Bearair

The project is sold. A gentleman in Australia purchased it. The crater/shipper picked it up yesterday. It will be crated next week and then head down under! Thanks to you all for the help and tips. I hope to be back building eventually.

To tell the truth, if things keep going the way they're going now, I'll be taking up an Open-EZ project eventually. I won't need more than 2 seats. One for me and one for some baggage.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the suggestions. To make a long story short, my wife of 16 years has been going through some major changes the last year. She's lost a bunch of weight (her choice) and there are some major emotional issues stemming back to loss of a family member. I don't want to go into much detail as the internet is forever, but I'll say that she's changed to the point that I'm not sure how much longer things will go on. We've always been a team but now she's decided that she wants to be more liberated. She's not happy, so she's taking it out on me. I'm just going to sell the project in hopes that the "money for the project" argument will go away. Once the project is gone, I'm really not expecting anything other than one less thing to be unhappy about. I'm going to be getting rid of some other stuff in the shop as well. I don't feel like moving it if this ends up badly in 6 months.

It's in the hangar currently which is nice storage. I'm not in a huge hurry to move it, but I'm not going to get back to it. I've decided that a plane project and my wife are incompatible. Didn't seem like it was going to be that way as we've discussed it for some time, but the reality is bothering her now. I REALLY wanted to build this. But I know when I'm paddling upriver.

Well people, I hate to admit it, but I'm going to put it all up for sale. My wife and I have been having "issues" regarding the project. It's become a big point to argue about in the last month, and I realize that there's no way to complete a project of this magnitude without support. I'm not going to ruin my marriage over it. It wasn't an issue a few months ago, but it is now. If anyone is interested, drop me a line at Ursam128@aol.com or phone me at 206-861-3878. I'd like to get $7500 out of everything. The previous owner had a bit over $12K in it when he stopped. I'm not happy about this, but I think it's the best course of action.

Currently a Volvo technician. I start a degree program in IT design February 1st. Between that and plane building I plan to have free time in about 2011. I'm still trying to get the shop done so I can move the project over from the hangar.

Read through the whole site, and Variprop claims that a 2 blade weighs less than 16 lbs. If that's the case, then a 3 blade would probably come in less than 25. If that's the case, I'll be interested when I get closer to done!

Congratulations! My wife and I just recently purchased a Cozy IV project also. We're in Southwestern ID a couple hours from Steve. Good luck on the Long EZ. I always wanted to build one, but the wife says we need more room for cargo. And remember, it was an icicle! Yeah, that's it, an icicle...

"and when he finally came to, Drew decided to reconsider not paying his elves a Christmas bonus this year..."

I was thinking more along the lines of 'suckerfish'.

I appreciate the input. I'll keep working on insulating the shop over the next few weeks. I'll see how it works out. I also need to put in better lighting. If everything goes well, I should be ready to move the fuselage over here by the end of December.

I'm still working on insulating the shop. I wouldn't even try to heat the hangar. I've got a hot box for the epoxy, and I was going to put the glass, micro and flox in the insulated work area in the end of the shop temporarily. I can heat that room with a space heater. I was figuring I could do the layups in the shop around 65 or so, and then put a tent over them and keep them at 85 or higher. Does that sound like a viable plan or do I need to get the whole area warmer? Thanks!

Did some work today checking components against the parts list and checking layups in the fuselage against the layup schedule in chapter 6. Everything looks good so far. Stopped by Lowes on the way home and picked up some insulation for the garage door on the shop. The door on the shop is steel with no insulation, so I cut double sided foil insulation to bond to the inside of the panels tonight (it's foil layered with a plastic inner structure and then another layer of foil). Supposed to be R-5 value in a garage door. It makes a difference as the door no longer feels like it's radiating cold into the shop. Next step is to insulate the ceiling. Then the walls and some better lighting. Hope to have that done before the end of next month. I want to move the fuselage into the shop to get going on it.

I let it run for about 45 minutes. The outside temp was 26 degrees just a bit ago. The shop is quite a bit warmer than outside temp, but nowhere near 70. I'd put it about 55. I need to insulate the ceiling and close a part of the roof off at the eave. I knew that going in. Also, if it ran longer it would have been warmer. The point isn't to get it up to 70, but to keep it warm enough for me to work in! I'll use a frame and tent over layups with an electric heater keeping them warm.

Picked up a kerosene heater today. I'm planning on heating the shop with that when I'm working, then set up a tent over parts for curing. I'll be using an electric heater for that (Vornado) since the elements don't get red hot and they have a fan to move air. I should be able to work in the wintertime that way. I'm going to be testing it out in the shop tonight to see if it will heat well enough. I'm pretty sure it will.

And they make great light sabers when attached to flashlights! Hey, if you're going to build something that looks like a space fighter, you need to have at least one lightsaber with you right? They are called 'golf club seperators' and there's actually several patents for them.

The fuselage was moved to his hangar and his workshop was at the house. He ended up making a LOT of the inside pieces, all of the hardware, cut most of the foam and several other steps. He hadn't glassed the bottom yet. He was using two part foam to level the low spot in the rear that they all have. It's not done on both sides of the duct yet, but it's close. That's the first thing I'm going to do when we bring it back to the shop. Other than that, the bottom is ready to glass. Once the sides are shaped, they're about ready to glass. I think he ran out of glass and did all he could without it. That's fine with me, as I was happy to get all the parts and pieces without a hugely complete project. I want to build it myself! I've got two gallons of MGS 335 so I just need some glass, some flox, some micro and I'm in there.

