Waiter

Any idea what that alternator was used in? Also, Some auto parts houses have a photo book. (I think Lester puts it out). Find the photo of your alternator and it gives you the vehicle the alternator was used in. Odds are real good, if you find the alternator, you'll find the regulator also. Waiter

The published Aft limit for the LongEZ is 103.0 I'm at 104.0 now, so I'll need to add 10lbs at FS at FS-5 to move the CG forward to 103.0. Attached is the spreadsheet I used in the calculations. You can also find this spreadsheet on my web site. Waiter LongEZ_Weight_and_Balance.xls

The weight was read right off the scale, minus the fuel and temporary ballast. No calculations (love those scales) I don't currently have any ballast, but I may need to add ten lbs in the nose to pull the CG forward an inch (currently at 104.5) Waiter

Drew, I used a 25lb ballast when I weighed. Also had 10 gallons of fuel on board. I pulled both these weights out of the gross. I do have two batteries on board, The original Oddessy (PL940???) and a small Sonic (4 lbs - for the second Electronic Ignition) Waiter

Marc hit it right on. I've got thousands of hours in EZs, Its always amazed me how much difference a mear 100lbs makes to the performance of my plane. I think JLKnolla has the list of culprets, Also add to the list a second small battery (dual electronic ignition, dual batteries) PLUS Electric nose Electric Pitch trim Electric speed brake Fuel Injection Scales are reliable - We weighed two other planes the same day and they came up very close. Also gave them the 182 test, thats how much I weighed when I stood on each scale (Nice little scale set, digital readuot, select/deselect each load cell, etc) Waiter

As Tmann pointed out. Basically, I got rid of the two humps on top of the cowl, and converted them to air intakes for the cooling. Also cleaned up the belly and lower cowl to smooth out the airflow on the bottom cowl. Heres a photo I took when I was fit checking the cowl. Waiter

Same prop and engine. However, I did switch to downdraft, this should account for a few kts. Waiter

A picture is worth a thousand words Waiter

PIREP; Paperwork is all taken care of. I have a new Airworthiness Certificate. FAA gave me 5 hours and 20 Takeoff/landings. My biggest surprise was the weight. 1170 lbs (OUCH). I'm about 1/2 inch aft of limit, so may need to add ballast in the nose. My original weight was 950 (Great American prop, fixed gear) I was looking at about 1050 - 1075, so I'm about 100lbs heavier than I thought. I'll think about this some more. Waiter

Airport Report; I moved the EZ to the airport on Friday, EZest move I ever made. I moved the EZ out into the driveway, backed the trailer under it, then retracted the gear. The EZ squated down on the trailer, nice and , well, EZ. As of Sunday Morning, Its fully assembled (wings, canard, canopy). I taxied it yesterday with no cowling, No handling issues, it does ride a lot harder then the original gear. I still need to do a couple minor fixes on the lower cowl and the plenums, then paint the cowling. I have a nice set of Race car scales (barrowed) so I'm weighing it this morning, I'll keep you posted. This afternoon, I have the FAA inspection for my new Airworthiness Certificate) We are having a Flyin here at Toledo Metcalf (TDZ) (Sunday 21 Jun), If your interested and in the area, stop by. I needed to redo by Airworthiness Certificate mainly because my Operating Limitations name Hollister Airport, Calif as my Phase I base. That will change to Metcalf (TDZ). The FAA is giving me 5 hours of Phase I for the gear change. Hopefully, I'll have it in the Air the first week in July. Unfortunanlty, the Lawnmower works great and gets a couple hours flight time every week. I prefer the Lawnmower over the snow blower :-) Waiter

As Mike pointed out in a PM, If you do the mod on the canopy, you need to use UNI tape, the same stuff thats used for the wing spar caps. Waiter

I never installed them. Instead. I added 5 layers of the BID tape (the stuff used for wing spars) to strengthen the hoop part. I also added a bar across the mid section to support the gas spring to open/close the canopy. Check out the installation at http://www.iflyez.com/Canopy_Stay.shtml Waiter

Post cure also makes the part a little more rigid (harder). For this reason, I wouldn't post cure cowlings. Keep them as flexable as you can until after they are mated up to the fuselage/wing combination. Cowlings will naturally cure after a few flights from the hot engine. The only draw back to postcure would be if you need to make an adjustment on something, i.e. a wing or panel that is slightly warped. you can sometimes heat he part up and tweek it a little. I made some pretty large changes to my main landing gear doors with this method Waiter

