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.

I'll likely be ordering some of your parts also.

So I ordered all the foam cores from EurekaCNC and they should arrive shortly. According to the FedEX tracking number they should arrive early this week. These are my first materials and I likely won't be able to start building for a few months yet because we are just about to move, but I am really excited. I have heard lots of good things about Steve of Eureka CNC and so far have found them all to be true. He was very helpful and accommodating. I obviously won’t be starting with the wings or canard, but I wanted to get them into my garage as Steve is taking a break from his CNC business. For my build I am going to stick close to the plans and purchase as many of the manufactured parts as possible. I really just want the build to go smoothly and not drag on and on. Anyway, I just wanted to share.

Building experimental aircraft is a little like evolution. The trial and error method is often better then careful calculation and design. Just make sure the you the testing phase doesn't compromise your safety. If someone wants to take a risk for the cause of progressing knowledge then I say more power to them. Without this attitude we would still be riding bicycles off of ramps with feathers stuck to our arms.

I often use statistics in the field of finance, but in application it doesn’t take long to figure out that statistics can be very simplistic. Qualitative information is far more valuable when mixed with good judgment. For example, if the statistics say that Long-Ez’s are less safe than Cozy’s I would question the value of that data. Perhaps the statistics are really saying that Long-Ez pilots are less safe than Cozy pilots. I imagine that the pure speed and performance freaks in the canard group elect to go with the Long-Ez while the guy who wants to take the wife and kids for weekend vacations would go the Cozy. I would venture to say that the speed and performance freaks are far more likely to push to envelope than the guy with his wife and kids in the plane. Therefore, the stats may say nothing about the plane; rather they indicate something about the typical pilot of that plane. If you are one of those safe pilots then flying a Long-Ez or any other aircraft doesn’t have to be any more risky than flying a Cozy. I am sure you can spot the pilots who will tend to have “incidents” a mile away. I am sure it is always the same pilots generally have these incidents while there are others who never have a single incident after decades of flying.

I don't like to be the guy who stifles conversation regarding innovation and this is not an intention to do so. However, one would think that it would be easier just to correctly calculate your CG and adjust it into the known safe limits. Seems no more difficult that calculating the amount of fuel required for the trip. I am not a pilot yet, so a make my comments with a certain humility. However, it seems that there aren't many aviation accident scenarios that don't boil down to some sort of pilot/builder error.

Has anybody considered swapping out some of the steel nuts and bolts with titanium nut and bolts? Particularly I was thinking about the 6 bolts on the prop pressure plate. As a skinny guy any weight off the back would equal less ballast in the front which is a win on both ends. There are many websites that I have found that sell titanium fasteners and such for what looks like reasonable prices.

I am getting near to building my Cozy MKIV. Within a few short months I should have an appropriate workshop. I am starting to get more serious about building my tool inventory and mapping out the project. After reading lots of material, reading the plans cover to cover twice, and getting the mod fever out of my system, I have come to agree that keeping the aircraft as light as possible is the best mod that one can do. Therefore, I am going to stick close to the plans but look for places to reduce the weight of my Cozy. Therefore, I would like to here everybody’s top ten list of weight saving ideas. What are the top ten legitimate ways to save weight on the aircraft? Please note that I am already a skinny guy, so telling me to go on a diet is not productive. I am also a horsepower nut, so I am not interested in an 0-320 or anything of that sort.

I am always grateful for people who are willing to take the risk to innovate. It doesn't always work out, but without these individuals we would still be getting towed around by horses.

Cozy 1200, I did look at your website after starting this thread and I saw your videos. I found them very helpful. I especially liked the router technique for leveling the NACA scoop. I also come from a family of craftsmen and learned early in life that focusing on perfection in parts really helps things fit together later in a building process. My dad will spend 4 hours making sure a counter top is perfectly level, not because it is noticeable otherwise, but because it is simply correct. Even minor mistakes can be multiplied across a project and result in twisted result. Freehand anything is always less than perfect, so if there are more actuate tools it is usually worth the investment in time. Anyway, I appreciate your how to videos online. They are very helpful.

I am really surprised to hear that it does work very well. I used the router method to cut a piece of complicated arborite for a renovation and I was amazed at how cleanly and exactly the piece could be cut. That is what got me thinking that it would be a good method for cutting aircraft parts. Cutting it outside would avoid the dust and would be easy enough to organize, so I am not worried about the dust issue. I am trying to picture what you mean by slipping with the router. Isn’t that the point of the template? The bearing on the router bit runs along the template so the part is cut exactly the same as the template?