Jon Matcho

Marc, on the topic of support, let's not forget this particular forum which some prefer over (or in addition to) other sources of support. Here's an analogy that may help you decide: A Long EZ is to a motorcycle as a Cozy Mark IV is to a sports car. Any canard brand vehicle is welcome here!

My deal is that the prior owners of my house added a large bathroom on top of the garage for minimal cost. The result is a poorly insulated bathroom that freezes every year, which would only benefit from having a warmable garage underneath. The other side effect from this "addition" is that 2 lolly columns were added inside the garage to support the added weight. I could use kerosene and whatnot, but I just don't want to deal with refillable tanks, fuel, and anything less than 99% burn-efficiency. So there. I do like the idea of the radiant heater though, paired with a curing tent as Remi pointed out. I may do that as well, or just pay the piper.

NJ/PSE&G electric fluctuates, somewhere between $0.10 and $0.13/kWh. Natural gas is similar to propane as far as I can tell, amounting to $1.15/therm which amounts to ~$0.23/hour @ 20,000 BTUs. Running all month, which I may need to in order to keep my garage pipes happy, will cost me $171 -- worth every penny considering the imaginable consequences (see picture). I just purchased a Reddy Garage Heater GN30T from Amazon w/blower for $170 + $46 ... $215 and free shipping. Time I got off the dime and moving.

I was introduced to them when building RC models, so you can try hobby stores. There's always Google, which gave me this one: http://www.decomp.com/cuttools/perma.htm

Interesting timing... just met a friend after this post who had just put in a natural gas radiant heater w/blower, which worked very well for him. He leaves on unattended quite a bit. I think the heater Len pointed out is best for my needs: http://www.heatershop.com/garage_heater_gn30t.html I tried to use an unvented+inefficient propane heater last winter, but after 15' all the O2 was practically gone (and the heater wouldn't run well once that happened). This was in my very drafty garage at the time. Someone else told me that the indicator for healthy air is not so much CO, but oxygen. Apparently you can have BOTH low CO and O2 levels, which a CO detector will not alert you to.

Anyone know of a solid means to heat their freezing shops to a toasty 75+ degs F while being efficient and safe? So far I'm thinking about getting a radiant propane heater, possibly one from here: http://www.heatershop.com/propane_radiant_heaters.html

Interesting choice of words, and made me wonder why I concur with referring to it as such. Al, are these two entities (AeroCad, Inc. and AeroCad2 LLC) related to one another legally? Specifically, I wonder if you would be better off renaming your new company as Molded Composite Canard Parts, Inc? I say this because it appears that Jeff has isolated his goodwill/property and created another company that you are no part of. If that's the case, why keep the names so similar that most everyone is left thoroughly confused? Of course I may be missing something. In any event, congratulations on your acquisition and best of luck!

I suppose they are... see this thread for a picture I took of Jack doing a high speed flyby at Rough River 2004.

Wow Jeff... you chose an interesting thread to dig up from the dead. In the year that has passed, I've since decided to purchase AeroCanard SB/FG plans AND have built AeroCanard FG-sized bulkheads!

From the recently updated www.aerocad.com Web site, I gather that Al Aldrich is the new owner/manager of the AeroCanard molds. His info., as on the Web site is: Al Aldrich 14026 Airport Rd. Bowling Green, MO 63334 (573) 324-3300 Al@aerocad.com Also, I think that AeroCad2 is Jeff's business, which owns the plans, and that AeroCad is Al's business, which owns the molds.

Here's a slightly different spin on this... I am right-handed for joystick flying, but write with my left. I can adapt to the Cozy (stick in left hand), but have been thinking to design and install a single center stick! You guys got me wondering again which way to go. It is my plane, and should be all about me, but I can't help but recognize the cons: Design & development work Center stick may become annoying to passenger It's a unique one-off, perhaps not readily sold when I'm 90 years old The Velocity's center keel makes for a much more pronounced divider between pilot and passenger. The Cozy, on the other hand, is more like a couch. What do you think about converting the Cozy to use a single center stick? Anyone have an opinion? Why not build a Cozy or AeroCanard then? Or, if you want a Velocity kit, download Chapter 16 (Control System) for the AeroCanard to see whether you might be able to carry the dual side stick design into a Velocity kit.

I guess I did it per plans then. Guess what? That's the same text as in the Cozy plans. Manually cut by hand, or better yet, invest in the Fein Multimaster tool. I thought so, and half of me still thinks so, but my tool-oriented friend tells me that a sabre saw is more like a "Milwaukee Sawzall" -- certainly not something I'd use to build with.

The holes are for the control rods, and you don't need to cut them in chapter 4, but you can. I am holding off from cutting them since they're not required for assembly, and I plan to cut the holes where they need to be when I get there (to account for slight adjustments). Here's the order that I did it: Make the corner and edge cuts. Glass the bulkhead per plans. Make the map pocket cut with the Fein brand cutting tool (get this immediately if you don't already have it)

My shop is my former 2-car garage (working on that 2nd car space...), and I know a handful of others setup like this. Unless you have a vacuum effect sucking all the "stuff" into your house, my thought is that this setup is preferred. The reason being is that a trip to/from the shop takes only seconds, with an easy clean-up by stopping off at the "mud room" between the garage and living area. Only complaint is that I can't fit my cars in there. I suppose I could say the "ideal" setup would be to have a 4-car detached garage accessible via a covered walkway from my back porch.

