Steve Innova

A good rule of thumb is that it generally costs about $100 and/or 5 hrs work to save 1 lb of weight. For example, those 5lbs saved by machining 7075 AL trunion pins -- easily $500 in material & labor. Or swiching to magnesium wheels for 1-2 lbs weight saving -- probably $200-300 price increase. I might save a pound or two on vacuum bagging my canard, but that'll take at least a couple more hrs and cost $20 more in disposable vac bag material. (I'll do it anyway to get a stronger, better bonded part).

For those of you who have or are planning on using the Infinity Retracts, you could swap out the heavy steel trunion pins with 7075 Aluminum pins. This would probably save about 7 lbs total. I talked to JD about it, and he was adamant that AL wouldn't be strong enough, you'd need to use Titanium. On the other hand, Paul Lee (http://www.abri.net/sq2000/11.html) flys an SQ2000 with copies of the Infinity Gear. His gear originally used 2024 AL pins for weight savings, but they eventually bent. He replaced them with machined 7075 AL pins and has had no problems since. I might eventually go this route if I get my own lathe some time in the future.

Vacuum bag some parts for minor weight savings. Avoid excessive use of micro.

Before everyone jumps on board the bandwagen to tell me to "build it per plans", I just want to say that I don't plan on adding ventral fins to my project. I am however interested in what the aerodynamic effects would be. Saf Zoom's comment about it needing to be aft the main wing is interesting. Assuming ventral fins could have any effect canard-type deep stall, would they need to be aft the main wing, or just aft of aircraft's center of lift, when in a deep stall configuration?

Now that Nat's plane has been sold, it would be interesting if the new owner could weigh it and report results...

I know that a properly built aircraft flying within correct weight & balance should not encounter a deep stall condition. That said... What would be the effect of adding ventral fins (similar to lear jet or the Diamond D-Jet) at the rear of the aircraft below the cowling? Diamond Aircraft's D-Jet uses them to prevent a deep stall condition. The idea is that in a deep stall, with the aircraft dropping rapidly at nose-high attitude, the ventral fins create enough lift to raise the tail, bringing the nose of the aircraft down and allowing normal recovery. Under normal flight conditions, the fins are aligned with the direction of flight and have minimal effect. Could this work to prevent a deep stall on a canard? I got the idea from a Q&A on Diamond's website: http://www.diamondaircraft.com/enewsletter/djet/2007_09_25/djet_flyer.pdf

The canard is sold.

Sold, several months ago.

LHendrick I have a set of plans for sale. $250. (Some of the templates have been used, so you you'll need to buy a replacement set of templates "M drawings" from Aircraft Spruce. That costs $50. Here is the link: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/neworderform.php?cmd=add&p=01-00570&q=1 I also am selling a Cozy MkIV fuselage. I can offer it for a very competitive price, much less than the cost of the material you would use to build it. You'll also save a lot of time. Contact me by private message if you're interested, and I'll send you pictures.

Remember, the foam we use for the wings has some signficant variability in density. This is more apparent on the wings which have a lot more foam, but still. Also, if you did a good job pressing down the the spar cap tape, or made your spar depressions slightly deeper than normal, that could account for the extra material = extra weight.

Weigh your spar cap tape (I think it's measured by sq. yrd, check) and compare it to the wieght specified in plans. That will tell you if your particular tape had more or less material.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the bottom spar-cap runs full length, where will the elevator counterweights go? Me thinks you're going to have to cut two 1" wide slots into that bottom spar cap at the ends.

Sprint - I've built 2 gullwing doors for my modified cozy mk IV. It's somewhat difficult and takes some experimenting. I decided to scrap the first door (and turtleback) b/c I thought it was too heavy. The next time I used carbon fiber and am happier with the results. I've posted some pictures on this forum. Where are you located? Steve

I don't know if you've already purchased them, but I have the strake leading edges from Featherlight, available for sale. Let me know. Steve

No longer for sale.

This is certainly a fun way to spend time and money, but you'll save a lot of both by paying Todd's Canopies to do it for you. I figured I could try this method since I was building an off-size canopy. The MDF for the forms cost around $80 (the first set wasn't right), the plunge bit for the router another $18. The two gas burners (and the extra one to replace the one that caught on fire) were another $25 each. Then the propane tank, hose attachments, etc... at least $50. Probably $100 to build the 4'x8'x4' oven, out of wood & insulation foam. $20 for the oven thermometers to track temps... So that's only about $350 so far, now for the expensive stuff... I bought two sheets of 1/8" plexiglass, figured I'd learn on the cheap stuff, then move up to 3/16". Layed the plexiglass over the MDF form, layed the other MDF sheet on-top, bolted it down onto the oven, fired up the burners. About 20 minutes in, the sheet cracked where the bolts held it down. (Plexiglass expands a lot as it heats to 275 degrees. You need some type of "floating" clamp system". About $50 more in clamping attachments later, I tried again. This time I got a good bubble, but as the bubble got to about 18" in depth, the air would escape. I'd have to re-clamp the whole thing together, try again... Did this several times before un-even temps in the oven caused distortions in the bubble shape. I'd sunk more than $500 in this venture and was pretty sure it would take another 5 or six tries to get it right, at $50 a pop for the plexiglass, and who knows how much more to upgrade the oven. Called Todd's Canopies and he quoted me $425 for exactly what I wanted, plus shipping. Wish I'd done that from the start. BTW -- he's spent years perfecting the technique. He rebuilt his oven to accomodate the size of my canopy request. Uses quartz heat lamps the works. I usually encourage people to try it themselves, but in this case, don't waste your time and money -- get it done right.

Note the blended winglets and "scimitar" raked winglet tips!

Looks great. Really like the tandum seating with the rear passenger above the pilot for better forward visibility!

I can make much cleaner lenthwise cuts on UNI using the circular (pizza) cutter than with the dritz sissors or any other echnique.

Please make a new thread for your off-topic, unrelated arguement. >>>> Could an administrator please remove these unrelated posts to another part of the site, as they detract from my original advertisement and could confuse readers into thinking that this canard was somehow involved in the above referenced accident (which it was not). For any further readers: This post is to inform the canard community that I have a completed Canard for sale. This canard has nothing to do with the aircraft accident referenced above, it was built several years ago by a builder in New York, and was never installed in an aircraft. Thanks. Steve

Mr. Johnson I called your number but no answer. Can you please send me an email stevehale_email AT yahoo.com. Thanks, Steve

Because the plans are first edition, the buyer would need to update them to the 3rd edition (current) by going through each of the newsletters to make corrections. Not a big deal, but it'll take a couple hrs. The included "extras" (newsletters) are available for free online. I doubt you'll find anyone willing to pay full price if they have to do extra work. By offering them at a reasonable discount now, you won't need to wait 6 months with no interest before cutting the price.

Definitely better...

Looks ugly to me...

Do yourself a big favor, and spend $25 on a roll of 36 or 40 grit sandpaper. (sandpaper.com). Much cheaper than individual sheets, comes adhesive backed. Just unroll 7", cut it off, stick in on your board. When you want to remove it, heat it for a couple seconds with the heat gun and peel it off easy.