Big Steve

rpellicciotti: Very nice panel but lots of $$$$$ that panel probably cost more than to build my entire airplane. Shure looks nice. STeve

I thought the Berkut had longer ailerons??? I have never seen the drawings for said airplane though. STeve

Here is a link to west marine. It shows a couple of different kind of blowers. http://ecatalog.westmarine.com/full.asp?page=442 The squirrel cage blowers are big bulky and probably heavy. I wonder if the ones they call Yellow tip would work. They seam to be smaller and lighter I could put them in line with the heat exchanger. They say they put out 120 cfm. On the Cozy I have a duct that runs all the way to the back seat of the plane. I wonder if there is enough room to stick the whole heater assembly similar to waiters 2nd unit behind the seat backs above the gear bow and blow into the stock duct hole that we make per plans??? Anybody else thought about that??? Lots of questions STeve

I have a question for those of you with oil heat in your plane. I am in the process of building mine right now and would like to know what kind of fans you are using. Maybe more inportant than type how many cfm of air do they move. I was thinking of using a square type like they use in computors I just wondered if that would work. They are nice and light and eze to mount but I am not sure if they will blow enough nice hot air to keep my toes warm. STeve building on

Well I did not really answer your question.. I am a super cheapskate. Like in Birdies that go cheap cheap. Here is what my panel is probably going to be. MGL Enigma with V-10 com radio Probably a ebay special nav com like an older king a steam gauge altimeter and airspeed and who knows what gps I will fanagle in the next couple of years It will be about 4-5 thousand total and will do pretty much everything I want. Later I will install the units for the efis controlled auto pilot. What else Do I need??? Remember cheap is the word. I want to fly not go out to the shop and look at a finished fuselage waiting for spendy radios. STeve

Steve said: Well If you are really a Canard a holic you will build one of your own to be a true canard a holic. There is way more satisfaction to build than to buy. Ps. Longezes have way more leg room than a cozy at least that is my exsperience. Build on STeve

Money is the only limit to a panel. You never said what your budget was. If you had enough $$$$ your could put an F-16 heads up display in that would be way cool. On the other hand all your really have to have is an air speed and altimeter, tach, handheld com, gps and some engine instruments and you can go all over the usa. STeve building on

This is not an approved method of building. I have never done it so proceed at your own risk. If you are slopping on that much resin maybe you need to slow down and be more careful. I like to use my brush and stiple around the edges so I dont have to squeege loads of epoxy off the edges which causes this problem. But like others have said it is no big deal sand it smooth and yes it is comming Build on STeve

If you set your tool post on a lathe at 5 degrees it will cut a 5 degree angle which becomes a 10 degree included angle when you measure the shaft. I dont know how to exsplain it any better. STeve

When I built my Longeze I found a 0235 about 2 1/2 years into the build. It was sitting at an FBO on a tire in a corner of the hanger it had just been removed from a grumman Yankee. I bought it on site trucked it home to my shop in Riverside Ca. I put dessicant plugs in it and changed them every year. After another 2 1/2 years I had the plane finished and did a top end on all the jugs and it ran for at least 600 hours that I knew of. It had 1920 on it when I bought it. The motor I have now is an 0360 with about 180 hours on it??? I bought it without a log book. (the price was cheaper than a core) I have it stored in my shop covered with plastic and the same dessicant plugs I used in the Longeze. I get it out every 3-4 months and turn it over and pump some oil around in it. The jugs look really good inside I cannot see the cam without taking it apart. I have heard that turning it upside down is better for the cam will keep it oiled better. I have not done this but am thinking about doing it. I still have a couple of years left before first flight. My climate here in Idaho is dry so I hope it will be allright. No Rick I dont need to store it in your shop:D STeve building on

My cousin and I back in july 90 flew my Longeze from Chino to Omaha Nebraska, Stopped in Pueblo Colorado and a Hastings Nebraska. Took 11 hours flying time. We took off as the sun was comming up and landed about 1/2 before it went down. My Cozy IV should beat that when I get it done. Steve

Without being there and really looking at it. It is hard to tell what you have the cleaned up wing looks pretty good to me. But you can hide a lot of gremlins in a photo. There was a set of Varieze plans on Ebay just a couple of weeks ago. I dont think you will have a problem buying a set of plans if you look hard. STeve

