Waiter

I cut them off as an experiment. I didn't see any difference in speed, nor any difference in low speed handling characteristics. My LongEZ is 1,000 lbs empty, and I fly at the aft CG limit. I routinely fly my EZ in all corners of the envelop, and the low speed, high angles of attack was the area I was most concerned abpout, Again, I seen no changes in low speed handling. Review my site www.iflyez.com under "NO WINGLETS" I do understand that I am giving up some of the "Tip Back" protection. I had one incident of this many years ago. A very slow tip back where the plane rested on the wingtips as I was dangling from the Canard. I was pushing the plane backwards by lifting the plane from the front of the canard and pushing backwards. The main tires got caught in a rut and the canard slowly lifted, with me hanging on. It went over very slowly and didn't cause any damage. Waiter

I also have some tape, its not a full roll, I need to unwind it and see how long it is! (The rest of the story) During original construction in late 1980s, I was working a contract job out at the Sub base in San Diego ( I lived in San Jose). In order to continue working on my LongEZ, I rented a storage warehouse out in Otey Mesa and would would sleep out there and work on my plane when I wasn't at the base. During the summer, it gets HOT out there. This is great for doing layups as the epoxy wets out thinner than water, On this particular day, I was doing a spar cap layup on a wing, I no sooner lay in a piece of spar tape, and it would be mostly wetted out from the previous layer. I was nearing completion and was mixing a final batch of epoxy when I noticed "SMOKE" coming from the wing:yikes: I made a quick decision and reached down and pulled the entire spar cap off the wing. What amounted to 1/2 days work work, was now a smoldering pile of twisted and curled "Contemporary Art" on the floor of the warehouse. Thirty seconds after I did the yank, it was as hard as a rock. Due to the volume of epoxy in a small area and an outside air temperature that had to be 120 deg, my spar cap went into "exo-therm". The wing cores survived with no damage. I re-sanded the troughs for bonding, and ordered a new roll of Spar tape to replace the material lost in the exo-therm event. Waiter

Paul, Sorry to hear about this failure. Without having any more information other than the NTSB report. Based on the description of alternating direction and distance between skid marks, it sounds like a shimmy. If this is true, was the shimmy a result of the brace failure, or did the shimmy contribute to a brace failure? Waiter

Get someone to hold one aileron (i.e. left) with the trailing edges of the wing lined up. Now move the other aileron, measure how far the training edge can move up. The trailing edges should be rigged so that when both ailerons are lifted at the same time, the trailing edges will be slightly above the trailing edge. (This is called pre-loading) Did you replace the phenolic bearings? You may consider changing them out. This could be done without removing the wings. I would consider either the roller bearing replacements, or if you have access to Delrin and can make your own, I have over 2600 hours on my Delrin bearings with no sign of wear. Waiter

I built a Pole Barn three years ago. 24' x 32' with 10' ceiling. Concrete floor, Insulated walls and ceiling, gas furnace, sheetrock finished walls and ceiling, electric, Ethernet, phone, CATV. and running water. Except for the concrete floor (I hire two guys to do that) and when I installed the roof trusses (Two friends helped with this) I did all the work myself. It took about four months, I rented a Bobcat on the 1st of November to drill the pole holes and grade the site. On Thanksgiving weekend, with the poles installed, we pored the concrete floor. A couple weeks later, I had two friends help me install the roof trusses. The remainder of the work was completed in the dead of winter. Once the exterior metal roof and skins were installed, (15 gazillion screws) I installed a 16x8 foot insulated garage door, and a 36 inch people door to seal off the outside. Work on the interior went faster, as I used a Kerosene heater to make the temperature more tolerable. The electric wiring and plumbing went in, then the insulation and sheetrock went up. The whole project cost right at $10,000. Carter Lumber had the plans and supplied a complete "kit". All the raw materials needed to build the barn, delivered to my site, for about $5,000. (included 16x8 garage door and 36inch people door). Concrete cost about 1,700 and the two installers were paid 300. (floor and about 50 ft of side walk) The rest of the $3,000 was insullation, sheetrock, gas furnace ($500 with flue pipe), Automatic Garage door opener, Electric panel and wire, and underground plumbing/wiring to connect everything to the house. Good luck Waiter

I believe what gets a lot of new Canard Drivers into trouble is the landing technique they were taught, i.e. at or near full stall landings. If this is the technique your used to, then you'll need to be on guard to ensure you don't use this technique in your EZ. I fly my approach at 110, cross the fence between 90 and 100, and touch down between 70 and 80 (kts). I give just a little flare prior to touchdown and NEVER (as pointed out already) allow the canard to get at or above the horizon. Because of the unique stall characteristics of the EZ (canard stalls first) it's very EZ to develop fully controllable high rates of descent at low speeds. In every case, the canard will be at or above the horizon. If you see that the canard is at or above the horizon, this is a good clue that your speed is way to slow, and your day is about to be ruined. I would ease the back pressure on the stick (Get the canard down) and apply power (reduce rate of descent). Pulling back on the stick to reduce your rate of descent is only going to make matters worst. My recommendation would be to fly the faster approach and landings as the normal. Once your comfortable with the plane, practice slow flight, and you'll see just how high the canard will go. Waiter .

