Nathan Gifford

Its nicknamed the Cozy V (vaporware). A lot of people have been talking about it, but I would think the limited number of builders who would be willing to build one would mean that it would likely be certified a/c. The closest a/c to that would be the 540EZ since it was stretched 12" to accomodate the 540 powerplant. Rear seat leg room is incredible (the a/c was stretched 12" behind the front seats. However, I don't think the builder envisions adding another passenger station orobably for cg reasons. Bear in mind that building a Defiant twin takes more than twice what building a Cozy does. There would probably be different materials too (the 540EZ uses some carbon fiber) which require significantly better skills. Keep asking the questions, sometimes, with time, the answers change...

Possibly, but it is just as likely that he either did not see these posts or wasn't interested in replying on this subject again. Silence in plane building should not be confused with concurrance. Climb performance on Velos and Cozys is pretty darn good as is. A number of flyers I have talked to do not go for all the climb performance their ships can deliver since they get a pretty brisk ascent anyway. They opt for being able to look over the nose. On descents, belly board out and both rudders deployed allows a lot of altitude loss. I realize that what you are attempting to do is get a better rate of climb without having a nose high atttitude. Those kinds of control changes to Velos or anything else, do not come free. The added weight, complexity, and build time may not be worth it on a Velo or Cozy. On a different plane, maybe???

It also complicates construction quite a bit. The other problem is that you will need higher nose position. Not a problem for a tractor aircraft since the prop is in the front. On pushers the prop is moved closer to the runway...not what you would want. Another thing that will shorten takeoff roll is a constant speed propellor.

Fein has started selling the tools via TV now. Some of the deals they have are pretty darn good.

Space in the engine area for one. A lot went into the 540EZ...it wasn't just stretched and a larger powerplant installed...

Brand new, in original box, pair of Cleveland wheels and brakes. Cleveland p/n 199-152 suitable for Cozy, LongEZ, or RV. Comes with everything in box including registration card. $700 plus shipping. Wicks and Aircraft Spruce list this item for over $800. If interested PM contact me here or call 985.542.6798. Pictures of the equipment can be at EZ.org or follow this weblink Cleveland wheels & brakes

There is no reason to look at the Innodyn until units are delivered and pilots report the performance. Since it is really based on the the Solar T62 turbine, it is a little hard to get excited about it. Other engines show much more promise: Mistral, Delta Hawk, etc. Some of these are already delivering powerplants.

Its been in Barnstormers for a while. I wonder why it hasn't sold...

Looks like a day only VFR ship. I would have problems spending that much over the internet without inspecting and flying the machine first. Depending on what you found after inspection it might not be bad. I did see one of these at RR. It look a lot better than the photos of this machine. The owner of that plane was smiling ear-to-ear because how cheap it was to fly and the quickness of his ship. Judging from the photos of this machine there still are a few extra knots available.

Link does not work.

One other consideration for you and your wife is whether one day you will need 3 or 4 seats. I do know of people who started out building a two-seater and then had to start a 4.

The DIY thing is a pretty big deal. Even if you you have the skills to use one in a car, that really on equates to getting the engine to run as well as it does in car. Aircraft are different birds since reliability is paramount. There are several guys (and maybe some gals) posts that would be good to review. RV6guy is one for sure. One of the important issues to review on MS is consistent testing. The fact that they are used in hotrods certainly speaks well of their performance, properly configured. However, since components may change and there is little, if any, testing it would be very easy for a tempermental unit to be installed. That would be a bummer on twin, worse on an SE. I would strongly recommend talking to aviation types over the issues affecting MS use in aircraft use (I believe it has been done). No one wants you project to fail ever, since it affects the rest of us too.

You can also use MIG wire available at most hardware stores.

I think most people believe the Megasquirt is really only for the experts as far as aviation goes. Since I do not want to misquote people I will advise to you to search the archives here and at CanardAviation.com. The concerns are that Megasquirt is just fine in street applications. However, because there are so many changes in this product, the somewhat limited support, and some pretty good alternatives the advice has been to avoid this in aviation applications.

Like Marc says it would be a substantial piece of work and not likely that the Velocity folks would want you to do it. If you are really up for a twin, I would try to locate plans for the Defiant. The plans are not made anymore (or are they on the Terf CD short of the templates). Plans do appear on eBay, but they are rare. The Defiant is typically powered by O-320 engines but it was always designed to be a twin and one that the Rutans still use as a workhorse. It is a plans a/c, meaning there are very few manufactured parts like the Velocity. Also it will require a lot more hours to build than a single engine aircraft. Reports I have heard about typically suggest that a minimum of twice what a LongEZ needs.

Just a couple of hours left on plans set 1084. When I registered my plans Aircraft Spruce did not charge a transfer fee. Anyway the url is Cozy MKIV Plans 1084

The problem with using metal propellors is the turbulance behind the EZ. Rutan thought years ago that this turbulance would cause blade failure if the blades were metal and not wood.

Well he had been developing one on a Defiant but he has put that on hold for some reason. I hope it wasn't abandoned.

I think I had read somewhere about that pin failing. From other lists there is at least the suggestion that newer gear has redesigned this point of failure to hopefully prevent it in the future.

Great story. I will keep it very much in mind when I do the spars...

I am just wondering have you ever examined EZ engine hard points? The first VariEzes have been around for decades and all the descendants have used the same system. Are you suggesting or suspicious that there is a flaw in composite aircraft hardpoints and what do you base this on? If there is there are plenty of us who would like to make those corrections before we get too far into the build process. Chrissi, as you have shown how common this mount is, is there any difference between this pusher system vs. a tractor system?

Great! But whose toes are those (bottom of the photo)?

If you succeed there will be a lot of questions how you did it. By succeed, I mean one that flies without the airframe failing or the paint flaking off.

I'm not sure what a 320 might get at altitude. Dust is going to use a Conti at 25Kft and if I recall correctly, believe he will get a TAS of around 300. However, there are lot of issues with doing this, not withstanding the technical ones. One of the very important things you will need to do is build a really good O2 system with backups. At 25Kft you cannot use cannulas. Also you will need to develop procedures to get you back to a safe altitude should your O2 system fail. Pressurizing a Cozy would be quite a task. On the other hand using bleed air off the turbo's compressor for cabin heat is not.

One builder suggested 2" SS. Good/bad??