Stinky

This thread and the link to the article are just what I needed. My transponder antenna crapped out and I really do not want to take the wing of to get to it. (Yeah, I know the strake end is not ideal for this.) SInce this is much cheaper than another antenna fro the usual suspects, I'll fabricate one to put back under the pilot's seat until the next time the wings come off. Thanks for the quick pointer. Carl

I can't seem to edit the original post but here are the links I left out last time. http://www.sunmatecushions.com/sunmate.php http://www.rickmayercycle.com/foam.html Sunmate foam does have a fire-retardant coating that can be applied as an option. Another foam source is Dynamic Systems' Sunmate foam. (www.sunmatecushions.com/) It was developed by the same people that devoped Confor Foam. Here is a nice tutorial on building motorcycle saddles that goes into foam selection. Some of the techniques will transfer over into making the seats for your bird. Oh, btw, if you are sliding around worrying about your nads and tree roots, you probably have problems way beyond what a foam is going to be able to handle. Carl

Another foam source is Dynamic Systems' Sunmate foam. (www.sunmatecushions.com/) It was developed by the same people that devoped Confor Foam. Here is a nice tutorial on building motorcycle saddles that goes into foam selection. Some of the techniques will transfer over into making the seats for your bird. Oh, btw, if you are sliding around worrying about your nads and tree roots, you probably have problems way beyond what a foam is going to be able to handle. Carl

This is an interesting statement. BMW, Mercedes Benz and Porsche all use Glasurit-90 water based paints (wbp). BMW has been for about 10 years. Toyota and Lexus use waterbased paint also. Ford, Mazda, and GM are either switching or have already switched to waterborne paints. Granted, there are complaints of wbp paint being softer and scratching easier than the decade old solvent paints. However, I think wbp is fast becoming the standard in auto finishes. It has made leaps and bounds in the last few years and will continue to do so as concern is directed at the environmental costs of solvent based paints. For myself, I am keeping an open mind for now and keeping my ear to the press for further developments. I will not be using smoothprome though! Carl ref: quick googe search

See http://www.canardzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23637. (and http://www.canardzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2960) If I had the means - I'd be talking ot him. Carl

I have had problems with the splater sprays. I think I did use Valspar and I tried a glear coat over the top. It lasted a couple of months. You might try and get friendly with people in the local EAA chapter that do have spray equipment. It might be easy to work out an arrangement with your fellow club members. (Even the RV guys will work with plastic rats when you demonstrate what a really good person you are. ) Carl

I do not mean to hijack the thread into something else and will move this if need be. However this is an interesting question that deserves some thought. I read of a test that one could perform. This was back in 95-97 time-frame, so my memory is not complete but I seem to remember that one could place the gasoline in a glass jar and mark the side of the jar with a sharpie. Then add a small amount of water (maybe half the volume of the gasoline?) Cover the jar tightly and shake vigorously. Then let sit. Any alcohol in the gasoline was supposed to dissolve in the water and the gasoline / water line would shift if alcohol was present. Carl

You could start with words right out of the POH; (This is from my adaptation of the POH) "The Long-EZ is still a modern, high performance, custom built long range aircraft featuring advances in aerodynamics and structure to provide good utility, economy, comfort, simplicity and flight safety. This aircraft uses an experimental version of a proven certified aircraft engine, Lycoming O-320-E3D (150 hp.) It has an alternator powered electrical system and is equipped with an electric engine starter. The cockpit layout is designed to compliment pilot work load. Like modern fighter jets where workload minimization is essential, the throttle, mixture, carb heat, and pitch trim are on the left side console and side stick controller is on the right console. THe control stick contains pitch trim, air brake and raido buttons. Seating provides correct armrest, lumbar, thigh and headrest support allowing “recliner chair” comfort not found in most conventional aircraft seats. This allows long, fatigue free flights. The inboard portion of the large wing strakes are used as baggage areas accessible from the front and rear cockpit. These, combined with special suitcases and three other storage areas, provide nearly 10 cubic feet of baggage room. The original Long-EZ aircraft pioneered the use of the NASA developed winglet system which consists of an upper and lower cambered surface at each wing tip. The winglets are designed to offset the wingtip vortex and reduce induced drag. Similar winglets are now incorporated into military, corporate, and commercial aircraft to extend range and reduce fuel costs. The Long-EZ’s use of one way rudders in each winglet, makes use of the winglet camber to tailor the rudder forces. This results in low forces at low speeds where rudders are used, and higher forces at higher speeds where rudder deflection is not needed." You could include a stry about one or more of your long flights to visit family, see an airshow, of just fly for the pure elation of it. Carl