With regards to steerable nose wheel, we also need to consider the geometry of the main gear, i.e. tip over angle. With the current plans main gear geometry, I believe it would be very EZ to tip on wing if a steerable nose gear were utilized. There is a very good discussion on this subject at: http://www.infinityaerospace.com/infgear.htm Look down about the 7th bullet in his discussion, good read. Personnaly, on small aircraft, (smaller than Boeing 707) I prefer the caster. The only downside to the caster would be during ground operations with high winds, i.e landing/takeoff during strong crosswind, and to a lesser degree, taxing during a strong crosswind. As pointed out by Marc and others, you learn techniques on dealing with this. To date, I've only had one occation where this was a factor: I had a passanger with me and we landed at Corona to gas up (Corona was noted for inexpensive fuel). Because of a very strong cross wind, I decided not to top off the tanks. Good luck Waiter

My main point about "Pressure Breathing" was, This is very, very uncomfortable, its hard work, and it does present medical risks. This Technique is a last ditch survival breathing method and is NOT used as a normal procedure. I guarantee, you will not arrive at your destination rested and comfortable, You'll fell like you've been in a bar fight, and the winner used your chest and stomach as the punching bag. I don't believe I would skimp on the correct pressure regulator or breathing apparatus. Fully approved regulator with Helmet and full rubber face mask. If you are a licensed pilot, you can sign up and receive free high altitude training. This is a one day course put on by the USAF, and includes an altitude chamber checkout (they limit the altitude to 25,000 ft). The only negative I can think of for this training is, They select the date, you do not have an option. Waiter

When I teach this subject, I have a box full of ping pong balls. Lets see if I can do it without my usual visual aids: I have a box that represents the human lung. In the box is 100 balls, 80 are white and represent Nitrogen, 20 are Blue and represent Oxygen. The 100 balls represent the number of air molecules in a given area that will be found at sea level (15psi). Lets say that when you inhale at sea level, you will take in the full 100 balls When you inhale, your diaphragm creates a sort of a vacuum, and air is pulled in, at the ambient pressure. So. at sea level, you'll get the full 100 balls, But more importantly, you get 20 Blue balls. In order for you to function, your human internal combustion engine needs a blood Oxygen saturation level above 95%, it will take 15 to 18 blue balls to maintain this level. Now we get in our plane, and start a climb. As we climb and pass through 8500 ft (11 psi), the atmospheric pressure drops and there are are now only 75 balls, 60 white and 15 Blue. When you inhale, you now only get the 15 blue balls. Continuing our climb through 18000 ft (7.5psi), there are now only 50 balls. 40 white, and 10 blue. Remember, you need at least 15 to function, and your only getting 10. (thus the requirement for supplemental O2) As you continue to climb, you will reach an altitude of 34,000 ft (3.6psi). At this altitude, when you inhale, you will only pull in 25 balls, 20 white, and 5 Blue ones. NOT GOOD In order to survive at this altitude, you would need to be breathing 100% O2. In other words, all 25 balls need to be Blue. PRESSURE BREATHING. Pressurizing the air will not help, because your lungs will only inflate to the outside world atmospheric pressure. So, if your at 18,000 ft, your lungs will only inflate with the ambient 7.5 psi. With that said, there are aviation breathing regulators that will in fact, FORCE air into the lungs, This is called pressure breathing. Normally, your diaphragm "works" to inhale, and "relaxes" to exhale. With pressure breathing, when you relax, BLAM, air is "forced" into your lungs, and you lungs are blown up like a balloon. To exhale, you need to exercise stomach muscles, like squatting to take a $hit. Your Diaphragm doesn't have muscles to "exhale", only inhale. All this is just the opposite of normal breathing, and is very uncomfortable. Pressure breathing starts to kick around 37,000 ft (3psi), and will go up to about 55,000 ft (1.5 psi). (This is the reason the High Altitude flyers , U2, SR71, wear a presurized suit. The suit is pressurized to about 3 - 5 psi, so the person inside the suit doesn't need to pressure breath. I can't imagin anyone pressure breathin for hours!) When the Pressure Regulator kicks in, it normally forces the 100% O2 in your lungs at 3 psi, regardless of altitude. I don't recall the exact number, but I seem to recall that you do not want to pressurize the human lung by more than 1.5 to 2 psi, as it will easily rupture. ALSO, Most people would suffocate, as they wouldn't be able to continue to forcefully exhale against the 2 psi pressure. This is a lot of work and requires training and exercise. Ask any Air Force Flight Crew Member who has done high altitude work. So, With the magic number of 1.5 psi as the maximum allowable differential pressure the lung can take, lets see what happens if we pressure breath with normal air, instead of O2. Lets go back down to 18,000 ft were we have 40 White, and 10 Blue balls. If I increase the pressure by 1.5 psi, I would effectively be breathing the same air density as if I were at a lower altitude, in this case, 1.5 psi increase would be the same as being at 14,000 ft. If you only look at the altitude difference, this theory looks plausible (Breath compressed air vs compressed O2). But remember, in order to make this work, you must be "pressure Breathing". Take a look at http://www.iflyez.com/ConvTables.pdf There are several tables in this document, but look toward the back (page 18)for the Altitude vs Pressure tables. Waiter

