Lynn Erickson

I'll be going with the opposed four. Not sure if I'll use a 320 or 360 for the test phase, then shoe-horning in a new 360; or buying new, or buying a low time 360. I'll cross that bridge when...

 

 

 

Rick

I would go for the cubes. maybe with a carb if its a money thing. the 320's are OK for a cozy and just to small for a cozy IV. the 320 cost very close to the 360 and the 360 is easier to maintain, they seem to last longer between top overhaul, they don't have to work as hard. the last thing you will want to do is change engines after the test flight phase. there is a lot more work to the engine install then people realize. and if you change engines it is like a new install all over again. during the test phase the one thing you can count on is the airframe, built to the plains, it will fly fine. the things you are really testing are the support systems, engine, avionics, brakes and the pilot. how many cozys do you see not meeting all the flight test data of all the other cozys. they all fly the same, it is the other systems that make them fly a little different

"Condition: USED"

Well no kidding! If it were brand new it would be priceless; its actually a nice piece of art deco design but not big enough to be useful unless you were building balsa airplanes.

...Chrissi

Ya, I would buy it just for the art deco thing. it is missing the OSHA approved belt guard so i can't use it my shop. pretty ridiculous when I can't drive a band saw without a belt gaurd but I can fly an airplane with a whirling prop. the only difference is the belt could hurt you?

some one needs to pick up the old bandsaw so I can come and admire it. i think this was made about the same time they invented the saw blade and before dirt. and it is a full 1/3 HP no less.

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/BAND-SAW_W0QQitemZ250207302674QQihZ015QQcategoryZ20784QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Waiter, you mention "music wire". Is this piano wire? How about a piece of flat steel like the kind for binding pallets?

it is the wire that comes in the hinge. it is plated steel music wire. spruce sells it by it self. the hinge wire should be changed to ss anyway as the other wears the plating off and then rusts. the rust grinds away at the aluminum hinge.

Ok, this question is coming from a complete noob, so go easy on me.

 

I have noticed a lot of differences in the shape of long EZ noses. Some are quite "boxy". (like in the first pic)I think that is the way they were designed. But I have seen some (Like the second pic) that are more curvy and smooth.

here's the question: Does the builder acheive the smooth look simply by softening the edges of the original plans, or does it take some kind of supplimental drawings, and or an amemdment to the plans to acheive such a look? Is there a significant advantage to either, other than asthetics?

 

Picture one (boxy)

 

Picture two (smooth)

also notable in picture two: The conopy glass seems to have a more streamline shape (less of a bubble) that some I've seen. Is this a newer design?

 

Just curiouse- Chris:)

the nose is longer so it fares in better. there are many that were built with a longer nose. the canopies do vari a bit but it is mostly the height it is mounted at that makes a difference. some taller builders had to mount them that way for more head room.

Hello All,

 

While my main gear hoop torsional layup cures, I will be working on my nose gear doors.

 

I plan to make them a pair, the front of which are each 1/2" wider than the aft so the hinges from a "V" opening towards the front.

This is due to a tip form Wayne Hicks website and is there to keep the door open via wind blast.

 

After tracing the outline on the fuse, 1/2", for each, looks kinda wide.

 

Just curious what others have done in this regard for their nose gear doors???

 

Later.

 

P.S. Yes I plan to e-mail Wayne directly, but am curious about others opinion.

 

P.S.S. Not that Wayne's opinion isn't important, but .... oh nevermind.

you don,t need to angle the hinges they stay open. this is my set up and it always works. wider is better as some times the wheel is not perfectly straight but it always makes it in the well. the bent spring material keeps the doors straight and the straight spring keeps the doors open no matter what the air flow. when the gear strut contacts the straight spring it bends and pulls the doors closed.

Lynn

 

I don't know why the gear are the way they are. I think it has to do with the 3400lb ATOG. I believe there was an issue with gear creeping, with the older style all carbon leg. From what I remember talking with Dave that's why we now have aluminum uppers and lowers. As far as the trunions they are basically 1/4 thick only they house that KP-8 bearing. I personally like the bushing idea, but that is not how the Berkut gear are set up. send me some pics of your gear I would love to see them.

