Ron Springer

On 12/11/2019 at 12:27 AM, bmckinney10 said:

Nose gear Shock/Spring (LST): I am replacing the original pushrod nose gear control with the worm-drive crank system.  I can make one from the plans, but if someone has spares or knows of a source, I'd like to buy. (CP25-P3)

I just did this a couple years ago on my VariEze. I didn't bother installing the spring. The pushrod system didn't have it and I haven't felt a need for it. YMMV. I may have a source for the worm-gear hardware if he hasn't already sold it. I will check ...

On 12/8/2019 at 12:12 PM, Marc Zeitlin said:

That said, the single biggest issue I see with this plane is that it weighs 867 lb.

Where does it say that? I only see a useful load listed but it doesn't state what MGW was used to calculate it.

Immediately ... the sooner the better. You want it to soak up any excess epoxy from the previous layer.

22 hours ago, Marc Zeitlin said:

This is now what I install on customers' planes when they ask for wheel pants installations.

Is there a write-up somewhere on the procedure to build a gear leg attachment like this?

Congrats on finishing Phase One! Enjoy the good weather in Pukalani ...

Between $0 and $1500 (and even infinity for those A&Ps that refuse to do one) depending on who you use/know.

Are you based at Tappahannock? Just talk to Jim Evans or Fred Wimberly. Do you know them?

6 hours ago, Kent Ashton said:

Just reading this 2017 Varieze accident.  Water and debris in the fuel.

Thanks for pointing that out. I guess the final report finally came out after more than two years!

I talked to pilot shortly after the accident. He was based near me. Luckily, he recovered from his injuries.

On 10/2/2019 at 7:56 AM, Mike B said:

I suppose a center line config may be possible. You'd have to go with a fixed nose gear. 

Not sure why that would be true?

3 hours ago, FrenchEz said:

Hi All,

 I need some help , I bought a VARIEZE and I found some vibrations on the nose landing gear. I need some help. How do you adjust the friction recommended by rutan. Is anybody know where to find the drawing of the nose landing gear bushings.

thanks 

laurent 

 

I don't see a fully dimensioned drawing of NG23 in the plans. But, you can remove what you have and use this figure from the plans as a guide. To remove the bolt, you will have to cut a hole in the side of the nose.

On 4/20/2019 at 4:09 PM, Kent Ashton said:

I worry about flying an untested prop but it is the same layup schedule I used before which held together:  BID-UNI-BID on cambered side, UNI-BID on the flat side wrapping to the cambered side.

Do you only wrap at the leading edge since the trailing edge is sharp? Or do you put a small radius at the trailing edge and wrap it there too?

On 3/1/2019 at 1:07 PM, Kent Ashton said:

The downside is that the LEZ plans are somewhat dated, they need a hard-surface runway, you can't carry much in an EZ without travel adding pods, and there are not as many around as the Vans airplanes; a Vans owner can go to a Vans event every weekend.

You would like to go to a canard event every weekend, but I haven't seen you at Rough River once. Going this year?

On 3/2/2019 at 11:15 AM, Kent Ashton said:

all I wanted to do was simply tinker on my Cozy in my hangar

Why not just tinker discretely with the hangar door shut?

On 12/14/2018 at 1:28 AM, Marc Zeitlin said:

OT here, but why do you think that installing HC pistons is a major change?

Thanks for your input. I thought I remembered something about a significant change in performance being a major change. I will have to go read the nebulous language again. Everyone defines “significant” differently. Maybe I can hold off and wait until I want a new prop?

3 hours ago, Kent Ashton said:

It's in the Registry but it doesn't come up with the usual Google search.  I guess Google is not all-knowing.  🙂

https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=620CS

Original AC issued 2005 so he has flown it a ripping 13.6/ hrs per year.  No wonder he had to rebuild the engine.  

The 2005 date is not a date for an Airworthiness Certificate. It is the date it was first registered (by the current owner, in this case the only owner).

Compare to my Cozy (N228RJ) which was registered in 2010 for the first time but has no AC. It is still a project. Why register? Well, for one thing, it is cheaper than reserving an N number.

The AC date would be at the bottom left (A/W Date). It will be the same or later than the MFR Year, depending on whether or not the AC was ever voided/updated. For my VariEze (N46EZ), my A/W date will soon be changing from 1980 to 2019 since I am adding high compression pistons (major change). My current AC does not allow major changes to be made. The AC becomes void and invalid. But, the MFR Year will always be listed as 1978.

