cdavis

After 6 months and as many broken promises, I gave up and cancelled the order today. I've totally lost faith that they will ever deliver, or if they do it will have the bugs worked out. I think I'll go with Dynon. They are shipping now, and if Burt likes it, it must be good.

I made a simple aluminum manifold whose input is from the electric fuel pump. I plan to bolt this manifold to the firewall. The solenoid primer valve screws into one branch of this manifold, and it is screwed to the firewall too. (that is, the solenoid points away from the firewall). The other outlet of this manifold goes to the mechanical fuel pump, and points straight up. My goals were this: 1. make everything a small package 2. make everything firmly bolted to the firewall, rather than hanging on the engine mount 3. reduce the number of hoses to a minimum So, to recap; the "fuel manifold" is an aluminum block with 3 drilled and tapped holes: Input=from electric fuel pump Output 1= hard barrell connection to solenoid primer valve Output 2= hose fitting for connection to mechanical fuel pump The manifold is bolted to the firewall with two #10 screws. I hope this helps! I have not flown yet, but the whole thing seems simple and solid.

I ordered a VM1000C in early Aug 2006 through AC Spruce. Evidently, this is just before Vision Microsystems moved manufacturing to TX. Over five months later, several promises form AC Spruce and the mfg that it would be shipping soon, and still nothing. The lastest word is they'll start shipping by the end of Jan, but I've heard that several times before. I'm considering cancelling the order. I'm wondering what other systems are out there at a comparable price that work well. I considered buying a 3.5" Blue Mountain Efis/Lite with engine pod. This would have the benefit of operating as a backup GPS and instruments. I'm already planning on a BMA Efis/Lite 5" as my primary flight instruments. I thought of adding the engine pod and sensors to it, but I don't like the idea of having to flip screens to see the engine gauges (even though I have a few steam gauge instrument backups). But as I understand it, by the time you add the pod and sensors, you've got over $5,500 in that solution. The VM1000C is $1,995 with sensors.

IMHO don't even think about it. The EZ will be a huge challenge to finish even if you stick to the plans and are very conservative. Either the EZ is right for you or it isn't. If it isn't, don't force the issue, but buy a Cozy project, RV, or other plane that more fits your physiology.

The value of anything is what someone is willing to pay for it. But if you build a LongEZ from scratch with a good used 0-320, new avionics, nose lift, etc., I believe you'll have over $50K in it. That does not include labor. A new RV would be more $, but I think they would require less man-hours. The LongEZ is a very nice plane, and I think under-valued for what you get.

Given the time, effort and expense to build one new, and the technology, capability and economy of a well built and equipped Long EZ, I'd say it would be a bargain at that price.

I thought of the same thing, but talked with several flyers I knew, including a common-sense A&P guy. According to him, mogas can be hard on the engine, particularly the seals. Another problem is that mogas now has many different types of additives, so you never really know what you are getting. What sealed the deal for me being against mogas is a guy who is, shall we say, very thrifty, but who knows engines well. He even used mogas for a short time several years ago, and says that he would never do it again. That's my 2 cents. I guess what I'm saying is get more info before deciding.

I'd be curious to know what a proven, top-notch Long EZ with all the desirable mods (Roncz, Long Nose, 0-320, etc) and decent avionics is selling for these days. Are prices increasing or decreasing?

Open generally means non-proprietary. Everyone is encouraged to contribute what they can to the effort, but no one owns the copyright to the final product.

I'd think any letter would be a total legal disclaimer to Burt that the Open EZ had any connection with him at all. Make it clear that he has no involvement, or legal liability. This is for all intents and purposes a new design. I think that's what he'd want to hear. Of course he knows he's had a huge influence on aircraft design, helping popularize the Canard configuration. But these are all new templates, designed by a diverse team of people. There is nothing copied verbatim from the EZ design. Burt knows where his legacy credit is due. I'd expect what he wants now would be total and complete release from liability for what us knuckleheads who follow do.

I see Superior has just released their XP-320 engines, including an IO version. If you can afford new, this would be a nice way to go.

Marc, Thanks for the reply. It hardly seems worth the effort. However, it does give me an idea for a new bumper sticker, "Hang Up and Fly"

I have a Sigtronics intercom with King radio. It would be nice to be able to plug a cell phone in so I could make a quick call in flight (Honey, I'll be there in about 20 minutes) while monitoring the radio. You cannot hear anything on a cell phone over cabin noise. I'm thinking of plumbing in a cell phone headset wire into a passenger input of the intercom. Is this as simple as it seems? Just install a small plug and wire it into a passenger intercom interface? Or is there something I'm missing (impedence matching, etc).

Ok, I think I have it now. To go from a 3/8" NPT (which is a 9/16" thread) to a 3/8 fuel line (which is a AN -6 fitting), you need the following Aeromotive part number adapter (p/n 15615). http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=AER15615/415.0 The PN of the FlowEZ filters indicate the gpm flow through. Cozy recommends a 61L (6 gpm). Thanks for your patience and help. The people at Flow Ezy are very helpful. http://198.170.245.162/home.html

The existing fuel lines are 3/8" (-6). The engine is an O-320e2d with carb.