 

Tony

The reason they went to the castings was because the gear legs were splitting and the upper pivot and the axle bolt holes. the gear was made of uni carbon with no cross fibers and very little bid wrapping. mine are made of uni carbon that is layed up with a 10 degree crossing fiber every other ply and rapped with 10 plys of glass bid

Lynn

 

I don't know why the gear are the way they are. I think it has to do with the 3400lb ATOG. I believe there was an issue with gear creeping, with the older style all carbon leg. From what I remember talking with Dave that's why we now have aluminum uppers and lowers. As far as the trunions they are basically 1/4 thick only they house that KP-8 bearing. I personally like the bushing idea, but that is not how the Berkut gear are set up. send me some pics of your gear I would love to see them.

 

Tony

The reason they went to the castings was because the gear legs were splitting and the upper pivot and the axle bolt holes. the gear was made of uni carbon with no cross fibers and very little bid wrapping. mine are made of uni carbon that is layed up with a 10 degree crossing fiber every other ply and rapped with 10 plys of glass bid. I used the KP-8 bearing at first but two cracked. One of them cracked and the balls came out. they are control arm bearings and are not rated for the load. I switched to the plain spherical bearings rated at 9000 lbs and they have been fine.

imagination my brother..imagination

while building the plane in a nice warm shop and showing everyone that visits how roomy it really is, you come to the day when it is winter and the plane is outside. then the reality is realized, you can fit in the plane or your big heavy jacket will fit in the plane but you wearing your big heavy jacket, not so much, a little tighter then you would like.

 

Survial suit (worn on all legs of flight over water)

Personal Locator Beacons (at least two)

Satalite phone

life raft

MRE's

water

first aid kit

Dye canisters (sea)

smoke canisters(land)

Fire makeing tools

Fire extinguisher

a hatchet

a .22 caliber survival rifle (perhaps layed up in the airframe, out of sight)

and maybe some fishing tackle.

 

And you guys said I didn't need a four place!

 

Did I forget anything?

 

Hopefully all this stuff will just take up space in the cockpit. But if I need it, I'll have it.

I'm trying to picture someone getting into a Cozy wearing a Survial suit with a sat phone in one hand and a dye canister in the other.

Lynn

 

It looks like to me that in the first picture that would be considered the trunions.

The second pic might be considered the A, and H arms.

 

here are some drawings of the older style Berkut gear. The trunions are represented in blue. The embossments retain the KP-8 bearings

 

Tony

looks a bit over kill, why does it need to be so intricate I used 1/4" thick angles, the same thing the long eze uses to support the gear. the load is mostly down on the trunions and most of the load is up into the longeron area. the bearings are 3/8" spherical bearings mounted in the gear leg. the h and a links have solid brass bushings on 3/8" AN bolts. the upper part of the gear leg shown as casting in your drawing could be made all on piece with the lower gear leg. mine is all carbon but could be made as one piece aluminum from Grove. there is a one off canard at chino with this type gear. and there is an eracer at Hemet that is mounting this type after an off field landing took out his original glass gear. the gear leg in the pic is for a KR 2. the size material would be a bit larger to support the berkut

Lynn

 

The trunions as I recall are the pieces that attach to the MG-30's bulkheads. The trunions house the kp-8 bearings which the upper gear leg pivot. I don't think you can just bend the aluminum gear leg to form an upper. The new upper gear legs are far more heavy duty than the aluminum gear leg itself as an upper. The newest berkut gear legs no longer use G10 stock for the core. The gear legs are solid carbon fiber. The gear legs where never clamped to the upper gear and lower talon they are potted in ly505 resin. which is now no longer used either. The new gear are rapped in fiberglass at the top of the leg and autoclaved then machined to the proper dimension. the gear are then pressed and bolted into the upper gear legs.

