JTest

G'day Bruce A female not ice prone, therefore, no need for heating and the associated issues... Anyone that can add some details please? No such thing a female not ice prone. I know of none. Just say the wrong thing and the temp in the house will drop 10 degrees. If it does exist I know I don't have enough money for one.... Happy New Year, Jeff

G'day Maybe have the puck actuate the lever. When the nose is up the pitot gets erect. Now that wood cause pitot envy! And scare the sheep in NZ! Jeff

Another option is to build a fiberglass foam core housing to fit over the Pitot. Only glass the outside leave the inside foam. Install the housing when on the ground and paint it Radioactive red/yellow with "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" written all over it. Put a couple of Radioactive Decals on it and put a little phone vibrater on the box so it hmmmms. Nobody will get near it. I may use some of the foam for my elevators to make one.... You get me a Pitot and I will make you one in trade. Jeff

G'day I have to agree with the builders here. I used a hand saw to cut the foam and my perma-grit blocks to sand them. I spent several hours thinking I needed to sand everything just so. Later you will find that you will use tape to cover any mistakes on the edges. I actually think if they are perfectly strait you will never know. Kind of like painting your house crawl space.... I also think I have seen this question several times in the last year (bulkheads, instrument panel...). The results were the same each time, spend the time working on getting the layups correct. Do as you wish, but when you get to Chapter 7 you will wonder why you went to all the effort.... Hope this is some help..... Jeff

G'day Wayne is right, but I guess we could still cut it at 45 degrees just to make it harder. LOL Or better yet use the wrong instructions and just redo the whole chapter. That way you really don't care if you have a few fibers. You'll just be happy to get something done without a redo-over again! Bloody stupid of me! Jeff

G'day all First I want to say if you or anybody you know is using the TERF CD to build the OPEN EZ (like I am) and building the Roncz Canard (like I thought I was); DO NOT use the plans Chapter 10 or 11. The Roncz Canard build is different! I have been told that if an educational copy of the AeroCanard is available it is the best set of plans (oh, if anybody has a copy for educational purposes I would like a copy to review). I want to thank a couple of members that pointed out my Chapter 11 Elevator Tubes needed the inserts cut before being attahed to the foam cores. The bad news is it was after I had applied the top skins.... We need to get some of these critical changes posted sooner rather than later. Just my 2 cents. Jeff

G'day all OPEN EZ Builders First I want to thank Rick and several other folks in this forum. You may have just saved my arse! I managed to do a real OMG! It seems I used the TERF CD LONGEZ Chapter 10 & 11 to build my Roncz Canard and elevator. PLEASE NOTE all OPEN EZ Builders to use the Roncz Canard instructions posted in another .PDF on the TERF CD. If you don't you just may DIE. Please take a few minutes and look at the last two months postings.... They will need to be redone. I do not trust my life with them. I think the canard is good, but not willing to die if it isn't. Oh, I do think we need to rewrite Chapters 10 & 11 and get them posted in the OPEN EZ project. I feel kind of stupid, but I hope somebody else doesn't make this mistake. Thanks again for the folks that pointed out that my bacon was hanging out. Now I will need to pony up the money to make another canard. This is one big do over..... I guess it is cheap compared to cashing in the chips early. Oh, I have ordered the Parts from the Cozy Girrls. You were right again TMann. I will cut the foam cores this weekend. Jeff

G'day I managed to get the top skins layup applied today. I have attached a couple of pictures. I welcome constructive comments. Jeff

G'day mfryer I am building a Roncz canard. You are correct the cutouts are not in the tubes. The plans don't call for the cut outs to be cut into the tube until after the skins are layed up. Jeff

G'day If you plan to use ILS or LOC approaches you will need a Nav antenna. Jeff

G'day I am looking for some .pdf drawings of the parts that need to be made for the elevators. I have started the chapter, but can't finish without any drawings to make the attachment parts and lead weights. If anybody has plans would you be so kind to post them? Thanks in advance! Jeff

G'day Today I managed to epoxy the elevator foam cores to the elevator tubes. I clamped the tubes to steel beams covered with plastic. I then made some wed micro and costed inside the foam cores. I then attached the foam cores to the alodined elevator tubes. I have attached a couple of pictures. Jeff

G'day Yesterday, I had a couple of hours to Alodine the Elevator Tubes. I went to the hardware store and purchased two 10' PVC electrical conduit tubes (cheaper than 4' plumbing PVC). Be sure to measure the inside diameter of one of the PVC tubes is about 1 1/2" diameter. The second 10' PVC tube should have an outside diameter of 1 1/4". Cut the PVC tubes into two 4' lengths. I PVC glued a PVC end cap on one end and cut the tube just over 4' long. Cut a second 4' tube and also PVC glue an encap on it. (See Picture) The second tube will be used to rinse. Prep the aluminum tubes by rubbing them inside and out with steel wool. Then using Dawn dish soap and water to wash the tubes. Rinse with distilled water. Dry the Aluminum elevator tubes. Empty the dish soap (I use this to clean my windows and aircraft windshild). Leave the Rinse (you will use it later) I put the 80" aluminum tube into the alodine and moved the aluminum up and down for about 3 minutes. (See picture) Rinse in the second tube and then treat the opposite side and rinse. Let dry. Repeat for the 64" tube. Drain the Alodine into a plastic container (a funnel is useful here). Drain the rinse out also. The second tube should have the outside diameter of 1 1/4". This will be the sanding tube. I saw this idea on a Cozy builder website. I modified it some. I mixed some 5 minute epoxy and glued some 50 grit sand paper to the outside of the second tube. I then placed the tube inside the other tube to hold for the epoxy dry. I then taped the edges with duct tape. I ran the tube inside the elevator foam cores to sand them so the aluminum tubes would fit. (see picture) Jeff

