Waiter

Castrol GTX 20x50. Change Oil and filter every 50hours, Running a standard 160hp O-320. Waiter

As for Hangars, Keep in mind that EZs unique parking can allow them to share a Hangar with other EZs or other aircraft. When I lived in San Jose, we had 5 EZ in a box hangar, the cost per EZ was about 1/2 the cost of an outside tie-down. Tie-downs - If you do use a cover, make sure its good quality, and secured to the aircraft. A Cover flapping in the breeze can do a lot of damage to an EZ. Although Aircraft ramps are becoming more secure, One of the problems I've experienced with outside tie-downs, is my EZ becomes an Impromptu Static Display, that every one and their family mustr go and look at, climb on, touch, bang against, etc, etc, etc. Waiter

I was involved in a LongEZ accident investigation several years ago in Baja Mexico. The aircraft went into the water, inverted, with no forward movement (inverted flat deepstall) I'd have to dig out my photos and notes. I can't remember exactly how the shoulder attach points failed, I seem to recall the wood hard points were missing from the backrest and it looked like they were simply pulled out of the backrest structure. However, I remember specifically how the lap belt attach points failed, as I was very impressed. The metal piece that the nylon loops through failed. The nylon loop actually pulled the metal piece apart. The nylon didn't fail, the metal loop failed. The metal loop piece was still attached to the airframe. (Keep in mind, the failure mode for the harness was vertical, there was almost zero horizontal component) Waiter

I don't know about the Synthetics, but I'll caution you about oil that to thin. I've been running Castrol GTX 20x50 in my Lyc since day one. At one point, I thought (Actually, I wasn't thinking at all) to use 5x30. Within 10 hours, I had a valve sticking. Seems the thinner oil can more easily make its way between the valve steem and guide. It then cokes up and causes the valve to stick. Waiter

A word of Caution when tightening the nuts, As with most bolts I use in my plane, the canard bolts have a portion of the shank that is not threaded. Always inspect the nut after its been tightened, to make sure it has not bottomed out on the shank. I have a rule of thumb that works OK for the standard AN type bolts. After I install and tighten the nut, Look at the threaded portion of the bolt that sticks out past the nut. I must see at least 1 thread, but no more that 3 thread showing. If I see less than one thread, replace the bolt with the next size longer, If I see more than three showing, replace the bolt with the next size shorter. Waiter

I've been using standard self locking nuts and large area washers since day one (two large washers and a nut instead of the nut plates) Waiter

Welcome Brian; As for the Condition Inspection (the annual) A Builder may qualify for a "Repairmans Certificate". This is like an A&P, BUT, Only for that specific airframe. When it comes time to do the annual, Anyone can perform the work, HOWEVER, Only an A&P, OR, the holder of the "Repairmans Certificate" can sign off the inspection. If you built the plane (or can prove to the FAA that you have exceptional knowledge of that airframe) you can qualify for the "Repairmans Certificate". If you purchase an already flying plane, its conceivable that you could get the holder of the "Repairmans Certificate" to sign off the annual. Waiter

Praveen; Welcome. Do you know who was flying the EZ that you seen at the airshow? Waiter

Lynn, How did they make it? I assume they would need two pieces, the slotted tube portion, and the top piece. These two items would then be jigged so they are straight, then welded! Waiter

Does Nico check in here? I'm interested in the internal guide tube. I need to barrow it for a month to take some measurements. I may be able to come up with a source to make this tube assembly out of steel. If anyone is interested in replacing theirs, please leave a note here. I don't know about cost yet, but I'm sure I'll need a minimum number of orders to even start work on this Waiter

Who has the Infinity gear that came off of Bill Ortel's plane. I need to chat with you! Waiter

This is one of the methods I use for making those pesky flanges: Lay up 2 layers of BID 12x24 inches (Size isn't critical), Peel ply on both sides. After cure, remove the peel ply from both sides then cut these into 1 inch wide strips. Use the thick superglue and accelerator, spot glue these strips to the locations where you need flanges, The strips are flexable enough so they have no problem following the turtle deck contours. Now lay up 2 or three layers of BID on the top and bottom. Knife trim. As for the cowls, place the cowl into position, use a couple very small blobs of bondo to hold it in the exact position you want. Place duct tape (release) on the cowls flange. Scratch the airframe surfaces to get a good bond on the centerspar and the turtledeck / fuselage. Paint a thin layer of epozy on the duct tapped cowl flange, then lay down a strip of peel ply on the cowl flange. Now layup 2/3 layers of BID across the fuselage and onto the cowl flange. Let cure - When the layup reaches the knife trim stage, you can pop the cowl off and knife trim the flange. After cure, pull the peel ply off then layup three layers on the insides of the flange down the back of the centerspar and the firewall. Good luck Waiter

Wladimir, Welcome. The winglets are 90 degrees to the wings. The gear should be set at about 1 deg toe in. Waiter

MPG isn't a good overall benchmark for performance unless you know the circumstances. i.e. here are some of my MPG numbers with an O-320 (160hp) LongEZ 66 mpg- FL210 with a 150kt tail wind (300kt ground speed) (100KIAS) 33 mpg -FL180 with no tail wind (160kt ground speed) (115KIAS) 16 mpg - sea level, (170 kt ground speed) (170KIAS) Waiter