I think you will be okay. In one of his articles, maybe the same one you quote, Gary says that 84 is okay if postcured. Quoting the article, there are many ways to get the temperature up to 140 degrees F for seversl hours and that should be sufficient. To wit, "There are many ways to obtain a post cure on the tank. Before the tops are put on, you can use heat lamps to cure the inside surfaces. You can pre-post cure the inside surface of the top too. After the top is bonded in place you can post cure these bonds by heating the exterior surface with heat lamps. The heat will work its way to the bonds. OR, after the top of the tank is bonded on, you can circulate warm air through the tank for several hours. I did this with the outlet end of my vacuum cleaner inserted in to the fuel cap opening. About 140F is sufficient. RULE OF THUMB - If you can hold your hand on the surface to the count of 10 - the temperature is 140F or below. " --Gary Hunter Carl

Thanks Wayne. I read that article again just yesterday morning. (Link here - login required) It is not a bad article but it did not have what I was looking for in maximizing use of the foam sheets. My sheets, by the way are 82"X37" There is another EAA Article from August 1990 that goes into some more detail on carving the seat shapes (Figure 2) but it also lacks the cut out from bulk sheets. I was looking at the foam after I got home last night and it looks like I should just cut it into quarters so that I wind up with 41"X18.5". I am going to measure out at the hangar to make sure that will work - or come close enough so that I can splice in cut off pieces to make it work. I just looked at the second article again and lo and behold - there are dimensions that I should be able to extract. Doh! I guess I should have looked harder last night. This is not as easy as the former link that I had but should get me going. I think the old link was by a Squadron II member. Beagle - do you remember anything like that in your archives? Carl

On my old computer I used to have a couple of links that described how to cut full sheets of foam (conforfoam, temprafoam, sunmate, etc.) so that one could get four sets of seats out of a sheet of the foam. It also described the layering, lumbar supports and all manner of neat assembly tricks. (Note: multiple densities were used and the pattern accounted for that. Three sheets total yeilded four seat cushions.) Does anyone have a link like that that you can send me? I do not seem to be having much luck with the search on this site or on google. Thanks! Carl

Yep, 105 Resin. The hardener could be 206 but I think it was 205. (I'll check when I get home.) The temperature for the day is a mistype, t was actually closer to 60 when I did the fill (Nov 22). I mixed it up in a cleaned out Oxy-Clean bucket. I plopped the the whole mess on and spread out pretty fast but it was starting to kick off by the time I got up to the leading edges. I think I made up four batches in all. Carl

Thanks y'all. Wayne, you pretty much nailed it all. If I recall correctly the temps were hovering around 68F. I was mixing batches of West 205 with about 33% glass bubbles by weight. (Notes are at home but I think about 400g resin, 80g 205, 160g glass.) Pretty dry. I was also going kind of fast, without extra heat. The last time I tried to use heat it was about as hot as a stolen tamale around here and it didn't turn out to pretty. Maybe I should practice that some. I'll look for some mircolight and have a go at the big holes. Carl

Stuffing an O-540 into an O-360 hole and modifying for retracts both sound like rather large design changes to me. If I were to WAG that I'd say you would be adding at least 500-1000 hours to the build time. Carl

I took the risk and flew the first hours without time in type. I lived out in a remote area where there was not much to hit except for desert. I was also single and did not need to leave any benefits. Your circumstanses may vary. One other thing you will need to do is join EAA and or AOPA. My agent said I'd be paying extra if I was not a member of those at least one of those groups. Carl