More pics #1 Steve Wright nose lift #2 N number 77 Charlie Zulu! They're purple #3 Epoxy scale #4 Pre-cut foam wing cores, winglet cores and canard cores. Lots of extra foam. Seat bottoms and sides, headrests, rear armrests #5 What we fly in the meantime. She's being very patient sharing some of her "space" with the project Hope this gives you guys some idea. There are a bunch of things I didn't take pictures of like a couple boxes of extra foam sheet, the hot box, the epoxy, etc. There's more hardware than I showed in the pics.

More pics. #1 Cleveland Super Heavy Duty brakes. #2 Gear bow (Featherlite) #3 Hardware. Lot's of it #4 Gear leg (Featherlite) hard points and CH products joysticks #5 Canopy strut and all the latch rods with shark latch

More pictures. #1 is all the extra forms and guides. I got EVERYTHING that the previous owner had used to build with except his tools. I've also got an extra seat back, extra bulkheads, longerons, etc. The previous owner had another person building with him with another set of plans. They were building two of everything, and the other builder bailed after about 6 months. #2 is just some of the templates I have. They are on formica and look like they'll work well. Some were used for making the metal parts. #3 is the Featherlite cowlings. #4 is the leading edge box (Featherlite). I only pulled off the top to look in. They've never been unpacked. #5 is the rudder pedals.

Went out to the hangar this afternoon before dinner and took pictures. There's a couple that didn't come out, but most of them did. Needed to log it all into Kitlog so I can start keeping records of the whole process. Going to try posting a couple pics to see if it works for me. The first 4 are the tub. The last is the turtleback (Featherlite)

Congrats on getting going! I was in the same boat 3 years ago. Let me chime in as being on the side of getting your license and then renting. Make sure you like to fly before you start building simply so you don't end up with an expensive bit of fiberglass in your shop after you find out that something about flying bothers you. I'd always wanted to build since I was a kid. I saw a BD-5 jet at an airshow in the 70's and I was HOOKED! The idea that you could build your own plane just did it for me. Bit of background. I've ALWAYS wanted to fly. When I started training a bit over 3 years ago, I found out quickly that lessons in stall recovery left my stomach behind. Same in moderate turbulence. I had issues with airsickness for my first 7-8 lessons. So, I was up to about 10 hours of loving the flying but getting airsick during hard maneuvering or stall recovery. I was determined to get past it, and then one day it just didn't bother me anymore. I guess it was kind of like getting your sea legs or something. The reason I bring this up is, make sure you CAN fly in a small plane first, and then decide to build. I had several people at work ask me why I flew if it made me sick and my reply to them was "because some day it won't." I'd been flying for several months and had gotten over my hump thoroughly before we made the final decision to build. We ended up starting an RV9A tail kit to get a taste about 2 years ago. Loved the building, but I was about done with my ticket and realized that we didn't have much for rentals here in our area. We ended up researching certified stuff and purchased a Beechcraft Musketeer. It's a nice, solid flying plane with decent handling, a roomy cockpit and 4 seats. Downside is, it's not that fast (108-110 knots). Climb is good and it's a solid plane to learn IFR in which is what I plan on doing next spring. We've purchased a MK IV project and will get going on it in a month or two as money and space become available (setting up shop). We've owned our plane through two annuals and quite a bit of upkeep. She's in great shape, but parts get worn out on these planes that sometimes don't get replaced. We're replacing, repairing or rebuilding ANYTHING questionable. When we finally sell her, someone is going to get a great deal. Everyday we're all getting one day closer to losing our medicals. My recommendation is to GET FLYING. Do whatever you have to. Get a second job to pay for the lessons, just get flying. You won't regret it!

Got out to the hangar today and verified that the F28 is 6.25 aft of F22. Also, it's through chapter 6 (not 7) and several other parts from later chapters have been completed. The previous builder noted any changes from the newsletters in the original plans so there are annotations and dimension changes written in at the correct places. We cleaned up the tarps and pads that we left hanging to dry out, moved the fuselage onto a pair of steel saw horses (new folding kind, kinda neat) and put other parts away. Picked up a set of electric scissors for cutting glass also. Next weekend I'm planning on getting a heater for the shop and then making a plan for the lighting. There are only two fixtures in the shop right now, and I NEED MORE LIGHT. Depending on money next month, I'm going to try to get the order in for some glass, flox, micro and mixing stuff. I've still got two good gallons of MGS 335 that I can use. I've got a couple bottles of two part foam to complete the levelling off of the rear area of the fuselage next to the NACA duct also. The previous builder did part of it, but not all. Since I've got the stuff, I think I'll give it a go shortly. All I need is a good long board to shape it.

Thought someone might be interested in this. Nearly done Cozy III with a beautiful 13B and new redrive. Everything for only $17,500. http://www.barnstormers.com/cat.php?mode=search&PHPSESSID=051b314a40490a06bb977856fb083399

Yeah, the plans are second edition, but I've got the Cozy newsletters up to number 91 Oct 2005. The previous builder added all the corrections and additions to the narrative and the drawings in the plans. I'll doublecheck that bulkhead though. Thanks!