G'day In the picture you may note there really are no instructions on how to use each blade. This may seem like a stupid question, but does anybody know if there are any YouTube videos on the use of the blades or another site? I don't like the idea of learning on the canard I just took a month to build..... Thanks; Jeff

G'day all It was pointed out to me that in the first picture I have made a mistake. Please note the spar ends have the 2 1/4 " diameter holes cut in them called out in step 21 of chapter 14. Well after I reviewed the plans I see that these holes should be cut from the bottom of the spar at B.L. 53.5 (just like the Bloody plans instructs). I mounted and Sc#*%d the pooch on this one. Page 14-4 of the plans shows B.L. 53.5 between the aluminum inserts. I plan to correct this bloody stupid mistake by glassing some extra foam and floxing into the spar endcaps. This should enclose the spar endcaps and I will then cut the 2 1/4" diameter holes in the bottom as instructed in step 12 of the plans. I welcome any other ideas or opinions. It seems others have cut access holes in the endcaps (I have been told the Cozzzy girls did on their cozy to mount landing gear). Any ideas would be some help. Thanks in advance for any constructive ideas. Jeff

G'day Wayne Thanks for the quick reply; I didn' see the weight anywhere in the plans or in the forum. I want to make sure my construction weights are in the normal range. Thanks again; Jeff

G'day I just wanted know what is the weight of the canard. I just finished construction of chapter 10 and would like to check. Thanks in advance. Jeff

G'day I want to thank my friend Bernie for his assistance with the upper skin of the canard layup. He got to mix epoxy and helped get the glass cloth on the foam. He was a big help. Thanks again, Bernie! I'm sorry the lunch wasn't that good maybe next time. Oh, we managed to get about 4 hours of work on the canard. We managed to install the two layers of UNI, one layer of BID, the last layer of UNI, and peel ply the canard. We then went for a plane flight for lunch. A GREAT day! I have attached two pictures of the canard as it sits curing in the hanger. I will do the finish work on Sunday. I welcome constructive comments or questions. Jeff

G'day Yesterday the UPS truck left this at my door from Harbour Freight. Take a look. I put it on the workbench and snapped a pic of what is in the box. I don't have an origional to compair, but maybe some of you folks that know the real thing can comment. Hope this helps.....but for $49.95 if it is half as good as the real deal it is a steal.... All the bits are on my workbench that come in the box. I welcome constructive comments or questions. Jeff

G'day TMann Thanks! I didn't plan to get that much done. I usually over estimate what can be done. I have started a new policy not to start a layup after 3:00 PM. The other day I got back from the hanger at 7:00 PM for dinner because I started a layup after 3:30 PM. My wife was not impressed. I use the time to prep for the next day or clean-up the work area. It seems there are an endless number of 45 minute jobs.... What has been your progress on the basement shop and the Main Spar? I have so many parts in the hanger I will need to start sticking them together soon. Thanks again; Jeff

G'day Today is Black Friday 2008, I didn't do any shopping but did get the Glideslope antenna, foam cutouts, and canard top spar cap installed. I have attached some pictures of the antenna install. I made the copper foil dipole antenna and routed the RG400 cable in front of the canard shearweb. I also installed duct tape around the layup areas to protect the foam during the layup. I removed the tape after the layup was completed. I welcome constructive comments. Jeff

G'day Had a few hours over Thanksgiving day to get some work done on the canard top. I have attached a couple of pictures of the 1" foam and cutouts I make. I used 4 6"X10" 1/4" foam and micro them together and then put into a large ziplock bag. I then placed a 1/4" piece of plywood and weights on top and let cure overnight. I used a some scrap foam to make a template for the foam 8 plugs that are placed into the cutouts. I welcome constructive comments. Hope you had a great turkey day! Enjoy! Jeff

G'day TMann I wish I had known about the BID vs. UNI when I built mine in June/July. I think the finished spar was around 54 lbs according to the bathroom scale. I looked back and see I forgot to thank you for the Alodine post. I followed up and purchased it from Wicks. Thanks. I am using it to treat the aluminum parts I am making for the carard (Chapter 10) I am building. What has been your delay on the spar? I see you started in July. I moved my shop to another hanger back in late July and then took the family to Oz and Fiji to visit rellies in Aug. Had to rebuild the shop Sep and 1/2 Oct. Hope to finish the canard, Chapter 10, this weekend.... Thanks again for the advice! Jeff

G'day JCP The Zener diode is the switch. I used them in variable antennas on the Guardrail \ Quicklook \ Common Sensor airborne platform. By applying forward or reverse bios the zener will block or pass signals. The a/c used six different radios to listen and three to communicate on several bands. I do not question your experience. I only said that it can be done, and the price is around $400 for the CI601 if you shop it. I think it may be possible to get one second hand for less. Thank you for the RF 101 lesson. Do you think a 50 ohm terminal load from Radio Shack would work as a dummy load? Jeff

G'day SAF_Zoom Great! I also used to be an aircraft tech (ASQ38 B-52 G/H) and Flight Test technician Pax River NAS and NPGS. I have experience with the emergency medical scissors with avionics installs, but have not used them with the glass. I feel $20 for the Weiss is a good investment in a quality tool that is tried. My posts are directed at the quantity and quality of comments. I have experienced comments/ideas from lurkers/newbies speaking as they knew from experience in the past that didn't work. The success and completion rate on these projects is fairly low in a small part from poor quality advice from members that don't know from practical experience. Advice and building tips should be from knowledge and experience in my opinion. The builders here may just be betting their lives on it later. Welcome and good luck on the build. I look forward to your building progress. Jeff