Jon Matcho

On 12/24/2021 at 7:03 PM, Joebejammin said:

I'm fortunate enough to be graduating this spring without any debt to speak of, and as a result would like to own my own canard aircraft come summer.

Congratulations, and a belated welcome to the forum.

Projects and used planes are out there, as you may have already seen on Kent's "Sales I've Seen" thread here. 

Ask questions, share pictures, and keep an open mind. Some prefer Long-EZs over VariEzes, and since you've got a Dragonfly on your list, put Quickies on your list as well. Check out our sister site at www.quickheads.com for Quickie info.

Looks like the main gear wasn’t set and collapsed. New prop and engine tear down will cost a few dollars.

On 10/25/2021 at 10:51 AM, Quinton O said:

Had to create a new account because sign-in with Facebook doesn't seem to work anymore. 

I thought I recognized "Quinton O" (not many of those names around) 🙂 Thanks for reporting it, I'll look into that and see if I can merge your two accounts.

This topic came up elsewhere and an Internet search brought me back here.

On 2/6/2008 at 3:53 PM, MoneySink said:

The CG's Canopy is FHC, I wonder if they used Uli's plan.

They might have been inspired, but my bet is that they redesigned every single thing to do with a FHC. 

1 hour ago, Marc Zeitlin said:

If David Hanson has touched it, stay as far away from it as humanly possible.

This reads as a personal issue. Please provide some basis.

Quote

(from CP 11 page 7, see attached image)

Add these instructions to the end of Step 8 (on Page 8-7): Before mounting the fuel tanks, round the edge of the wing fitting plates and layup a three-inch strip of UND wrapped twice around the centersection spar as shown. This provides a glass surface for the cowling lip layup (see Section IIA), stiffens the spar end, and safeties the wing fitting screws.

@spmg76013 I now see why you're concerned. Crossing my mind was the following:

1. Remove the fittings, clean-up, and treat with alodine or another coating.
2. Re-install.
3. Layup a modified UNI schedule, still two 3" wide plies, but from the top of the tank, around the spar, to the bottom of the tank (tapering the top layup).

I'd want an opinion on that from someone else though, and regardless I just might do exactly what you're planning to do. You have easy access to get in that area NOW so why not put your mind at ease? Doesn't look like a crazy amount of work, but I feel your pain!

Then again, I doubt anyone who has treated these wing fittings has cut the tanks open after effectively negating the 55" x 3" UNI wrap!

On 10/17/2021 at 3:21 PM, spmg76013 said:

Looks like I'll be cutting into my fuel tanks and cowl flange to install that layup, when I remove my wing attach fittings.

I'd be looking for ways to avoid that, but I would weigh against the importance of those 2 plys of UNI which I have no idea what they're for.

Your head is clearly in the right area though, erring on the side of caution, but damn... cutting into your fuel tanks. It may not be that bad after all if the tanks are not yet sealed.

I stumbled upon this while browsing Facebook Marketplace (like Craigslist) today. Here's a link.

Velocity SE FG $35,000

Thanks for that... we won't be seeing much E-Z Poxy being used much in that case.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Aircraft Spruce (and I assume many others) often need to add a "hazmat" charge. For example, note this for the 287 Slow hardener from ACS (which does not apply to the 335 system's slow hardener: Important Shipping Information- H287S Hardener can be shipped UPS ground only. A $25 hazardous fee, and a $45 box fee applies (per quart). Can also be shipped truck collect.

Because of that I am moving to Pro-Set. I also just found that the slow hardener for the Pro-Set 125/229 system is more tolerant to slight mixing variations than their fast hardener. I suspect that's true for other epoxy systems as well, but is another reason to like slow hardeners. However, a case for slow hardeners is that I have seen the Tg temperatures being better with slow hardeners than fast for room temperature cures (maybe 10 degrees F). As long as your plane is painted white you'll be fine in all cases.

20 minutes ago, willflyformoney said:

I was going to make an epoxy order from Spruce and they no longer carry the 87 hardener, when I called they said they no longer manufacture it. Does anyone know where I could get some 87? If not, what are the alternatives? I've been working with 87 and would rather not use 83 with half the setting time.

It looks like a hard to find epoxy system. Here's the manufacturer site if you want to track an answer down from there: https://www.epoxi.com/other-brands 

I dislike working with fast hardeners as well. I would seek MGS 287 or Pro-Set as I regard them as the best available (IMO, FWIW). Expensive, but when you look at how much you'll be spending overall epoxy is not a big cost. Beyond that someone may speak up about Aeropoxy. I have some of that as well, just because, but don't use it.

@Kent Ashton and @jridge allow me to open up the Downloads section for user-provided content. That's the best place for files like these as opposed to sprinkled in throughout various topics and threads. Once I do that you should be able to upload here just fine Jeff.

Thanks Marc, disassembly was implied with my "...then reinstall" mention. 

If I pulled the corroded part in your pic just above, at that point I'd just use it as a template to make a brand new part. 

There's a ton of information in that AC. I just learned of "Filiform corrosion", which may be on the flat plates.

