Phil Kriley

I also sharpened the pin, but not symetrically - IOW the "point" is off-set. This, in combination with a very low-speed drill is what worked for me. Here's a hint for getting the little washers in - put little release-tape tabs on the washers so you can hold them in place while your helper guides the pin in. I'm not sure I would recommend the use of a compound that has grit in it, though. Not sure how you'd get the stuff out so as not to cause excess wear on the hinges. For lubrication, I put Marvel Mystery oil on a rag and ran it over the hing pin before inserting it.

That explains it Steve! My trailing edge is dead-on straight in planform, but rises about an inch starting at BL 67.5. Thanks for the explanation! Much appreciated!

Welcom to the forums - I'm impressed...you bought the kit w/o telling wife, moved the furniture out of the living room and made it your shop, and you are still able to type...

Thanks Steve and Lynn - I checked and I do in fact have the aileron in the correct position, and the kink is where it is supposed to be, and it affects the forward inboard portion of the inboard aileron hinge just a little bit. I can adjust the opening a bit so that the hinges will be perfectly in line. The kink in the trailing edge affects about 4-5 inches of the trailing edge of the aileron, but that's not a problem. It's just disconcerting to read in a news letter that the kink was removed, only to find that it is very much still there.

As far as I know I cut the aileron in the correct place, but I guess I'm going to have to check. Isn't BL 67.5 the root rib where the linkages go?? If this is where the kink is supposed to be, then I'm totally hosed, and have no idea what I've done wrong.

I've read the archives and searched here but can't find an answer - where does the "kink" start, and how far into the wing from the trailing edge does it go? I'm trying to mount my right aileron, and it sure looks to me like the trailing edge kink starts 5 inches outboard of the inboard aileron cut line, and continues towards the spar far enough that my inboard aileron hinge won't be perfectly straight unless I do some grinding on the inboard end. What I've read in the archives leads me to believe that the kink starts AT the aileron, but mine is 5 inches further outboard... Also, I found the following in newsletter #52, which basically says that the COZY should NOT have a kink...that it was designed out...I guess (hope) it was designed back in at some point...! Subject: NEWSLETTER #52: THE COZY MARK IV MAIN WING We are occasionally asked whether Long EZ or 3-place Cozy wings can be used on the Mark IV, and we explain that they cannot. Although the Mark IV wings use the same airfoils (modified Eppler), and are dimensionally the same outboard of the strakes, there are some significant differences. First of all, the spar caps have been made 20% thicker, for added strength. We also eliminated the kink in the trailing edge, since this kink was not necessary to fit the cowling (it was on the Long EZ). We also extended the wing root inboard 4" for several reasons. The extra spacing between attach points obviously makes the wing attach system stronger. It also allows those of us with shorter arms to reach the inboard attach bolts more easily from inside the cockpit, and it also makes the cowlings a more reasonable size. We considered that the benefits of these changes far out-weighed any benefit of keeping the wings the same as on the Long EZ.

Way to go Jerry - looks beautiful up there where she belongs!

Understood, but that does not mean that you should expect to smell EXHAUST fumes in the cockpit. Having a CO detector is good insurance - but my nose detector is my first clue that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. No exhaust fumes in the cockpit. Ever.

I've never flown in any plane where I smelled ANY exhaust fumes. I would think that ANY hint of exhaust fumes - especially in a rear-engine plane - would be cause for alarm. Carbon monoxide has killed people. I would not have flown in a plane where there was even a whiff of exhaust fumes in the cockpit. Not that it can't be repaired - I just would not have flown in it until the leak was fixed.

If you buy a project, the plans should come with it. The plans have a serial number that should stay with the ONE plane that the plans were intended for. If you find a project that has older plans, you can update the plans using the info in the newsletters and for $50 you can buy a new set of M drawings so long as you own a serial number (a set of original plans).

Got some money in July and have been on a bit of a spending spree! Bought all the stuff I need for the nose section, including Jack's electric nosegear with the auto extend feature. Bought Dennis's rudder pedals and Matco brakes and wheels. Bought master cylinders and reservoirs and parking brake from JD. Life is good! Bought some more epoxy and hardener and restocked my micro and flox supply. The right wing is skinned, including the ribs, and I cut out the aileron last week and am ready to do the aileron cutout layup. Might even have enough money left to pour concrete in the barn so that I can move the project out there in the Spring...

Welcome and ditto what Steve just said! Get started! The longer you wait, the more you'll be kicking yourself. Support for the Cozy has been excellent for me because of these forums, Marc Zeitlin's "unofficial" Cozy site and the many builders' sites available. Spend some time reading the archives, then get the shop in order and do everything in the practice/education chapter (Chapter 3) and you will be ready. Buy the Cozy Girrrls tool set from Wicks! You'll be glad you did!

I rarely remove the round cutting disc from my Fein tool. I do my power sanding with a B&D Mouse with 50 grit paper - works great and the paper is easier to find. Shaping and grinding is done with a Dremel using the cutters that look like copper foil - they really work well. Those 3 hand-power tools are pretty much all I use for cutting, shaping and sanding glass. All three are plugged into the same extension cord and are kept right where I'm working - makes pretty efficient use of my scarce work time.