 

Tony

I might of confused some of the terms, here are some of the pics I can find right now

Fair enough! I'll hold off on the fancy stuff for now. I will be picking up some heat tent supplies on the way home, though. While I was writing last night's post, I had my shop heater on next to the table, with a fan pointed over the layup. I turned off the heater before going to bed, but the layup seemed dryer in the morning. The residue in the cups still seemed a little sticky, which makes me nervous. Even with nearly all slow hardener and a somewhat chilly shop, (the shop heater gets things up to 80 or so while I'm working, and then it cools off overnight) MGS 335 shouldn't be sticky after 30 hours, should it?

 

aaron

It will set hard, it may take several days in cold weather. the resin will harden even in the freezer. many of my layup were done with the hanger door open and the sun shining on the part as I did the layup. and the shop would cool to 40 at night but in a few days it would set hard. do some of those practice layups and get use to the way the resin system works. the time spent learning now will save you time later

Do not use any lo-vac techniques now. You need to learn plans layup method NOW, and the Lo-vac will only cause trouble at this stage.

 

Leave your initial layups (bulkheads) a little wet... its better than dry. You will quickly learn what just right is.

 

Plastic peel ply is fine, or regular peel ply. Don't trash seatback unless its totally junk. Post pictures if you're not comfortable with it.

I agree, Go back to the basics and do your layups by the plans at first. do some flat layups on the table covered with release tape if you want to practice. the layup won't be wasted as you will find many uses for the flat glass as tabs and supports as you build. wet is better then dry. even if you made all the layups wet I doubt you could add 1 gallon of resin to the entire plane but if you did it would only be 10 lbs. heavier. likewise if you vacuum bag everthing the most you will save is about 10 lbs. vacuum bagging does add time and money to the project, especially if you are hard shelling first before you do a layup, this is one unneeded step and if done on all the layups is a lot of extra time spent.

Lynn

 

Time is of the essence. I don't know how long this opportunity will be available to us. I think there are some areas of the gear that may be cost prohibitive. For instance, The gear legs are now solid carbon fiber pre-preg. Very exspensive. I was thinking Robbie Grove could cut a set of aluminum legs to fit the uppers. This would also save money, by eliminating the lower talon. So you would need the upper gear legs, trunions, A and H arms, actuator arm, actuators, and hydraulic pump. I'll try to get a cost for both aluminum and carbon legs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you use Grove gear why do you need the upper trunion? just bend like the original gear legs and drill the end for the pivot. can also be drilled for the brake line.

The newest Berkut legs were made with a flat piece of G10 as a center core with carbon on both sides. the flat gear leg is clamped to the trunion and wheel spindle casting. like the nose strut

O.K. I'll do that.

 

Tony

I get asked a lot about the gear and there are builder that do need the gear to complete there project. let us know about what the cost will be and give the idea some time to get the word spread and I think there will be more then you may think that will want the parts.

First. I'd like to say I think Colin Chapman was a brilliant designer. It seems everything he touched was a fresh look.

The stand out thing of this design was that instead of driving the prop with the crankshaft, he drove it with the camshaft since it rotates at half the speed of the crankshaft.

Regards, Chrissi

Continental tried that with the Tiera engines but had alot of problems with prop vibrations breaking the gears that drive the cam.

http://www.liquidcooledairpower.com/products.shtml

 

Has anyone heard about this? They claim a 38% fuel savings with their conversion (based, I assume on leaning a lot more since the engien temperature is so much lower).

Are those kinds of fuel savings seen in auto conversions that are liquid cooled? Sounds way too good to be believable. Oh yeah, they also claim TBO would go to 3000.

when you lean an air cooled lyc. and go lean of peek the temps go way down anyway until they get a little to cold for my liking. when at altitude I can lean to 6.5 gal/hr and still have a ground speed of 200. I doubt liquid cooling is going to be 38% better then that. besides at altitude the temps are almost to cool