If you want to post a picture there are several on line forums that will do it for free. I use a builders log site called expert craft. I post my pictures to the site to keep my project public and then can post pictures over here for people on this site to see. It is not to hard and I am no computer genious. What is weird about your post is I dreamed last night that I had aquired a used Varieze and had decided to rebuild it. I guess you are doing what I dreamed about. STeve dreaming on

Rick: Good eyes I did not think anyone would notice those. They are temparary plywood pieces that are bondoed on. They locate my turtle back in the right position. There is also one on the back of the front seat. When I put the turtle back on I put the pins in and everything fits like it was made to. I am trying to put off installing the turtle back until the bitter end. It is hard for me to get my old large body in the back when it is on. Steve

Well today is Thanksgiving. Was able to work on the plane a good portion of the day. I have something new to be thankfull for. I have a wing hanging on the plane. Only took a little over 3 years to get to this point. The shop has really gotten a lot smaller. Going to start on the strakes now. Then all the big pieces will be done except for cowlings. The wing makes a big table to put stuff on. I will be getting rid of my big 12' table after I build the strakes. STeve building on

TMann Said: I built an flew an 0235 C2C Longeze. It was not underpowered. It was an awsome airplane. Full fuel and 2 big guys it flew like a Cessna 152 One big guy (me) and half a tank of fuel it was a sports car. The plane was built light and flew vfr. You dont have to have a fuel guzzling auto motor or a heavier big Lycominig to make a Longeze a nice flying airplane. I built it like Burt said to and it flew like it was supposed to. Quit trying to sell car motors. STeve

I was going to make my own gear leg bow when I first started my project. But_____ When I figured out what it would cost to make a mold and the material for the gear leg cost almost $400 I decided to just buy the bow from feather lite. I am glad I did it saved me a bunch of time and probably money also. STeve

I have one other thing you might think about. When I started this project 3 years ago I was planning on using 335 resin I really thought it would be nice to use a resin that soaked in without a heat gun. Well it was not available for almost 3 months. I was anxious to start so I ordered eze poxy it was a bit cheaper. Now I am glad that I did It is much better stuff for building fuel tanks and I like brown airplanes. Just keep in mind some resins are made in this country are sometimes easier to get than resins made in other countries. my .02 Plus buying american stimulates our economy. STeve

Steve: The reason I knew to make it so the heads would not turn is that the ones on my Longeze did. I had to take a hack saw and cut slots in the ends of the screws so I could put a small screw driver on them when I tightend the bolts It was a pain but it worked. STeve building on

Keep a Loneze under 800# and you will have a sweet flying machine It is even better under 750# but that is really hard to do with a starter and big motor. STeve

aviator_edb said: My first order from ACS about 3 years ago had a big hole in the uni glass it went several layers deep into the roll. I called and they basically shined me on so I did like you and built around it. STeve

Those bolts are not stripped out and will not be replaced with clickbonds. I have had those bolts covered since day one. I also welded welding rod onto the heads of the bolts and then floxed them in. They wont turn either. STeve

Well I guess it is time for another update. I find it amazing how in one short afternoon My plane can grow so big and my shop can shrink so small. I mounted the center section spar yesterday afternoon and my shop will never be the same. Until I get rid of the table I will be walking around to get to the other side of the plane and the shop. I think after the strakes are done I can hang the table in the rafters. Steve building on

Since when is "Hardshelling" considered an approved building method by any of the Canard Designers? You aught to let nobs know this before telling them to do it. STeve Not hardshelling on

Most of the stuff we order for our planes especially the foam is fairly fragile and can take a beating when shipped. The brown box monkeys are pretty tough on stuff. My first order from ACS 3 years ago I was all excited to get started. I recieved a roll of uni glass that looked like someone had thrown a chunk of angle iron at it like a spear. It had a thumb size hole through almost 6 layers of the roll. Of course the package delivery guy was gone when I discoverd this. I built a spar for a fellow builder the urethane foam was broken badly so I cut around it and made it work. Just remember this is not rocket science and sand paper and saws are your friend. STeve building on