Crazycanuck

It's back. This is great. Many an hour were well wasted on here many years ago.

Has anybody tried using pneumatic cylinders to actuate the front retractable gear and the speed brake? Intuitively is seems that it could be lighter because you could have a single motor that drives both. Anyway, I was just wondering if anybody has experimented with this.

I am about to place my first order from ACS and I am selecting the epoxy to use for the project. I am going to use MGS, but are there any opinions out there about System 285 vs. System 335? Is System 285 better in some way to justify the higher price?

Given that I can drive to AC Spruce in about 1.5 hours, how many chapters do you think I should order? I am trying to itemize things for my first order. I'd like to get going for a 4-6 months without having to think about materials. Also, what about the fuel valve? Is the standard fuel valve from ACS the one that everybody uses?

Just putting in my first order of materials from AC Spruce. Can anyone tell me how many yards there is in a roll of Rutan fiberglass? I figured that I would just get a roll of Uni and a roll of Bid to start.

I thought that I heard that Composites Canada supplied Diamond Aircraft in London Ontario. Anyway, I think I will send them the materials list and see what they can supply. Both CC and ASS are within driving so I guess I can do a milk run to pickup all my materials once they are ordered.

I am going to shortly be purchasing the first few chapters of materials through Aircraft Spruce in Brantford Ontario. I know that ACS has the chapters all set out, but I was wondering if there are any pointers about how many of the chapters to order initially. Are there any materials that I should just bulk order and if so how much? I am planning to go with the MGS epoxy system, newer version. I was thinking about ordering through Composites Canada. Does anybody in Canada have experience with Composites Canada, and which products can be safely replaced with a product from Composites Canada? Also, would they be cheaper that AC Spruce?

I finished 1 of 2 of my workbenches for my Cozy construction. The first was build in my basement and the second will be going in my garage. It is similar to many other have built except I added two features. First, it is built on castors to that I can move it around my shop. The second is a leveling system that uses lag bolts to level the bench if required. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=9052592&l=e84b0a6c1d&id=907540645 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=9154354&l=70c3e4863f&id=907540645 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=9154355&l=e53de5596d&id=907540645

I am looking to get started building in the next few weeks and I was looking for some other builders in the Great Toronto Area to share building tips and ideas.

This week my wife and I take possession of our first house and with it my future hanger. The house has a detached two car garage and an unfinished basement. After a long and slow negotiation, similar to what might occur at the UN Security Council, I think we have struck a deal that would give my wife full domain over the top two floors of the house provided that I have full access to the garage and basement for my building projects. So I think I am planning to setup two building centers, one in the basement for small parts and a second in the garage for the larger or dustier parts. The start of this project is a little overwhelming to say the least. I guess the first task is to insulate the garage properly and build a pair of work tables. Build one of those epoxy heaters. Then get an order into Aircraft Spruce for the first few chapters of materials. I want this project to roll along smoothly and quickly so I think the key here is a comfortable and clean working space. I am really looking forward to finally to getting started.

Commodity futures broker. I also call Toronto home.

In the past I have thought about retractable gear. When this topic has been brought up in the past the main issue is the difficulty is getting a suitable retractable kits in an appropriate time frame. My question is why one couldn't build their own retractable gear from scratch? Aren't there plans built retractable gear sets? They seem like fairly simple apparatus to fabricate.

You might have to consider the pressure cap on the cooling system. Intuitively it seems that the radiator would boil over at a lower temperature because the absolute pressure would be lower at high altitude. The pressure cap can only regulate relative pressure in the radiator relative to the atmospheric pressure.

So I should start building my Cozy in a couple months as soon as my wife and I can acquire a new house with a garage. I am really looking forward getting started. I have noticed that many if not most of these projects get stalled partway through or just drag on and on for a decade or more. I am really hoping to avoid this problem. I like building, but there are other projects I will like to tackle in my lifetime. I don’t mind putting in the time, but I just want to get it finished in a reasonable amount of time. So what are the pitfalls to avoid? What are the best tips for ensuring steady progress?

That’s great. Think of how much extra time you are going to have between overhauls.