What you are seeing is actually the remnants of the last paint job. Yes, it does appear to be that wavy but it had flown when I bought it and I have put another couple hundred hours on it before this undertaking. The only two places I am starting to see cloth are up on the leading edge curve. You can make out a line just about directly above the right side of the first aileron attach cut out. On that line, near the left I am just starting to see cloth. Oh, there is a bit showing at the trailing edge too, whoops. The rest is old layers of primer and paint. Seems it had been painted twice before I bought it! One note of interest, just before the big fill I did wipe with epoxy and let it tack up. I added a black dye to the epoxy based on some articles by West Systems. The dye powder was water based and it did make it easier to see when I was sanding in close to the primer. Unfortunately, when I washed the wing off some of the dye activated! That left the streaks and the black cross hatching that you can see. I hope I have not totally hosed myself and that the final epoxy build up will encapsulate that. Carl

Maybe this would be better in another thread but it is related to the frfinish on the wing. It seems my "big fill" coat of micro did not go on very well. There are several places where there was trapped air and as I sanded through they showed up. Some of them are large, on the order of .04 deep. Is that too deep for the Bird finishing technique? Should I hit these with more micro and maybe underfill? If I bring it to almost surface level then the epoxy wipes would take care of the rest. I looked through the posts but my search expressions are not comming up with good matches so I apologize if this has been discussed before. Carl P.S. Okay, time for my best Homer Simpson imitation, "Doh!" I just came across Wayne Hicks' poste where he states, "Almost all the pinholes and large scratches got filled. And I'm talking about very big pinholes, like the size of small peas." So, I guess I'll be epoxying the next time the temps get over 60 for a couple of days here in N. TX. (Maybe I need to look for posts on heating garages...)

Imagine loosing one of your favorite parts! I wonder what the power to weight ratio is? The video proves that one should never, ever give up; fly it as far into the accident as possible. (And carry a spare set of shorts.) Carl

Cheap MS Paint Nose Job attached. Any better? Didn't this aircraft just sell on ebay? There may be some more pictures there.

Version 1.1 corrects the cost with and with out reserves on the "Total Hourly Operating Costs" tab. Still wish I could figure out how to remove the Version 1.0 copy. Carl EZ_CostPerHour_1.1.xls

The O-290-G is even harder to price. If I recall corectly, I got $1700 for mine on e-bay and was happy to get it. I put it on a pallet and the buyer sent a trucking companny to pick it up. It sold as a core and I kept mags, wires, carb, starter, alternator, etc, even the dipstick. If you think the price is too low don't worry, you will still be happy with the 320. Just one price point.

I am looking for tips on refinishing a wing. Are there easy ways for one person to work on the top surface and then flip the wing over to work on the bottom? What about the ground getting in the way of the winglet when I have the bottom side up? Should I just dig a hole in the ground for clearance. Maybe build a platform to put the sawhorses on? I have adjustable sawhorses but they only go up to about 39 inches and it looks like I need at least 47". Also, sanding the long wing surfaces in horizontal position is relatively easy, what is the best way to refinish the contour of the winglets?

The Duats flight planners are not bad and are web bases. While I have not flown in a while, I have used both versions (http://www.duats.com - CSC and http://www.duat.com - DTC). Frequencies at the time were still "old school" and you add them to the plan after printing it out. Both versions can be used from most any FBO's computer, no membership required. The graphics are not as pretty, but they work. By the way - great job on planning the flight and flying the plan. That is a good example to be setting! Carl

I do not know how to edit the message to include an updated version of the workbook. Cells D12 and E12 on the Total Operating Expense tab are reversed. D12 should read without reserves and E12 should read with reserves. Also, the entries on the Fixed Expenses tab represents Yearly costs. The total at the bottom represents those costs as an hourly cost. Sorry, that was not stated in a note or something. Please let me know if you find other mistakes or errors in the model. Carl

I have been playing around with an excel workbook to calculate operating costs. I release it to public domain and welcome any feedback or improvements. There are worksheets for Total Operating Expense Direct Costs Variable Costs Fixed Expenses Reserves and Capital Expenses. I have not really done anything with the Capital Expenses though as I am figuring the aircraft as a sunk cost. A clever person could play around with interst rates, estimates for amortization or appreciation, etc. There are no nasty macros to worry about so if you see any macro warnings, it is not my file. Carl EZ_CostPerHour.xls