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Bill James

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Everything posted by Bill James

  1. Howdy Anthony- I also have a rear seat tank similar to Chris’s description above. I consider it one of the primary safety elements on the plane. The only fuel discipline is to “have some.” Passengers don’t notice it unless I mention it. This wasn’t undertaken lightly, but 15 years between buying the plans and starting building allowed time to think about it. I built the 5 gallon thigh support tank in my VariEze in 1991 after viewing Vance Atkinson's installation in his Cozy. Vance's operational experience and suggestions for improvement, along with the opinions and advice from several others familiar with his system were of significant benefit in my design. The system is more than just the two ½ inch ID tubes that drain fuel freely from the strakes into the sump. Additional lines allow fuel to drain from the strakes into the sump in climb, cruise, descent and start attitudes, and for air to vent from the sump tank high point if fuel is used out of it. Two of the vent lines go forward and include short lengths of clear tubing for sight gauges at the instrument panel. Fuel balance between the strakes is accomplished by moving the exterior vent lines (in front of the main gear legs) slightly in or out from the fuselage. The lines were flox sealed and stainless filter screens were easily installed by reaching into the strakes and into the rear seat sump through temporary 12 inch access panels during building. Hope life keeps getting in there in the mix Good building-
  2. Congrats on your plane. On your first comment- the fiberglass strands should run straight, not curved or wavy. The epoxy should have been applied so as to fill the weave leaving no bubbles or empty spaces in the fibers. Sanding slightly into the top layer of most exterior areas is normal. The book on Rutan Composite processes is required reading, probably already recommended using its proper name For a slight indication of the capability and accuracy of the previous builder, using the plans, confirm the orientation of the layers of all fiberglass that you can see, for example on the winglets, wings, fuselage, and seat bulkheads. It is easy for a new builder to mis-read the fiber orientation. The structural areas ten inches around the canard bulkhead and main spar must not be comprimised. The canard must be built exactly to plans, including some details in the CPs. The sun's UV rays destroy fiberglass. This size of this note is extremely inadequate and should serve mainly to further drive you to the plans and CPs where, besides coming to know these folks here that will greatly add to your adventure, you will participate in the educational half of the fun and challenge of becoming a happy canardian. Good building.
  3. Bill James

    Varieze

    They say the airplane talks to you. Discretion is the better part of valor with a gremlin in there moving the rpm at will Hopefully something simple. Am not familiar with the filter cleaning cable. Accomplish an inspection with someone familiar with the 0-200 and/or aircraft induction. Several sets of eyes help here. One aspect of the carb filter is to confirm that it is not deteriorated or installed such a way that it is hanging by a thread and could get sucked into the carb. Good to stay alert and over the airport until the cause is determined and cured. We did find a shorting spark plug harness by running the engine at night with the cowl off. The shorting plug caused a surprisingly large rpm drop. BTW, when working on or preflighting the aircraft, at every instance that I move through the prop arc I stop and say “Yes the engine is stopped and yes it is safe and yes I intend to move past this stationary propeller”. I am probably saying all this to Chuck Yeager’s instructor, but comments are well intended
  4. Bill James

