David Clifford

Thane flies into a small private airport where I hanger my plane near my house to pick me up In Cozy MKIV N 656TE every once in a while so he can shoot instrument approaches while I act as safety pilot. 45G is 3120' X 24' paved asphalt in mediocre condition with trees at both ends. A Long EZ is based there. Last week at take-off we were loaded with 34 gallons of fuel and baggage pods attached. Left the nose ballast in the hanger, front seats loaded with 385#, temps were 38*F, 5knt. headwind, field elevation 973'. I will estimate we had only about 500-600' of runway left before the mains left the ground and we used every foot of the take-off end of the runway. An older Mooney had taken off before us and used about 1000' before the wheels left the ground and he was climbing out like a home sick angel at the half way mark already 100' agl! Thane has gotten really good on his landings, (thanks Marc!), and nails the threshold lines just about everytime. This landing hit the numbers right on and using medium braking and full rudder deflection barely made the last taxi turn off which is about 400' from the end of the runway. I don't know how that compares to other MKIV's and his plane is a bit heavy. Keep you planes light people!

Glad to hear that they still do the "practical" for this training. It gives the students something to look forward to after what is otherwise a boring week of classroom instruction. Back when I did that in '82, we had the old "breathalyzer" machines where you ran the sample through the glass ampules. I was one of two operators on the whole midnight shift and got burned out real quick dealing with the obnoxious drunks and let my certification run out by "failing" the recert class twice in a row after about 6 years of doing it. The bosses finally got the message that I was not going to do it any longer and sent some less senior Officer's through the class for their turn. Good luck and enjoy it while you still have the desire to serve! Dave Clifford Retired after 28 years

Her is a link to the Sonicrafter. This is a much better quality unit than the HF model for sure and the specs are similiar to the Fein at half the price! I have found that with HF power tools, you get what you pay for. FWIW, Fein's patent recently expired, that is why we are seeing some knock-offs now. https://www.sonicrafter.com/index.asp

You can get the part you need directly from Vans: www.vansaircraft.com

After 9 years of building, mostly one full day per week, Cozy MKIV plans #656 took to the sky for the first time. The maiden flight was made by owner Thane Ostroth on 6/21/08 from Pontiac Oakland Airport here in Michigan. It was an uneventfull flight according to Thane. Cylinder #2 temps dropped slowly and pretty much stopped firing after climb out and the pitch trim decided to stop working also. The problem with cylinder #2 turned out to be a clogged fuel injector (Superior IO-360) and the pitch trim (Strong) is binding up. 2.5 hours so far into Phase 1 flight testing and we work on the problems as they come up.

Where are they at and do they have logs? How many hours,,,ect. Thanks

Thanks for the replies everyone. We found a local EAA Chaapter willing to loan us theirs free of charge!

Does anyone have or know of anyone who has a set of scales to loan or rent??? We need them in about a month to do our weight and balance. Thanks!

We kept any scrap pieces larger than 6" triangular and ended up using most of it throughout the bid. VERY little ended up in the trash can. It is surprising how many times I found myself reaching into the scrap box for that "just the right size" piece needed,,,,,and found it!! By the way Edge 513,,,,,that is some REALLY nice looking work in your photo!!

My understanding is that the glass we use for the Rutan composites were/are manufactured by Hexel according to Rutan specifications. I don't want to sound like a broken record but it's worth bringing out again because it is factual based on my own experiance. We had to trash TWO(2) nearly completed canards because dust insisted on using an unapproved source for the glass order . It supposedly was manufactured by Hexel and was the Rutan weave called for in the plans. I have to admit,,,it looked like the real deal. But it would not conform to the curve on the leading edges,,,no matter what we tried to do to hold it in place!! The canards cured in a state of distress that we ended up chopping them up and starting over. Weight wise the fabrics were the same and you could not see any difference by looking close with the naked eye. It was only upon magnification and picking and counting threads could the difference's be found. Even after that fiasco he can't admit that it was a bad idea and continues to preach that you can use ANY glass and as many plies as needed so long as the weight comes out the same, piecing together scraps from the garbage as if we are building paper machai airplane piniottas! Using non-approved materials and following hearsay advice can be a deadly combination.

