jodava

With about 14,000 hours of time, having flown Lears and other small jets, large turboprops, and along the way about 1,000 hours in taildraggers of all kinds, my question is this: Vibration. I've never ridden in or flown a plastic/foam airplane yet and maybe I'm totaly wrong; however, I can't help but think that some of the vibration is absorbed by the foam and glass, consequently a better ride. I'd appreciate any comments as to the difference, if any. Everybody have a great day...........j

Before I offer my thoughts on this, I probably know what everybody is going to be thinking....is he crazy? Maybe. Of all the reading I've done, I've never read anything about anybody using gel coat as a final finish. Many years ago I used to work with gel coats and resins as I owned and operated a small marine repair yard and did quite a bit of prototyping for some boat manufacturers and was involved in other projects building plugs and molds. For those who have never done this kind of work before, or who have limited knowledge and or experience, the process of using gel coat may seem like a long and arduous process compared to filling, priming and painting, which seems to be the only type of finish I've read about. My question is how does gel coat wear on an aircraft insofar as stress cracks and wear in general? I know that on a boat the cracks will, eventually almost inevitably appear around the hardware attachment points such as chain plates, cleats and winches. Anybody have any comments or experience with kit planes that have gel coat as a final finish or what they've done themselves? My personal preference is gel coat, as I don't think you can beat the depth and luster once sanded and polished out.. I know that gel coats have improved tremendously from what I used years ago, so the gloss should be very satisfactory, but certainly not as great as Imron or any other paint.The weight of gel coat and Imron are close. Gel coat weighs about one and a half to two pounds more per gallon, varying with color. When sprayed properly, the first coat of gel coat can fill almost all pin holes and fill the weave in most places enough to be blocked and sanded to a flat or fair finish. Spray a second coat, then sand and polish. Sanding gel coat isn't too bad if it's sanded within the first couple of days after spraying as it is rather soft within that timeframe. It's a lot work I know, and is probably more work than filling, priming and painting, but again, that's my preference. If anybody has done this, and can testify to the longevity, I'd appreciate it. Everybody have a good day.....

Email me. jodava1966@yahoo.com. I can help you.

Hello everyone and a Merry Christmas to all.... I bought an original set of Long EZ plans in '83, but didn't buy the O-235 engine installation plans. Shame on me. I don't think Santa is going to drop a set down the chimney tonight, so I'm doing the next best thing...asking here. Maybe this should be posted in the engine section? I've looked at all of the old posts here and on other sites, but maybe I've missed something. Any plans to make the original engine installation plans (along with the large rudder plans, ect; and all the other stuff that RAF quit selling this year) a part of the open EZ project, or is that the property of TERF? The TERF CD is just too expensive to get what I need, but I might have to. Of course I belong to EAA and then there's ebay. You never know. Thanks Jon and to others who have kept this site going. And to everyone a great buildin' and flyin' 2008!!

I've been reading about the mods to operate the EZ off grass. Obviously inspection of the strip is required beforehand.....the smoother the better I suppse. Any experiences, ie; parts for the mod, suppliers of those parts, and anything else would be appreciated.........j

Question....I flew for a living for 20 years before losing my vision in my left eye 6 years ago; however, in my other life, I was in the marine business operating a small repair yard for several years and eventually ended up doing some minor design work and a lot of prototyping. I have built and faired many plugs and hulls, so I have confidence that the finish will come out beautifully. It's all the other stuff in between that I'm concerned with now. Like most folks, I like to save money doing this project, but certainly not to the point of compromising saftey in any way. I can purchase Divinycell through several suppliers that I used to deal with at a substantial saving and I'm assured that the quality is the same as provided by the well known homebuilt suppliers. Any comments as to the differences in grades of foam and experiences would certainly be appreciated.......j

Question....I flew for a living for 20 years before losing my vision in my left eye 6 years ago; however, in my other life, I was in the marine business operating a small repair yard for several years and eventually ended up doing some minor design work and a lot of prototyping. I have built and faired many plugs and hulls, so I have confidence that the finish will come out beautifully. It's all the other stuff in between that I'm concerned with now. Like most folks, I like to save money doing this project, but certainly not to the point of compromising saftey in any way. I can purchase Divinycell through several suppliers that I used to deal with at a substantial saving and I'm assured that the quality is the same as provided by the well known homebuilt suppliers. Any comments as to the differences in grades of foam and experiences would certainly be appreciated.......j

Hello to All, I am a new member as of 7/31/07. I joined the EAA several months ago and I'm back after 22 years. I purchased a set of Long EZ plans about 1985. I now have time to see this project through and I'm determined that it will be completed. I flew for 20 years and lost my vision in my left eye. Anyway, from what I've read this morning there's a lot out there insofar as links, info, ect; simply a wonderful source. My immediate question or questions are several. 1) I only purchased Section 1 of the plans and as I remember Section 2 included the engine installation plans. Can I get these? 2) I realize that the plans need to be updated via the Canard Pusher, so where, or can I find the back issues and is this still how the updates are done? Is this info. consolidated in one place? 3) One or two templates are missing and can I obtain these anywhere? I could go on and on with questions, so I'll just ask for any comments, links and other sources of information that will put in my grasp the necessary updates to get this thing started. Again, I'm glad to be back, and especially here in this forum. Thanx.........john