The aluminum around the screws appears corroded and needs special attention (is the white stuff around the screws oxidized aluminum?). Until they're removed you won't know the extent of the problem. The holes should be cleaned up as well regardless.

Where the parts appear to be very salvageable (as is the case from the pics IMHO), I would clean and sand down to 400 grit, apply a conversion coating, then reinstall.

I have no idea how hard that is to do for VariEze wing fittings.

3 minutes ago, Kent Ashton said:

AFAIK we do not have Varieze plans on this site.

Not yet. I have VariEze plans intended for Open-EZ land. The pics in that link are scaled to 8"x10", and so I anticipate the scans of the plans I have will be higher quality. Still, thanks -- I'll save for comparison.

On 9/22/2021 at 12:09 PM, Sevo said:

I can email pictures and videos of the work done. 

Why not post them here so we can all take a look?

You can get one of these done if you make it your primary (only?) hobby and have the support of everyone around you not seeing as much of you as they had before.  

I moved this thread to the Cozy sub-forum. Better late than never.

Here's one with the current hype: https://lilium.com/

I just skimmed through this entire thread. It all brings me back to the basics... just build a good and solid version of something that's already out there. Improve it for creature comforts, but this thread should serve as a good warning for anyone thinking to color far outside the lines. 

Welcome to the addiction... Chances are it's 90% complete and 90% to go. 🙂 Airframe, engine, avionics, paint and finishing... all add up to 289.1% 😉

For those interested, this pristine kit will soon be for sale and ready to ship. I need to inventory the parts, take current pictures, price, and crate for transportation.

It does not have the LS1 carbon spar, but you can build a fiberglass equivalent known as the “Waddelow canard” (named after the first person that took that route).

I have a finished Tri-Q200 I am restoring, and then a Cozy Mark IV to complete. I’d keep it as another project if I had the space, but I no longer want to have space for 3rd priority items. 🙂

6 minutes ago, Kent Ashton said:

I recall the Aerocomposites guys saying that the S-glass used in the strut is somewhat controlled due to military applications.

That sounds like a bit of salesmanship. Maybe it’s in high demand. It’s also used for windmill blades. It can be found to purchase, but that’s beside the point for me. A builder would be on their own to come up with something that works here.

9 minutes ago, Kent Ashton said:

it'd be easier to get a part-time job bagging groceries and earn the money to buy the strut from Aerocomposites.  🙂

Ha, definitely!

No, the Long/Open-EZ landing gear cannot be made with foam (it’s entirely fiberglass). The construction method is complex and is not described in the plans, and needs to be purchased from a vendor (along with the nose gear strut): https://aerocomposites.aero/the-hanger-price-lists/#Long_EZ

1 hour ago, zolotiyeruki said:

One feature I've seen on other fora that I don't see here is a link to the first unread post of each thread.

Yes! That was once available here, but was a casualty of a software upgrade. I'll look for an option to make that happen.

In the meantime, try selecting the Forum menu, then New Posts sub-menu to bring you here: https://www.canardzone.com/discover/7/

18 hours ago, Voidhawk9 said:

For me, I just keep an eye on the New Posts. There isn't too much new content in general, so I keep up with content that way exclusively.

A top priority will continue to be a click away from seeing the new posts stream. There isn't much content at times, so everyone, stop being so shy! 😉

10 hours ago, jridge said:

How about pulling in content from the now apparently defunct Canard Aviation and Canard Community Forums.

I had offered and tried to do that for years, but was met time after time with rejection. Unfortunately the better of those two forums appears to have failed and the data may be no more. I am certainly open to that if it's even possible.0

2 hours ago, Crspy said:

Not sure what knobs can be turned, but the ads on mobile are pretty obnoxious

There's a two-part answer for that:

1) Easy = just login to the forum and ads go away.

2) Requires work = I would love to replace the Google ads with proper aviation-related sponsors, but that's for another day. Until then, the few $ received from the Google ads helps keep at least 1 of the lights on.

What else?

Hello everyone,

In order to keep current with the latest capabilities for the forum, I am planning to upgrade from version 4.4 to version 4.6.6 of the forum software. Version 4.5 introduced major changes 1 year ago, and the software is now mature and stable. Benefits include a refined user interface, and improved means to manage all of this stuff (which I will most appreciate).

In addition, I am looking to improve the overall structure of the site to simplify its presentation and navigation. Mainly, this will be the top menu system, but may also include refinement to the forum/sub-forum structure. We have a lot of sub-forums here, and sometimes I get confused as to where I should post something. 

I am asking for input and comments from anyone that would help make the Canard Zone a better place for building and flying homebuilt canard aircraft. What do you want to see new or improved at the Canard Zone?

Jon

On 9/18/2021 at 1:00 PM, slk23 said:

I think the context was clear.

It wasn't entirely clear to me at least. Sure, the context included filler but nothing was as clear as this for example: Do not use the 635 Thin Epoxy Resin System from uscomposites.com for anything structural.

With that said, I would imagine this 635 system would be much better than Bondo for filling. Purists might want for only an "approved" epoxy system, but the only at-risk item here would be paint falling off.