I believe that he (Nat) was alluding to the possibility that he did not "buy" the materials he used to build the Cozy 111,,,,,,,that the materials were "salvaged" from the scrap bin at the place he worked, 3M. Most companies refere to it as "shrinkage",,,,and I am not talking about size here! Anyone who has EVER worked at any kind of a shop or factory knows exactly what I am talking about. Dust interperated that to mean you can use any glass available so long as the weave and weights add up. That is pure nonsence.

The village idiot continues his montra,,,,even over here. Don't let the door hit you in the a-- on your way out!

We are very near completion of Cozy MKIV #656 and should have it out to the hanger in March for taxi testing. Thane, the owner, is looking for someone to volunteer some right or left seat stick time in their flying Cozy to help him get a feel for flying a canard before that first flight. He does not belong to any of the forums and has asked me to check the groups for him. Anywhere in the U.S.A. will do and he does not need a host or anything like that. Just a couple hours to get the feel of the controls and some basic informal instruction. Any costs or expenses will of course be reimbursed. Thanks for any help. Dave Clifford

I have heard from a reliable source that it is official; The inmate is in charge of the insaneisylum.

Guy, No need to lash out at Marc for his response. After you have been around a while, you will see that that is his style of writing. It is not meant to be condesending, just to the point and factual based on experiance and real data. Now,,,had he or anyone else failed to respond to your questions,,,,,THAT would be a tragedy. Read and learn Grasshopper,,,,,read and learn.

I believe that all the old posts will be on the new server when its up and running,,,at least thats the impression I got. At this point,,,why bother. I see a lot of names I recognize from the Canard Aviation Forum from years past that left a long time ago and are here.

There were a few HM-3 ends in the Cozy MKIV plans, however one of the news letters had a mandatory replacement to HM-4's, as some were found bent on an inspection such as yours on someones plane. That was early in our build so we put in the HM-4's when we got to that point.

I have aso used the Replaceatone sold by AS&S. It works about as well as vinegar so save your $$. Vinegar is a good pre cleaner,,,then finish up with the mix.

Ok,,,just keep an area open for his irrigation well. He will never know your there!

Don't you have a hanger with skorija you can move into?? I know its not as convienant as having the plane at your house but you will have a lot more room. I have seen Neverquit's work shop. It is absolutly amazing what he has accomplished in a one car garage!

There is a another reason to stay away from MEK. Not only are the fumes extreemely hazardous to your health to breath in, solvents are obsorbed through the skin! Ever read the warning label on a can of MEK? BAD STUFF!! I used a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol/laquer thinner. Still hazardous but not as bad as the MEK and it cuts the epoxy really good.

I won't be going back there EVER!!!!! I'm hoping John S. starts up a new forum,,,,if not,,,i'll stay here. Its my understanding that there is no post editing nor sensorship here so thats cool with me.

Glad everyone had a good time. I wanted to go but would have lost two days building and the goal now is to get flying!!!I remember seeing the Quicky back in my youth in Popular Mechanix I think it was. I believe they called for an Onan back then...I'd do a Honda now for sure!!

One other consideration to take into account is allergic reaction to the epoxy. Early on at the start of the build 8 years ago, I read somewhere that its not a matter of IF you become allergic to epoxy,,,,it's WHEN. Well for the last year or so I have noticed I was having allergic reactions on days I was using epoxy, skin blotches of red, itching, sneezing, small bleeding sores from itching. Yesterday was really bad for me. I had to do a good size layup on my back modifying the cowling to fit the airfilter box. I got epoxy on my arms, head, hands,,,,,,it was ugly and I made a mess trying to do it alone. I'm still feeling the effects this morning. I suffer from allergies in general so I am thankful I made it this far with only minor reactions at the end. Some people suffer really bad side effects and actually have to give up their project. Note that I am not the best to use as an example as even though I used the nitrile gloves, I still managed to get epoxy on my skin and clothes no matter how carefull I was.

Looks like the Canard Aviation Forum is down. Anyone know if today is the day of its demise?