I have a question for all that have been following along here. I may have a very unique opportunity to purchase the new all billet aluminum Berkut upper gear legs, trunions, A , and H arms and actuators for those of you who want drybread gear. This offer would be for a very limited production run. I will have pics of the gear for my Berkut next week. the new Berkut gear are good for a 3400lbs gross weight airplane with a safety factor of 2. The upper gear are CNC machined out of 7075 billet with stainless bushings. the A and H arms are billet as well. . These gear are not cheap, but if you have the means. I highly recommend grabbing a pair. This post is purely for getting an idea if there is a need for the gear. Also would anyone be interested in a pre-molded berkut nose with bulkheads as a retrofit for the long Ez? These are really good looking retrofits for the Long Ez's. All orders will have to be paid in full for the landing gear and noses. (if there is enough interest)

 

Tony

I don't under stand what berkut parts have to do with drybread gear. they are of the same concept but the parts are very different. the drybread gear is made to fit in a long eze without changing the back seat. it has a single actuator placed under the back seat floor and the arms that raise the gear are all one piece with the gear leg. it is the same as Velo gear. the berkut gear will not fit in a long or cozy without taking up 12" of the back seat area and loosing about 8 gallons of fuel on each side. the berkut gear is a good system. my gear is a one off of the berkut/ Shirl Dicky design with over 1000 landings. I have no back seat so the space it takes up is not a problem. it is a lot more exposed then the Drybread gear and that make it easier to work on. the strake tanks are extended inboard to make up the 8 gallons lost where the wheel wells that extend into the strakes

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!

Thats 16 lbs. for a prop on a 80 HP motor.

hi guys what is the main difference between hardener 83 and 84 for ez poxy what i readed is just cure time ,what ez hardener are you guys using if anyone here still use ez poxy

83 makes thicker epoxy then 84. 84 is a little slower. I use 87 most of the time it is slower and is best for big layups in hot weather

Well, dynamic pressure is equal to 1/2 * the density of the fluid * the velocity squared.

Lets say 150 mph(thats indicated) 150*5280/3600= 220fps

Density of air = 0.002377 lbs/cuft (approx. )

so (0.002337)(220)(220)= 113lbs/sqft of pressure

divide by 144 for sqin =0.786 lbs/sqin

atmospheric pressure = 29.92 in mercury or 14.7lbs/sqin

2.03 in mercury/1psi

0.786*2.03= 1.6" max theoretical pressure gain

YMMV

"Just finished a fluids course and I couldn't resist":D

Thats a lot of numbers. On my IO360, 1.2 is about what I see on the manifold gauge when I switch from the filter to the direct ram air. Numbers aside the difference between the two on a sea level take off is worth every bit of the little drag of the scoop. the difference starts at about 150 mph and makes about a 500 ft./ min increase in climb rate. As to the drag issue, the air has to get to the engine somehow. even if it comes in with the cooling air into the cowling it is still creating drag. if some of the air goes for engine intake then that is air not used for cooling. the total of intake and cooling drag is the same weather it is in one scoop or two. why would you not take advantage of the higher pressure air and pipe it directly to the intake.

I was looking for a good movable rack for my cloth. I had one made out of 2 X 4's and some conduit pipe but was not easily moveable. I did my wing layups by myself since it was so easy to just roll the cloth over the foam

and drop it down slowly into place. Seems to be easy to avoid alot of wrinkles.

 

I found this modular clothes rack that seems to fill the bill. $65.50.

http://www.garmentrack.com/easaszrac.html

 

These commercial units seemed to be overkill for me. http://www.fibreglast.com/showproducts-category-Fabric+Racks-134.html

 

The top rod has end pieces that slip over the vertical rods. I will cut off part of the horizontal rod leaving the horizontal ends and leave enough so I can slip in a piece of 1" pipe or conduit. Seems like my cloth has a 1 1/2" diameter paper tube.

the rack works OK on the uni but not on the bid it is best to roll it out on the table to cut. the bid does not work well when pulled off a roll as it tends to distort and strech the fabric out of shape.

It all seems to make sense now:

So what makes sense? the canopy was not latched and when it opened the cover was sucked out and went thur the prop?

Careful son, you'll shoot your eye out with that thing...

 

 

If you have not seen it. it will take a couple of weeks to read and a good resource its just one of the good thing on WWW.EZ.org

http://www.ez.org/2000ways.htm