Thanks for the excellent link. I was going nuts. That makes it all make sense now. It looks like I need a 9/16-18 NPT to AN -6 line adapter.... Or, exchange the filter for one with a 1/4" NPT thread and use a 1/4 NPT to -6 hose fitting???? How have other people done this? THANKS!!!

I ordered a Flow Ezy fuel filter from AC Spruce with 3/8" NPT thread size. When it arrives, the holes measure about .565 and a 3/8" AN fitting is way too small. I assume AC spruce sent me a 1/2 fitting, so I call. They say, no, you need an adapter. Wanting to avoid an adapter, I get an RMA and order direct from the factory, a 4ILA-03-25-F3-B to be exact; should be a 3/8" fitting. It arrives: same thing! What gives? Do I need to order a 1/4" fitting to get a 3/8 NPT? Thanks for any insight!

Thanks for the excellent information. Does it make any difference if the Facet electric fuel pump (AC Spruce PN:40108) is mounted with the hose fittings horizontal or vertical? Same quesion on the Electric Solenoid Valve (AC Spruce PN: 05-29823). Thanks again for the help.

0-320e2d, Long-EZ Questions: 1. I see that Rutan called for a bulkhead elbow to bring the rigid aluminum fuel line through the firewall to the Gascolator. Other people plumb the aluminum tube straight through. Does anyone have any thoughts about which is best? 2. Plans for the electrick solenoid primer valve call for fabricating a steel Tee with two AN-816-6 male fittings and one AN916-3 fitting to connect the Gascolator, Primer Valve, and Fuel pump. Does anyone know of a commercial source to buy this fitting? 3. I have Atkinson sight gages and will install a VM1000 with fuel flow meter. I assume there is only one fuel flow meter that records total flow rather than flow from each tank. Is that correct? Where do most people choose to mount the fuel flow meter? On the firewall, or somewhere else? Where in the plumbing did you locate your flow meter? Thank you VERY MUCH for the help. My engine is being put back together now, and I'm ready to start pulling wires. I want to install the engine and fuel system before doing the electrical. BEST WISHES

Some builders say they took nearly as long to install systems as it did to build the airframe. I see coming up with a "standard configuration" for the following: 1. Electrical system 2. Instruments 3. Avionics (some bend in the avionics) 4. Brake system 5. Fuel system 6. Cabin heat I could supply good CAD drawings for the following, (eventually): Off topic: If you really wanted to ramp up production, you have a loose consortium that would make standard parts and sell/trade them with each other: 1. Wing cores & spar 2. Roncz canards 3. Canopy 4. Cowl & downdraft Make the plane a "modular" design. The builder would still be well under the 50% rule, and it would save so much "thinking about it" time. If this idea has merit, we could open another thread in this area.

Wayne, beautiful work. Looks like it was made for a fighter jet.

Regarding the Wortmann gear legs, there are sites that show how to do it in detail. Regarding the Efis/Lite G4, dont' have it yet, haven't ordered it, and probably won't until 6 months after first flight. I have 2-1/4" "steam gage" backups that I'll do initial flight testing with (airspeed, altimeter, t&b, compass). My brother, Mike, does all the glass work. I install the electrical and avionics and write the checks.

IMHO the biggest challenge will be simply completing the plane. Even with lots of help, this is a huge project. I think mods fall into two categories: things that can be implemented that take little or no more time than the stock plans (or that actually save construction time) while improving performance, and re-engineering. I'd implement all of the former, and none of the later. It's hard to improve on Burt's core technology. Some people just enjoy building everything, experimenting, and have a very limited budget. Some people have more of a budget, and just want to fly. If you have the $$ buy anything prefab you can get (wheel pants, etc). If you seriously don't have 2,000 to 3,000 free hours over the next 4 years, or unless you just enjoy building (bless you who do!) then consider more of a kit plane than a plans built plane, or buy a quality project that has the fuselage, wings, and canard complete. We've done the following mods/upgrades: Roncz canard High performance rudders Wilhelmson nose lift electric speed brake downdraft cooling wortmann gear legs O-320e2d aluminum instrument panel davenport long nose Grove high performance brakes front master cylinders oil cooler heating system BMA EFIS/Lite G4 Crossover fuel vents (like Cozy) Gas tube canopy strut

My understanding of downdraft vs. updraft is as follows. With updraft, high speed air is forced to change direction quite abruptly to route it over the cylinders. With downdraft cooling, the air flow is almost a straight line over the cylinders. With my EZ, you can see the cooling fins of the cylinders by looking straight back through the air intakes. We built a plenum around the cylinders, so the air has no where to go but over the cooling fins, and then out the back. If you want a writeup of this system, email me and I can send you a doc file.