Waiter

Welcome to the forum, and congrads on your new EZ. Follow the plans. (You Do have the plans, don't you?) There are many EZ's out there with the O-320, and several prop makers who can supply a two bladed for the EZ. The original plans call for 5x5. However many builders are putting a smaller tire on the mains. This makes for smaller wheel pants and a small reduction in drag. Waiter

The argument of not having fuel in the cockpit is not valid. The only thing that keeps fuel from the cockipit are one fiberglass bulkhead (Strake and fuselage side) Also, if you follow the plans sump blister configuration, then you already have the fuel lines in the cockpit. Running that aluminum tube up to the front seat and putting in a valve adds insignificant risk. Putting the valve on the firewall then adding linkages to operate the valve from the cockpit adds additional failure modes (Ask John Denver about this) If your landings (impact) are hard enough to break the fuel line (aluminum tube) or cause the valve body to rupture, I'd be willing to bet that the strakes are no longer on the plane, so its a mute point. :sad: Stick with the plans and use a good quality valve. A good source, check with aircraft grave yards and get a real fuel valve. put new O-rings in it and you'll be good to go. Waiter

The word "Dynafocal" comes from the phrase Dynamically Focused. The angle of the motor mounts points toward the center of mass of the engine, and theroetically the focal point of any vibration. Personally, I like the Conical better, the mount rubbers are cheaper, and unless you have labratory instrumentation connected, I seriously doubt you could detect any difference between the two styles. The Conical mount is lighter and you'll have a little more room to work with around the firewall. Waiter

On the three blade, your screwed! I one position, you'll hit one blade very heavy, in the other position, you'll get two blades, but not as bad. With #1 TDC I have one blade straight up and two blades down. Waiter

10-4 is great for hand propping. 7 - 2 will give you the minimum exhaust inpingment on the prop Set your crank at #1 TDC, then, viewed from behind, the prop should be at 7 - 2. Waiter

With #1 TDC If you hand prop, 10-4 (looking from rear) If you don't hand prop, 7-2 will give you almost no impact from exhaust. Waiter

Use larger extrusions for the engine mount. the difference between conical and dynafocal is the way the engine mounts. you will need to have the engine in hand before you order your mount as they are not interchangable. You'll find the conical on older models. no significant difference in accessories between 235 and 320. Waiter

The little boxers won't do the job. You need volumn and pressure. This is my first version: http://www.iflyez.com/Placards.shtml and you can read about my latest version. http://www.iflyez.com/LongEZ_Retrofit_JAN_08.shtml Waiter

goto my web site: http://www.iflyez.com/Placards.shtml Scroll down near the bottom. There is a scanned copy of the Pilots Operating Handbook. Waiter

If you've even had a passing thought of ever installing Infinity retracts, now is a good time to add the additional layups in the outer portion of the CS. Waiter

Just got off the phone with JD; A quick review: JD reiterated that he has never seen this pin fail like this, He's seen them bent, but never broken. This agrees with everyone who has looked at the pin, this failure should not have happened. It appears as if the pin may have had a defect in it. There is a small nick /notch at about 45 degree from the original roll pin hole. This appears the be where the pin started to fail. a close examination reviels the fracture line starting at this nick, extending through the roll pin hole, and continuing. As Phil observed, this line is perpenducular to the angle of the side brace and the stress it would induce. Add a couple "Very Hard" landings that may have started the fracture, then it was just a matter of time before the pin completely failed. The Hard landing happened very early on, just as I was returning the plane to service. I told JD that if I had landed the plane this hard with the standard bow gear, I know I would have hit the prop. :eek: I discussed my repair strategy with JD, I told him that I have complete trust and confidence in the gear and will continue to support him. However, I didn't have confidence in the pin, as long as it used a roll pin for retention. We discussed the repair procedure, simply clean the existing hole and ream it oversize, then make and press fit a new pin in place. The roll pin will be relocated to the end of the pin, rather than go through the middle. JD offered several other repair options, but ultimately agreed that a new "Custom Pressed in" pin was a viable repair. I'll apply this repair procedure to both gear legs. Waiter

Larry; Nice artwork, Looks like the real thing (except for the three holes) Waiter

I just talked to the machinest; After the existing hole is cleaned up and reamed (it is slightly elongated now), we'll make the new pin to press fit it into the new oversized hole. We estimate it will be about .005 larger than it is now. The new pin will be exactly like the old one, except for oversize and also, no roll pin hole in the middle of the press fit. Instead, we'll put a roll pin at the very end where the pin protrudes out the back. This will be a last ditch effort to retain the pin incase it ever elongates again. (This will be a preflight item, make sure the pin is OK and still tight in the hole) The press fit will be responsible to hold the pin in, not the roll pin. The roll pin is there simple as a last ditch effort to keep the pin from sliding out in case it ever becomes loose. *********************************** I took the other strut off the plane. The pin on this one looks OK, but we're going to press it out and replace it with a new pin so there won't be a roll pin hole in this one either. While disassembling the good strut, I noticed two items: 1) The foot on the outer guide tube was loose. and 2) The inner guide tube had a small amount of twist in it. The groove has a slight twist and was binding slightly in the outer tube. THis isn't a big deal as I'm replacing the inner guide tube with steel tubes that we are making. AS FOR THE FOOT - As per JDs instructions (a couple years ago), I did drill out the three retaining allen screws and installed the AN3 bolts. These bolts were the only thing holding the foot onto the tube. The foot appears to be glued in place. WHen I cleaned all the adhesive, the foot was a very loose fit on the tube I showed this to the achinest, he's going to weld the foot directly on the tube. (They're both made of steel). He'll cut a small grove in the bottom of the foot and also a groove in the tube, he'll then weld the tube to the foot and the groove will be filled in with the weld. This will happed on the bottom of the foot, not the top. Waiter

A darn good heater :-) http://www.iflyez.com/oil_heat.shtml The link above i my original heat system. My new heater is installed under the rear seat thigh support. You can read about some of it here: http://www.iflyez.com/LongEZ_Retrofit_JAN_08.shtml Waiter

I'm using the original axels, this is a first generation gear set. We havn't removed the broken pin yet. Wanted the machinest to look at it. The portion that broke, the hole is slightly elongated. the pin wiggles slightly when placed in the hole. Waiter