UV exposure brakes down the molecular structure of the epoxy. This is a long term process that takes years in the sun to have an impact. The UV exposure for a couple days will have neglegable effect. The challange I see associated with the "Bake it in the Sun" process is being able to monitor/control the heat. Remember, you need to stay below 160F or damage to the foam could result. My thoughts on a tent are, its an overkill. You could trap heat and raise the temperature higher than you need to go (140F should be OK.) I lay the components out in the sun with no protection, then use the "Hand Test" to monitor the heat. If I can't keep my hand on the component, its to hot. (about 140F) Remember, the idea behind "Post Cure" is to cure the component at a higher temperature that it will be exposed to during its life cycle. About the highest I've seen is on a black tarmac on a hot fall day in Fresno Calif. The tarmac air temperature easily reaches 130 F. On the subject, I did some temperature testing here in NW Ohio. Look at my web site; http://www.iflyez.com/LongEZ_Retrofit_JUN_07.shtml Scroll down to the 9 JUNE 2007 entery Waiter

Looks to small to be a delam. Like Lynn says, puncture it with a straight pin. Waiter

Would that be Waiter #1, Waiter #2, or, Waiter #3 Waiter

I 've had the slip band break off, fortunantly, it didn't go through the prop. To replace the slip band (the pipes need to be secured to each other), I welded tabs on each pipe about where the slip band was, and then used two springs to hold the pipes together. The tabs and springs are exactly the same as the tabs and springs that hold the pipes to the engine. I was originally concerned about the pipes actually rubbing together, but after ten years and a thousand hours, theres no evidence of damage from the pipes rubbing against each other. I'll be making a new exhaust set so it works with my new cowl. I'll use the springs instead of the slip band, AND, I'll weld a small piece to each pipe where they rub together. Waiter

Thanks; Its nice to be back out in the shop working. For the last six months its been 70-80 hour weeks at work. We're implementing a new company wide software package, so all the production machine drivers and interface software had to be modifiied. to work with the new software. Anyway, that made just about zero time for working on airplanes. I'm going to try ang get out here every night and during the weekends to see if I can get this thing flying befor we start out fall harvest (80 - 100 hour weeks). Waiter

The Template is a GU canard template Waiter

My concern with using "Pour-In-Place" for this purpose are two fold; 1) The wing cores are part of the structure. They make up one giant continous wing rib that transfers skin loads into the the spars. 2) Pour-in-place foam shrinks, outgasses, and becomes brittle with time. How will this impact the bonding of wing cores. Waiter

Dave; If the original owner didn't have these types of problems, then I would guess that the original owner was a heavy pilot (compared to you). i.e. You weigh less, so there is less weight on the canard, and it doesn't need to lift as much weight, AND, the farther aft the CG is. You really need to do a W&B. A couple of reasons! 1) The most important component in the aircrafts ability to maintain controlled flight throughout its design range is an accurate W & B. (Note, you said you were having control issues) 2) Trust everyone, but cut the cards. I'm sure the original builder did a good W & B. HOWEVER, Are you willing to stake your life on it. I'm a high time Canard pilot and have performed many first flights in EZs. To Date, I have never performed a first flight unless I personally have supervised the W & B. Yes, I want to see the plane on the scales, and I want to see the measurements made. 3) I notice in your original post that you weigh 165 lbs. If the original pilot who did the weigh and balance weighed more than this and use his weight, then your CG has moved aft, the more the original pilot weighed, the farther aft your CG is. (i.e. If the original Pilots weighed 210 lbs, using your weight of 165, the CG has moved aft by 2 inches.) If you look on my web site; www.iflyez.com You'll find a good article on performing a W & B and also a sample spread sheeet that you can use. Keep us posted on your findings. Waiter

1) What is the status of the Weight and Balance??? 2) Is this a new problem that started suddenly, OR, is this an existing problem?? (If this is a new problem that started suddenly, GROUND THE PLANE until you figure out whats going on) Waiter

General rule of thumb, All UP, or ALL Down. Extend the nose gear. Another point, Keep in mind that one of the emergency procedures for brake failure (or need to stop fast), is to retract the nose gear. On a standard Brock nose gear, about 3 milliseconds after the nose comes out of over-center, the Boston gear strips all the teeth and the nose is now sliding across the ground (good way to stop the plane fast) With the electric nose gear, this process will take approximately 12 - 15 seconds before the nose touches the ground, so this may not be work out in cases where you need to stop the plane, NOW. However, the electric nose gear does add another good emergency procedure item to your bag of tricks. If you loose a brake, you effectively loose directional control on that side. i.e. if you loose the right brake, you can only turn left. Good luck trying to keep the plane going straight as it slows down, UNLESS, you have an electric nose gear. If you loose a brake while you still have rudder authority, start retracting the nose gear and hold the plane straight with the rudders. As the nose is retracting, you'll loose directional control almost immediately (within a couple seconds of starting the retract), and the plane will continue to track straight, even when you apply the good remaining brake. You only need to retract the nose about 1/2 way. Waiter

Of course, they were NEVER wrong when I was renting :-( Waiter

I've been using Castrol GTX since day one (about 2600 hours). I did have an intake gasket crack and caused a rough running condition (I never would have guessed that such a small crack would have caused such a major problem) However, I never blamed GTX for the crack. Waiter