WTJohnson

Just wanted to say that Sam Kreidel's Limo EZ was a great looking plane. A friend in a LongEZ and me in my Varieze stopped at Polson, Montana during the summer of 1992. Sam had a hanger there and apparently stayed at Polson during the summer. He took us on a tour of Flathead Lake and was a gentleman by keeping his nose gear in the down position to maintain a speed that we could manage !! Wayne Johnson........Lake Stevens, WA

....................................................................I have seen another EZ flyer still use a Sceet hose even after I told him the issues with it.......It must be because it 'Looks' so nice and that the innner wire will not move. So those who still want to use a duct with an inner liner, just imagine where that material can end up......right in your carb. I hope anyone using Sceet or Ceet ducting in your air intake system will get rid of it. Just because you may have paid for it does not mean that it is the right item. Also, check the Scat and Cat hose regularly to make sure that the inner wire has not pulled loose and is allowing the duct to collapse. WTJohnson Varieze N725EZ .....FF in 1981...... Lake Stevens, WA

Does your carb air intake system have the standard 2 1/2 inch ducting? The scat or sceet type can be sucked closed if it gets old and tired. The sceet may look good on the outside, but loose on the inside. WTJohnson

My estimate is about 1000 man-hours.......and probably two years. Wayne .......Varieze 725EZ

................I believe that Jiran at Mojave built several Varieze wings with a slip fit into the main spar, thus eliminating the metal wing attach fittings. I have seen some photos recently of a rough looking similar method, but was not impressed. I expect that Rutan figured that the metal wing fittings were lighter in weight. Re-designing the wing attach to be similar to the LongEz may be a reasonable way to go. I have not thought about it much at all, but seems feasible. WTJohnson .........Varieze 725EZ...........built 1981

........I seem to recall that when Burt Rutan cut the rudder travel in half, he also said no side slips. But that is only what I recall without checking old Canard Pushers. So I expect that he felt that the downwind wing on a Varieze could possibly still get blocked by by the fuselage in a side slip depending on speed of both the wind and aircraft. Steve Stuff apparently had several successful side slips right up to the last one. I elect not to check out how mine performs !! WT Johnson

...........I had a bolt that looked like this also a bunch of years ago. Think it was from cross threading the bolt in the nutplate. Have gone twenty years without another problem.......just make sure that the nut starts right. Mine are in the blind, so it is all feel. WTJohnson

Not a good idea. I have a Varieze with a Continental C-85. I limit my runways to 2500 ft minimum (at close to sea level)......and take off with about 2000 foot of run. I would expect a light Varieze (pilot only) with a C-65 would need a mininum of 3000 feet to take off with a 4000 ft. runway. It would be a one-place aircraft. WTJohnson

............If I recall correctly there have been several builders in the past that have set a gross weight of around 1300 lbs for their Varieze. I was hoping that someone would verify if that was really the case or not and if they actually flew at that high load. Since we have been flying Variezes for thirty years, it seems reasonable to expect some response along that line. If I had actually loaded my Varieze to that value, I would expect there would have been an occassion where I would have landed at a high density altitude field and either made a mess at the end of the runway trying to take off or realize that I should rent a truck and drive it home. WTJohnson

Since no one has responded in five months or so, guess no one has flown or will acknowledge that they have flown around 1300 pounds. Rutan recommended that we gross at no more than 1000 or 1100 pounds, but I understand that when you build it you can make the max gross what you want. I have not flown my Varieze with a C-85 anywhere near 1300 pounds. WTJohnson

------------------------------Just emailed him to tell him what the missing Varieze pages were about and offered to send him copies. WTJohnson

Just checked out the ebay listing and want to make any interested persons aware that this plane is maybe 40 to 50 percent completed at best. You will be spending another estimated one to two thousand man-hours to complete and will not be flying this summer.... The pictures of the fiberglas parts do look good, but it would be wise to have an in-person look if possible. WTJohnson

Another point in favor of the Varieze is the lack of a fuel pump being required with a Continental engine. Burt Rutan has always been interested in keeping thiings as light and simple as possible. The LongEz requires one if not two fuel pumps....one electric and one engine driven.The LongEz that was stuck at Arlington back in the mid 1990's had electrical problems and needed a new Facet fuel pump, which we did find at the local NAPA auto parts store. Don't know if the Long had a mechanical pump or not.....but should have. The Varieze has to be flown with positve G's. I have had the engine bark at me when doing a hard noseover, but not when doing a positive G roll. If you want to do any more aero work, I would suggest a LongEz or a Varieze with a similar fuel system and not just gravity feed. However, the EZ's have been designed as very good cross country airplanes and not aerobatic.....even though they have been flown doing the same in many airshows. WTJohnson

If this jest is over, I am ready to get out my slide rule (used to be pretty fast on the draw) or my chess set and challenge any of you to a duel !!! WTJohnson