I believe this issue is a "non-issue" if the correct Assembly techniques are utilized: 1) Use fine mesh filter screens before the sumps. I installed brass screens designed as filter screens for shallow well pumps, I think they are 40 mesh (40 wires per inch). These will trap all but the smallest stuff. 2) Clean the inside of the tanks throughly before final closing. 3) Do NOT make the fuel cap cutout until just before prime and paint. This keeps the majority of the crap out of the tanks. 4) Do the fuel cap cut outs using the updated method. This significantly reduces the intrusion of debris while performing the cut out. 5) Perform a final clean out (vacuum) using a very small diameter tube ( I use a 1/4 inch tube tapped to the vacuum hose. DO NOT use the regular vacuum hose, it will blow the debris into corners and other places that are totally inaccessible, I GUARANTEE IT. 6) Monitor the fuel filter frequently, especially during the first ten hours of operation. If you follow these procedures, you will have no problems with debris in the fuel lines Waiter

I've got the installation instructions on my web site. Look under DOWNLOADS/BAGGAGE POD Waiter www.iflyez.com

I'd love to make you the offer, but unfortunantly, I'm in the middle of retrofiting. However, if your over in the Toledo area in the next few months, give me a notice and I'll be more than happy to show you the project. I'm about a mile from the I-75 / I-80 interchange. www.iflyez.com Waiter

Don't confuse the "Amateur Built" class with the "Repairman's Certificate". As posted by others, As long as you have photos or some type of documentation/evidence that the plane was built by "amateurs", you'll get it certified in the "Amateur Class" If you apply to the FAA for the "Repairman's Certificate" then you must show evidence that you manufactured the majority of the aircraft (51%). The Repairman's Certificate allows you to sign off the Conditional Inspections (annual) for this particular aircraft ONLY. (regardless if you are the owner or not) Waiter

I called Jeff direct and got the info I was looking for. Jeff is alive and well, and serves as a consultant to the New owners. He's happy to answer the questions and has good words to say about the new owners and the direction their going. As usual, ElectroAir is in good hands, and very good to deal with Waiter

HELP PLEASE - There are 4 or 5 spade lugs on the coil pack base. These are for power, tach output, and advance switching (auto or 25 deg) I need to know which is which????? Thanks Waiter (Electroair office is closed this week)

I need a hookup diagram for the 4 cylinder Jeff Rose Electronic Ignition system. I can't find my book. ALSO While searching the net, I did find their new web site. http://www.electroair.net/index.html Mike and Peter are the new owners, check them out? Waiter

OK, Sully. Glad to hear about the project. You'l be VERY HAPPY with it. I also want to thank you for your service. I strongly believe what we (you) are doing is very important and must be done. Thanks again, and keep your head down Waiter

YYEEESSSSS OK, Now get to work Waiter

Take a look at this: www.ductedfan.com Mike has spent a lot of time researcheing and flying with his fan. Waiter

I've seen them and was impressed. I am installing the EFIS and the EMS. I was VERY impressed with the EMS-10, the package deal comes with all the sensors, and prewired connectors. I'll have no guages in my instrument panel, only these two displays and the Auto pilot gyro. You can see the "bare" panel to get an idea of size on my web site. Scroll down to 5 june 2005 www.iflyez.com Waiter Waiter

You might be thinking about this one. It crashed a couple years ago and killed the pilot. NTSB # CHI02LA166 Damn nice guy, tought me everything I know about VariViggens. Waiter

Unless you absolutely have your heart set on the VariViggan, I would seriously consider one of the other canards (Cozy, Aerocanard, Velocity, etc). I think you'll find that your build time (several thousand hours) and expenses (tens of thousands of dollars) will be less, plus you won't have to re-engineer the VV as a side by side. I would also strongly recommend that you hitch a ride in the VV, The "others" will fly circles around the VV, and their a lot more docile. Waiter

You really need to take another look at your "Priorities" (good plan) Waiter

Welcome aboard Al, It looks like the right man is at the helm and I wish you safe and prosperous business. Waiter

I arrived at High Key with more energy than I needed, so I use the drag device to get rid of that energy. Waiter