I tend to get it in my back if I work at the level on a flat layup. My other smaller workbench for the Vice, Sander, Drillpress is at 40"H. That's a more comfortable height, but probably too high for the layup table. Now the reason for the 40" wide by 9' Long is economics. That tabletop can be made out of a single sheet of 4x8 plywood/hardboard with two joints. It's a comfortable size, but would need to be extended for working on the wing/canard. In an unexplained fit of plans submission, my table is pretty close to plans. It's built from inexpensive 1x8s with 2x4 legs, a MDF top protected by hardboard. For as light weight as it is, it's remarkably strong. I probably only have $150 in it. I had expected to build a tank of a table, but knowing it was only a temporary solution changed by mind.

Not to be cruel or anything, but Melbourne, Australia is currently starting a projected 4 days straight of 104F weather. It hasn't done that in something like 50 years.

Sorry, no spodgrog in in sight! Don't forget to mention that the person next to me (trying not to associate himself with me) is none other than Yair. It was a huge honour for him to attend. I'm pretty sure he gets the award for longest travel! Give me a couple more days and I'll get some pics on my site. And Yes, Wayne, I'll put Chris's cozy up there with the best. Stunning job. Thanks for the ride Chris. I lost count of how many flight Chris gave.

Beagle, Please enlighten us.

Oh ya... I completely forgot to mention... I've been builder for just over a year and that's the very first group of rivets I've driven! Take take that you RV builders!!!

Is it normal for nutes plate to be somewhat squashed? All 4 of mine appear to be slightly smashed. I ran a bolt into one and it went in without much problem. Four of these nutplates took me 2 hours to make! I was probably overly careful with laying it out and making it, but it's good practice.

Yep. love it. I read that somewhere else. The older I get the more interested I've become in etymology. Living in OZ with all it's old slang and also having to explain some of the US slang has certainly started some interesting conversations. Back on topic... My electric thermostat goes up to 35C or 95F. So that's where my hot box stays. Because so few OZ houses uses electric baseboard heat, it was very difficult to find a 220V thermostat. This one end up costing me $50. It's digital. That's nice, but when the batteries die every few months the lights go out. So you could use a thermostat inside the heat tent that controls something like a hair dryer. That should get the heat up to where you want. Check the amperage of the heat source and thermostat. It may not be rated for that much current, but that could be solved with a relay.

Last night I epoxied the plywood seatbelt attach points into the shoulder support. I've since discovered that Nat updated this to the 8.5" separation from about 10". One of the concerns from reading the archive is that the narrower measurement may cause the seat belts to rub your neck. For those using the newer dimension, I'd appreciate your feedback.

ahh... duh. Should have thought of that.

The file is available for download at the following: http://www.cozy1200.com/geeklog/filemgmt/viewcat.php?cid=1 or http://tinyurl.com/8j7xv7 I'm also going to turn it into a PDF for those without MS publisher. TMann, I'd suggest sending a comment to CSA for inclusion into the next newsletter.

Good on ya TMann. It's your call, but I can also host it on my website. Seeing that it's currently the only place to download the Cozy POH, having the LEZ would be nice as well. I also think about http://www.ez.org/downloads.htm when where to find a LEZ POH manual. Asking them to place a copy of at least a link would be nice.

I can't say I'm against anyone wanting to try something new to improve the bird AS LONG AS it's tested. That being said. In order to further make the canard more stall resistant, someone will have to stall it. Now you are putting the airframe at risk and would probably want to have a movable ballast design like Nat. IMHO, that's a lot of work for little benefit. Also it's bound to add weight. just my 5 cents. (I would have said 2 cents, but Australian's don't have a 1 cent piece).

Intriguing idea. I can't imagine pulling several feet off the roll. It'll stretch (distort) incredibly. That's the reason BID is so great for corners.

I like that. I may do that down the road. I'm hoping to squeeze another 1/2" on the outer side of each leg opening.