I'm not sure about the Aerocad leading edges! I also have the Featherlite and am happy. HOWEVER If I were doing this today, I would make the leading edge straight, ala, Berkut style. The strait edges are a lot easier to make than the original LongEZ leading edges, they had the bend in them. Also, I like the looks of the straight edges vs the bent edges. Waiter

Most insurance companies usually start out with the standard "10 hours Dual". What this means, you need to find an instructor thats willing to sit in the back seat for 10 hours. Keep in mind that the instructor may know less about the plane than you do!!!! Negotiate with the underwriter to change the language to "10 hours in type". Find an EZ pilot who's willing to sit in the back seat for 10 hours, and have them named on the Policy (This is how I normally do it when I'm checking someone out in a canard). They don't need to be an instructor. If your willing to take the risk, you will be flying the first 10 hours without insurance. Waiter

I used a .025 aluminum approximately 2 1/2 x4 inches, painted white. I then used a small dab of white RTV all the way around to hold it in place. Make sure the covers on the bottom have a small breather/drain hole. These can be popped off for inspection/wing removal, then just re-RTV them back in place Waiter

As a followup: The numbers I originally mentioned are for my original Great American fixed pitch prop. and the standard fixed main gear. When I added the MT prop, this significantly improved the runway performance, at all weights. I originally licensed my LongEZ as 1650 gross wt. As was mentioned, the Landing gear bow is a significant factor. As the plane gets heavier, the risk of a prop strike goes up Also, As Marc mentioned, the proof is in the flight testing. Phase one for my EZ include light, Med and gross wt envelope expansion. The very upper right corner of the envelope included 1300 lb, 1500lb and 1700lb flutter testing to 260 kts with a 2G dive recovery, using a mid range CG. Followup testing was performed at an aft cg (My MT prop moved me to the aft limit) at 1700lb gross wt. I normally fly my plane at the aft CG limit. I also routinely fly my EZ at all corners of the envelop. I regularly fly aggressive ACM and Aerobatics. Two demo manauvers that demonstrate the docileness of the canard:, 1)slow flight with bobbing canard. Full power and slowly bring the stick to full aft, at about 55-60kt the canard will start doing its gental stall/recovery at about a 3 second rate, with no dutch roll tendancies, and no divergent tendencies from abrupt control inputs. 2) Full G load canard stall, This occures at about 160 kts, in a steep bank, with full aft stick deflection. depending on wt, I can maintain a continous 5 G load, During this manauver, the Canard will be doing a very aggressive stall / recover, about a 1 second rate. Waiter

I have a 160hp O-320 My empty weight is 950. Myself and one PAX = 400 Baggage = 50 Full fuel = 300 With a gross weight of 1700lbs, I need to be carefull of runway length (4000 would be just about minimum) and crosswinds. Waiter

My project sat in storage for almost 5 years when I lived in Japan. Waiter

The version that I installed, I use a blower motor to recirculate inside cabin air through the oil cooler. I do not use outside air. This allows warm air to be blown on the feet as I'm taxing out. Also; I have a small door that I can open. This is an exit door from the heater and can exhaust hot. Instead of blowing the heated air onto my feet, I can blow it overboard, adding the ability to "cool" the oil, even on the hottest of days. Waiter

On a LongEZ, the Landing brake doesn't induce any pitch changes Also, Convential stall landings are not possible. If you hold the aircraft off the runway and continue to increase the nose up pitch, at some point, the canard will stall. When it does, the nose will drop and the canard will start flying again. At no time does the main wing stall. Now, if your talking about holding the canard off after the mains have touched the ground, then this is an entirely different story. I can easily hold the nose off at speeds down to 35-40kts. After touchdown, slowly pull the stick back as the aircraft continues its rollout, Hold the canard at a point where you can still see over the top of it (Never raise the canard above the horizon while in close proximity to the ground, this will certianly result in a prop strike.) Apply both rudder pedals slowly, This drag from the rudders also helps hold the nose off, and makes "landing" the nose gear a lot smoother. After a little practice, I can smoothly lower the nose from a very hi angle of attack by easing the stick forward, and pressing both rudders (The brakes havn't taken hold yet, (no stall THUMP) NOTE - USE CAUTION - I think its entirely possible to induce so much pitch up at slow speeds (i.e. 40-45kts) that you could easily flip the plane over on its back. Waiter

Yah, Everything Chrissi said! Waiter

Deploying both rudders gets more difficult as speed increases. Also, Deploying both rudders can introduce significant nose up pitch change, depending on speed and rudder forces. I use the rudders for aerobatics, ACM, takeoff and landings. I don't use the rudders for normal turn/bank during normal cruising type flight. Usually, after takeoff, I move my feet in front of the rudder pedals (this is a more relaxed position) Waiter

Sounds like its coming from the sump blister. If possible, sand the blister down to glass, sand an area about 2 inches all the way around the fuselage where it meets the blister. Lay up two layers of wet BID on the blister and the fuselage. Waiter