dkreidel

I'll give Gary a call and advise him "perspiring minds want to know.." Dick.

Perhaps Gary will respond to this - he obviously knows his bird best.

Uhhh, not specifically Dick

Years ago when Gary and I were both racing at Jackpot I flew Dad's IO-360 Limo against Gary's beast. When Gary's bird was running properly, it was A LOT faster than the Limo - and our Limo often won the Jackpot Unlimited Class. Dick Kreidel

I' somewhat relieved to learn that I did look hard enough for 4130 angle - it doesn't seem to exist anywhere and it was very reluctantly I did the milling on chunks of 4130. Getting a clean fillet radius w/o any tooling marks took a lot of effort. Airplane #2, N26EZ used 3/16" x 1-1/2" 2024 aluminum on all 4 motor mount extrusions w/o any difficulty - it used an even heavier IO-360B1E Dick Kreidel

; Hi Greg, The 1.6" long "extrusions" were 4130, but I used aluminum for the plates. Almost 3,000 hrs on the plane and no motor mount/extrusion issues Dick

Hi Wayne; We haven't met, but did speak on the phone many moons ago. 26EZ was pretty spectacular, and now that Jon Karkow (ex-SCALED, currently at ICON) has it I expect it will be even nicer. It had enough instrumentation in the rear cockpit to fly an ILS approach from the backseat!! Jon has it down for some modifications right now, but I'm sure it will be stellar when he's finished. As an example of Jon's prowess, he was the lead designer and program manger for the Virgin Global Flyer. It is, in essence a fixed gear Berkut. It is one of the best X/C planes I've flown; but ended up heavy at 1050#. There is nothing like a light LongEZ with a big engine Thank you for the compliment - but I'm certainly not in Mike's league. I have built 2 LongEZ's and a Limo EZ, so I do know my way around them. Dick

Actually, take-offs from the rear seat give me more anxiety than landings. It is not easy to keep the plane rolling down the runway CL from the rear. It may be the compromise location of the rear 'pit rudder/brake pedals, or the fact that slight yaw diversions are not as easily interpreted from the rear. The fact is, however, a Long can be safely flown from the rear cockpit with a few caveats...the first being the pilot needs to be intimately familiar with the flying qualities of the plane and have significant front seat time. Dick Kreidel

That is a good idea! I should have done that - i used 1.5"x1.5" 4130N barstock and spent a lot of time on the Bridgeport turning the handles. I went to .150" with a nice fillet radius. If using aluminum I recommend going to 3/16" material to lower the bearing stress and prevent brinelling the 1/4" fastener holes. Dick

Your bird looks great Joe! I really like your paint scheme; Joe LaCour had something along the same lines in gray and black and was also a standout in a sea of EZs. The Limo off Dad's plans in Missoula (Ed Louverein) is coming along slowly, but Ed's C320 accident has slowed his progress. There was a lot of EZ/Berkut activity in NW Montana but Dr Schute's Berkut tragedy (Drybread) seemed to cause many MT projects to be abandoned or go dormant. 8EZ is down for annual right now, but the Reno Air Races are this weekend so it may be a couple more weeks before it's ready to go. After so many years of resolving issues on the airplane, annuals are literally just an inspection these days - nothing has broken or required modification for at least 10 years now. With the big brakes I can usually go 125 hours on a set of pads, and the Lamb tires about the same. Dick

I would have thought it would be smashing bugs by now Joe ! I've been flying 8EZ quite a bit, and been advising Jon Karkow as he brings Dad's LimoEZ (26EZ) back to life. I flew 26EZ for a while after Dad passed, but owning two planes so similar made no sense, and I was spending too much time working on it without putting much air time in it. Is there a section here for wide EZ's? I'd love to see pics of your bird! Dick

I have a lot of rear seat landings in my Long; in some instances the front seater was not a pilot and in one instance did not speak English (tv commercial with Japanese actor) In my opinion, once you are competent in flying the plane landing from the rear is not any more difficult than landing a Pitts - visibility is about the same (lousy). I don't think it would be possible to get the rear seat high enough to make make any significant difference without a major airframe redesign. Note: my plane has throttle, mixture, rudders/brakes as well as frequency select and active/standby switches in the rear seat. The front seater must know how to lower the gear, and be warned about $#@%^ing around with the fuel selector valve:scared: Dick Kreidel N888EZ 2,680 hours

Hi Joe! Dick

I was one of the first (if not the first) to knock out the old extrusions and install 4130 top extrusions in 1986. The lower aluminum extrusions are okay as is, and as several have noted a large hammer is required to break the epoxy shear line. Dick Kreidel N888EZ 2,680 hrs

I occasionally fly my EZ at 1660# take off weight, but will not plan to land at anything over 1425# Dick Kreidel N888EZ 2,680 hours

The Brock throttle actually works quite well if you do good work in your installation and are diligent in keeping it lubricated. I have rear throttle and mixture that ar slaved to the front Brock throttle quadrant. My EZ first flew in 1983 and now has 2,600+ hours on it without any quadrant (front or rear) problems. Dick Kreidel N888EZ

Sure John, I'd be happy to show you around a Long. Unfortunately, I have both 8EZ and 6EZ at my home in MT - I should have one (maybe both) back at Brackett by the end of August. I try to spend most of my summers in MT and do annuals on the planes while there - I have a large hangar that can accomodate 7 Longs - so maintenance items like pulling wings off and paint repairs are much easier there than my small county hangar at Brackett. Dick Kreidel

I'm Dick Kreidel, and my father and I built two LongEz's: #1 is N888EZ which was first flown on 4 July 1983 and now has 2,400 hrs on it, and #2 which was a highly modified Long we called a LimoEz N26EZ. The Limo first flew in the summer of 1989 and currently has about 700 ours on it. 26EZ was dormant for 2 years after Dad's passing, but I now have both planes in my hangar at Brackett in the LA basin. I live in Yorba Linda CA and would happy to aasist any builders in the area. N888EZ O-320-D3G basic IFR with full rear seat controls N26EZ IO-360-B1E full IFR with full rear seat controls/instruments, LH stick