Anyway, that should probably be cleared up before it is sold ... I assume it is a database problem but you never know ...

According to the FAA database, N620CS doesn't have an airworthiness certificate or a manufacturing year listed. So, I guess all those hours were taxi test hours!

For details on the VariEze gear wraps, see Canard Pusher 12, page 3 and Canard Pusher 20, page 3. Notice that CP12 says it would be best to wrap it before the tabs are installed but it is not strictly required.

http://www.cozybuilders.org/Canard_Pusher/

2 hours ago, mquinn6 said:

I will also go with the TE vortilons as I feel that makes sense ...   

FYI ... on the TE it is called a fence rather than a vortilon.

Cutting off the ears and rewrapping the strut is technically what is called for in the Canard Pusher newsletters. An early VariEze builder would have had to build the strut with ears and no wraps, and much later cut off the ears and wrap with UNI, and much later cut off the ears for a 2nd time and add BID (or the other way around). On my plane, the builder chose to just apply those wraps everywhere except for under the tabs. It has been working fine since the early 1980s with the exception of the delamination, but that had more to do with the lack of a glass-to-glass bond at the trailing edge.

Now, to cover myself, you should definitely cut off the ears and wrap the whole strut because that is the only right way to do it!

I also had some delamination of the UNI and BID wrapping the strut on my VariEze. I peeled it all off and re-wrapped it. This time, every single ply wraps all the way around the strut and back onto itself at the trailing edge, which makes it a lot stronger. Using a hair dryer, it was not too hard to peel off all the glass and get back down to the bare strut.

Below is a video of the delam that I discovered. The UNI and BID wrap the strut outside the lift tabs only and between the lift tabs. That is because the VariEze plans did not call for any wraps initially. The UNI and BID was later called for in two separate Canard Pusher newsletters. The builder of this plane did not feel like cutting off the lift tabs to wrap the entire strut, so he just glassed around them.

22 hours ago, Kent Ashton said:

Saw this Cozy III, N80CZ on the Cozy list today ...

This is the same plane that is on the canard calendar this month.

I am using EZpoxy now, which you can definitely smell as opposed to MGS, and my wife can tell when it gets into other parts of the house from my basement or garage. I have had good success by closing all the doors and using an exhaust fan wherever I am working. The fan makes sure the fumes are going out the window instead of into other parts of your house. If anything, you will be drawing air into your shop from inside the house, which is the direction you want the air to move.

When I bought my VariEze in Wyoming, the hangar had no power, but he had a battery, solar panel, and inverter. It was good enough to run power tools, a vacuum, lights, and a radio as required.

You won't crush the structure of the VE if the bushing was installed during the build process, but you WILL deform the bolt, possibly stripping the threads and/or stretching the bolt. 100 in-lb is 8 and a tiny bit ft-lb, so yeah - 10 ft-lb (not 10 ft/lb) is way too much and will harm the bolts.

 

Unless, like on my VariEze, a bushing was used that is too short. I think both bushings are around 0.77" long which matches F22 on one side, but on the other side F22 is 0.825" thick. Tightening of that side over the last 40 years has lead to crushing of the foam and cupping of the wide area washer under the bolt head. I made a new bushing of the correct length to fix it.

The reason for the difference in thicknesses is a build-up on the front face of F22, presumably to get the canard perpendicular to the aircraft centerline. Maybe the bushings were made prior to that and never adjusted to account for it?

Regarding Todd's drag claims ...

I just flipped open my "Theory of Wing Sections" book and flipped to the page where they compare a split and plain flap drag polar. The split flap does have a slightly higher max CL, but at the same CL, the split flap has the same or lower CD, at least for a NACA 23012 with a 20% chord flap. That's actually a bit counter-intuitive.

But, the drag polar plot does not really address the flap deflection. I think his claim of three times the drag for the same deflection may be true ONLY for very small deflections. It is definitely not true across the board. At very small deflections, the air may be able to stay attached to a plain flap, but the split flap forces a large wake. At larger deflections, both styles of flaps have large wakes.

I will also point out that I do know the drag of the rudder will be a lot less than the lift, but the drag force should have a moment arm of about 14 ft from the CG, and the moment arm of the lift force will be much less. So, the effect of drag on yaw will be amplified by the ratio of the moment arms compared to the effect of lift on yaw.

There are some calculations that could be done here, but I'm not going to do them ... too busy!