Curt, thank you once again for another great addition to the community!

I just Googled "lycoming 360 engine weight" and low and behold the 2nd link was to Marc Zeitlin's 2004 Oshkosh presentation (the FAQ section). In that FAQ, Marc states: I'm assuming the unit of measure for "255 to 265" is pounds and not kilograms (sorry Marc, couldn't pass up the rare opportunity to throw one back at you), so given that, even the Bombardier V-220 is extremely over weight at 419 pounds dry. Here's what AVweb had to say: I'm not actually that surprised about the economy. You can get all the economy you want provided you can add 160 lbs to the engine. Back to the Jabiru 5100... here's a link the company site with info. on the 5100 installed in a RV-6: http://www.jabiru.net.au/engines/8cylin.html With its 8 cylinders it's a longer engine than a Lycoming, requiring a custom cowl (no biggie), but possibly additional balast in the nose.

My wife likes that one too.

Wil, thanks for the update, and that's all great news. Jeff has/is taking on a lot in his efforts to make the plans electronic. I look forward to the result. Congratulations! I'm glad to have another AeroCanard builder "out there" -- I was told I was the first/only plans-only AeroCanard FG builder. It's sometimes hard to get a hold of Jeff, but once you I have found I get answers to all my questions. The other thing to be comfortable about is that the AeroCanard FG could just as well be called the Cozy Mark IV+ (but Spruce/Nat won't allow that). It's the exact same building techniques, and some chapters are identical with the exception of AeroCanard replaced wherever Cozy was. I see you have a garage, table, and shopvac -- there's no doubt in my mind you'll be fine. I can set you up with Web space at the Canard Zone (requires Microsoft FrontPage) if you'd like. I'll look forward to bouncing questions/ideas around w/you. Welcome AeroCanard FG builder!

Consider this to be one end of the modifications spectrum -- a place we'll never go (or should even consider). On the other end of the same spectrum, we have modifications which are approachable and have actually been flown. While it's very interesting to me to think of a 6-place Cozy, changing the shape of the wing/strake/canard, and other things, I find much more comfort (and likelihood of success) in the area between "build 100% per plans" and "pragmatic and possible modifications". I often check myself, and find that I need to pull myself back to the per-plans side, as I do want to finish this thing on the short side of my mid-40s. (ouch)

I'm not an aerodynamicist, but I find this very interesting. Assuming you have the aeronautical skills and knowledge, then by all means you are certainly free to pursue such improvements. However, unless you actually have a team like that of Scaled Composites', you're really talking about adding several years to the build-time of your project. That shouldn't discourage you, but something to keep in mind as you consider the scope of your modifications.

Check out this 5+ page thread for everything you wanted to know about aerobatics in canard aircraft. You can do rolls in a Cozy in X-Plane, FWIW.

Did you know that you can search for builders by their plane type of interest? For example, it is possible to search for all members that have Long-EZ selected as their plane. To do this, perform the following steps (you must be logged in): Click on the Members tab in the main menu. At the top of the list that appears, on the right side, click the 'More Search Options' button. The 'Advanced Filter Options' form will appear. Here you may specify a number of criteria for searching the member list: Use the Plane field to get members who have selected a particular project or plane type. Use the Location field to get members for a location. You'll have to use some creative searching as the Location field is free-form and up to the member for how to fill out (if they even chose to do so). Specify any other options you like and press the 'Apply Filters' button to see the results. You can visit the member profiles that appear by clicking on member names.

I flew it around last night quite a bit and was very impressed with how much better it flew, even over your VariEze model. Please keep up the great work when you have time. We'll wait patiently for improvements as you move along. Thank you for a great model! BTW, are you building a Cozy?

Not too shabby -- that will do fine. I'm thinking of doing a single center stick w/my own plane for the same reasons, as well as writing w/my left hand and being right-handed for everything else. I'd be just a bit wary of that white cocoon your fiancee will eventually put herself into, where some have experienced the metamorphasis from fiancee-to-wife to be quite startling.

Len, what are you using to control flight with? Anything but a joystick will surely be difficult. I'm just about ready to upgrade, but am wondering whether to go with a left- or right-handed version (big decision). Just for kicks I attached a pick of Curt Boyll's VariEze model (of www.vigilanceaero.com) and a Cozy Mark IV as it transforms into a lawn dart (I had to release controls in order to jump out of the plane to take the picture ). I can assure you that the feeling of flying a canard for real is incredibly easy and fluid. I was with Marc when he gave a check-out ride to Steve Brooks, and Steve was beside himself over how well Marc's Cozy flew and handled in the air. He just couldn't get over it.