[quote name=rickh 2) Is there a consensus to the mesh size? Cozy plans say "from the hardware store...". I know it shouldn't be to small/fine/close' date=' nor 1" chicken wire. Rick[/quote] If the hardware store screen corrodes, as Jerry indicates, is there a copper or brass or stainless screen that might be a better choice?

Another builder asked - on the mail list - for the specific Matco master cylinder model, and the reply was MC-4, but as luck woould have it, the are TWO MC-4 parts - MC-4 and MC-4 .625 Does it matter? Also - I've seen photos on builder's sites where they use the Matco lay-down cylinders and have what looks like a glass fluid reservoir - what part number is that? I can't find anything like that in the AS&S site. Thanks!

For someone with prior skills, that may be true. But you left out the time and money to build the hot wire tool, for one thing. And the fact that you need TWO people to do the cutting. I bought the cores and am very glad I did. The way I work, it saved me WEEKS. The idea of cutting all that foam, with the likelyhood that I'd mess up at least one part and have to order replacement foam and do it over again, and the effort of cutting a second set of parts backwards...and the skills needed to get the shape just right with no twist... Not for me. I bought the CNC cut parts, checked them against the plans, and started assembly. No time spent sanding the wire marks - there were none. No worries as to the shape or making a mistake in aligning a template... I'd say it was a very good investment!

Now THAT would be a real challenge...given the rotation and landing speeds of a Cozy, seems like attempting that on water would be just about impossible... But then again, Lake Erie should be long enough...

Burt makes a lot of sense. But it's really tempting to make changes for aesthetics, such as lengthening the nose. Seems like it should be OK to do that, so long as you keep it straight and symetrical and don't go overboard - yet Burt says it could actualy slow the plane down... Whodda thunk it? I know I am not qualified to make structural or aerodynamic changes...yet a sleeker nose, raised canopy and the Cozy Girrrl strakes sure seem like good ideas that shouldn't hurt anything. It's a fine line that we unqualified builders have to walk when trying to stick to the plans yet incorporate improvements that seem to be good ideas without really knowing if we are ruining our projects or truly improving them. Would a nicer-looking slightly longer and sharper shape to the nose really screw it up?

The problem - as a prospective customer - is the definition of "soon"... It would be nice to see a timeline of what needs to be done, with check-offs as those items are completed. This would give customers and potential customers a "warm fuzzy" in that they can actually see progress. I'd LOVE to put the 200 hp diesel in my plane! But I don't have the skills to be a guinea pig - working out all of the issues involved with installing a new engine. I'd be in the same boat as the folks who are opting for auto engine conversions. I have neither the skill set nor patience for "tinkering". I'd say that there is no chance I'll be able to buy a DeltaHawk deisel for my plane when the time comes. But then again, at the rate I'm progressing we may have a cold fusion option by the time I'm ready for an engine...

Exactly - it just doesn't seem to make sense unless you are a collector...

Yes, but if you wanted to remove the strut at some later point, you'd have to remove the wheels and brake calipers too. Maybe those struts below the gear could be removable? Just a thought.

Welcome! In my opinion, the most important thing to do before buying a plane or building a plane is to define your MISSION. What do you need the plane to do? How many people, how much baggage, how far, how fast, off-field or grass runways, short runways, long paved runways, cost of ownership, fuel efficiency, etc.etc. Once you have answers to those questions, find a plane that best fits your mission. All planes are compromises - none do everything perfectly. We owned a Beech Musketeer, and it was very roomy, comfortable, carried a lot, held lots of fuel, could fly off grass, etc. But it was not very fast, parts were expensive and sometimes hard to find, and I spent a LOT of money keeping it inspected and flying. The Cozy Mk IV holds 4 people that like each other a lot, but won't leave much room for baggage. It's very fast and efficient, but does not like short or grass fields. It takes a lot of work to build, but that's a PLUS for me because you can spread the cost out over a longer period of time. You also need to figure out if you like working with fiberglass and epoxies or if you'd do better with metal. I took a metal class and my parts were functional but not pretty. I took a fiberglass class and my parts turned out really good. But composites are messy and sometimes you have to make sure that you can start a layup and work it through to the end w/o stopping - that's never the case with metal. So there's some stuff to chew on! If you care to list your mission requirements, folks here will be happy to tell you whether the Cozy or Long EZ or one of the other canards would be a fit, or if you should look at building a metal conventional plane or even purchase a used certified plane. Again, welcome aboard!

I'm at work - wish I were going to OSH this year, but am passing so I can put money and time into the plane. We plan to go next year, though.

One of the joys of building your own plane is that you can alter it to fit yourself. 5'10" is average height, and lots of guys over 6' claim comfort in these planes. But my understanding is that yes, the canopy is close to you - not 3 feet away like in a spam can. What's more important than your height is your width... But even there, folks are making their Cozy fuselages up to 6" wider to suit themselves. I think one fellow was planning to build a regular Cozy fuselage, but make it tandem seating! Get building!

If you'd started 7 years ago, you'd be almost done by now. Get started - the "honey do" list is NEVER complete.