Crazy, I know I'm in the minority, but I still like the router technique. If you haven't seen it, check it out on my website. http://www.cozy1200.com/geeklog/article.php?story=RouterTemplate The excuse that it makes a mess is just non-sense. You're building a composite airplane, it's a messing process. You'll spend hours sanding glass, micro, and epoxy, so what's the big deal with a little mess? Detractors say it'll make you itchy. There's an easy cure for that; A HOT SOAPY SHOWER! Done, gone, no itch. Have you ever fiberglassed a house? It's about the same thing. I don't find it all that bad, but that's an individual thing. Second, lean against any composite part with bare arms and your arms will itch a little. That's just the nature of the business. If you've done any sanding, there will be glass dust around. Some say to follow the plans. The plan has you cut the foam to shape. Then glass and scissor trim within 1/2 inch of the foam. Then come back several hours later to knife trim. Or even reheat with a heat gun to cut. So this is the third time the shape is cut (First cut foam, second cut scissor trim, third cut knife trim). Compare this to the template process where you don't even have to scissor trim because it's oversized. You cut the templates once, then simply cut the bulkhead by using them as a guide. Now the more common method is to use the fein. If you're thinking ahead, you don't cut the foam to shape. After cured, use the fein to cut the oversized foam and glass all at once. This isn't that radically different than the router method. I use the fein to cut glass all the time. It does a fein job cutting straight lines if you use a straight edge (a rudimentary template). But it's not great for cutting around corners. So now cut it over sized and then sand it down. That works fine for an outside corner, but cutting the inside corners of the leg openings would be more difficult. So now you’re sanding shapes by hands using multiple methods. I find having the templates themselves are useful. Most people probably copy the M-Drawings to the foam. I instead copied them to the template. After it was cut, it was supper easy to trace the template onto the Foam. So the layout (copying) process still is only done once. Then after it's glassed I retraced it again onto the glass surface. So there's no lost energy laying out the templates. Cutting the templates is even easier. Good grief it's wood. I used MDF, it’s doesn’t get any easier to cut and sand. Certainly if I’m going to cut and sand something to shape, this is what I want to be working with. I’d loan my templates to you, but they’re in Australia and liable to be laid out upsidedown and backwards! To this day I still use the templates to look at the original layup. They are handy to have around the shop to use for fitting purposes or simply confirm that it was sized currently. Questions like, gee that hole doesn't look like it's in the right position, let's hold up the template for comparison. Yep that's right, let's overlay that to the M-Drawings. Looks ok-great. Someone said a slip of the router and you make a mess of your part. That’s same problem can occur if your not carful with the Fein. It comes down to knowing how to use the tool properly and what you’re comfortable using. I’ve used a router more than I thought I would. So far I have: -routed the bulkheads using templates. -Leveled the NACA foam. -routed the 1/16" depression around the landing brake, F22, & for LG bulkhead -rounded over bulkheads prior to glassing during ch7 -cut the channel for the Coax going to the Antenna My ultimate advice to anyone considering the technique is to do what you’re comfortable with. If you have used routers and templates in the past and like the process, then go for it. You’ll be happy with the results. If you don't like the idea, then skip it. It's just a technique. It's doesn't matter if you freehand cut it or use a CNC machine, most of the shapes are never seen. The inside edges of the IP and F-22 are the only ones that’ll be seen. I'm a carpenter’s son and was taught to build ever part to the best that your skill level will allow regardless if it'll be seen or not. I take pride in ever part. Granted this technique may be higher precision than needed, but early in the build YOU NEED CONFIDENCE. I took my bulkheads to the SAAA (EAA in OZ) meeting and impressed many of the old-timers. That builds confidence. BTW, study Nat's pictures closely at the end of the chapter. You CAN make the IP out of one piece of foam instead of two. There's a picture showing that he did it different than the plans.

I would agree. Try to use one piece. Sometimes using multiple pieces helps the peel-ply lay down better.

I've tried several things but with no real success. Light sanding seams to get rid of most of it, but it's still visible. One time I tried to fuse it the fibers with a light flame. I was hoping that it would melt it, making hard/brittle, then sand it away. That really didn't work at alll. I was too scared of melting the glass & foam. I don't remember who, but someone said if you cut your peel-ply on the bias (like bid; 45 degrees) then the problem goes away. I haven't tried it, but I probably will sometime.

Whether or not it's fine, it would bug me. You'll look right at that spot every time you inspect the layup. I had a line across my UNI that was probably just dirt from the rolling machine. A single line about 1" wide across the width of the glass. It landed squarely in the middle of the outside fuse wall. That layup was one of the finest yet, but has a visible line in it. Perfectly acceptable, but it'll bug me until it's covered with micro.

To summarize Marc's thoughts. The MAJORITY (51%) of the plane must be built for educational or enternainment purposes. It says nothing about being done by a single person. For example an EAA chapter of 20 guys could build a plane with each doing 5% percent of the work. John's wiki is starting to sound like a good idea. Marc's repeated posts of the same topics could fill it!

Merry Christmas all! Currently up from down under.

I've asked Jon to change my username to Cozy1200. Fits my website and serial number better. DmChaplin was an user login name that I've used for years, just doesn't make that great of a Alias.