    Varieze

    Would guess the 120 kts is confirmed by GPS or wingman? Am sure you have determined proper mixture operation but didn't see you mention it. At 8000 density altitude you can put the throttle open and reduce the mixture some until the RPM peaks or the engine starts to run slightly rougher. If the max rpm in that area is still around 2400 rpm I agree the prop pitch is probably too coarse. Whatever the outcome, would be good to record these numbers for later comparison. Some other things you have surely already done: No go without working canopy catch and gear/canopy warning system. With the elevators an inch or so low, confirm the speed at which the nose wheel lifts off. Determine minimum speed (at altitude, per POH, all safety issues accomplished). It has been said and I agree that that speed plus 22 mph equals “minimum” approach speed where the rate of descent can be routinely arrested. When I fly the approach at that speed it is often useful to add a touch of throttle just before touchdown. Probably no issue with a 57 inch prop. Can just imagine the fun you must be having. Congrats. Just saw your note above. Am sure others have better troubleshooting advise but the filters come to mind, carb and fuel. I have found it interesting and valuable to have several A&Ps touch the engine during the annual, I always learn something. One similar thing i experienced was a bad plug that was firing, but under pressure testing showed an orange spark instead of blue. Good hunting.
  5. Eze - 8 hours, 1400 miles, 31 gallons non-stop from Fort Worth to Reno (Truckee). Tim LaDolche let me sleep on his kitchen floor during the races. Hope to do it again soon! Eze- 8 hours in the saddle this year going to Oshkosh, twenty minutes on the ground waiting for a break in the frontal system marching across Iowa, and a couple of hours holding before and at Osh. Could have landed to wait but was enjoying the cool air and scenery and flight time at near-idle. Interesting to observe the plane's low speed personality again. Herding cattle in a helicopter was routinely 12-14 hours in a day, with refuel and a fresh beef and bean taquito every three hours. The taquitos were fresh in that usually the calf they came from was running around the camp site at sunup that morning. My better half is planning more trips in the plane these days. One grandkid is 1.5 and the others are 4.5 hours away. Her limit is about 2 hours. While a little oil vapor has been useful and interesting observing the airflow patterns around the aft end, i haven't chosen to introduce the effects of a relief tube. When solo, empty (clean) oil cans or water bottles work fine. I know, too much information. Joining in on the GIB (guy in back) theme, it has worked well to limit first rides for non-eze or non pilot types to 15 minutes. When first flying the plane my wife finally asked when I was going to take her for a ride - and we went out right then for a 10 minute flight over one of our son’s ball games. Perfect. Leaving her wanting more instead of overwhelmed worked well.
  6. In honor of those of you have been willing to potentially place yourself in the opening scene of Private Ryan. Thank you for your service. http://www.ezchronicles.com/2007/03/what-flying-is-really-all-about.html
  7. Several years ago I wrote a note about the advantages of the LongEZ. It includes a few details of similarities and differences, and some text from the CPs about engine choices and the intended utility of the aircraft. It is called "LongEZ, A More Practical Airplane." Of course there is another note titled "Still the One" about flying the VariEze The Long EZ note is available at the site below.
  8. J-Looks like you are getting good advice on how to answer the question. Some thoughts after 13 years flying a VariEze: The VariEze generally requires more weight discipline. The first LongEZ remembrance on your subject that comes to mind is the friend that came in one day a happy new owner of a LongEZ, and came in a few days later and saying he had just done the weight and balance and found out that with he and his wife onboard he had a useful fuel load of two gallons. On the other extreme is watching LongEZ drivers with spectacularly equipped planes seemingly load up anything they want and head out without the least concern of temperature or runway length. This rememberance obviously glosses over the preperation and planning that goes into flying any aircraft. Part of doing this Eze driver stuff is stalking your fiberglass prey wisely, whether building or flying. The simple and correct answer to your question has been provided by the TMann. My simple answer here is, you get in the game and take your best shot. I am now remembrancing a new friend that has only been in the game a few hours and already bagged one of the nicest LongEZs around. While not very comforting here, the law of thermodynamics comes to mind and often seems to relate in some way to whatever I'm doing: You always lose, you never win, and you have to play. Whatever, the game is more fun with an Eze in the hangar. The useful load answer is in the operating manual. Whether you buy or build, how much your plane weighs and how much it can carry is up to you.
  9. Stuart, on your motor mount comment, it would be very rare to see a VariEze motor mount these days. Very few were made because the LongEZ motor mount quickly became preferable being wider with more Mag room - and it can be readily fitted to a VariEze, as i did using LongEZ plans i think. A seller of a motor mount may or may not have actual knowledge or documentation of which type it is, and may have been misinformed when acquiring it. If it came with a VariEze project, surely it is a VariEze mount, right? Bottom line, if information on the mount type is hearsay, check the dimensions to confirm which it is, it might be the standard Long EZ type. I learned this when talking to Brock about fabricating a Varieze mount for me. They said they could do it but it would be more expensive. During that search is when also I learned that folks dont always know which mount they have. These details they are so confusing Good hunting and building.
  10. Congrats Jerry. Really fun and intersting to follow your run here. What do you like best on your plane?
  11. When building the VariEze i was fortunate to be able to confirm three significant considerations ahead of time with several knowledgeable EZ types. I wanted to extend the strakes forward, install the wings level, and lower the cruise angle of attack. After consulting, I was confident in the extended strakes and level wings also because those were ‘improvements’ that had been included on the LongEZ. But I was kinda shooting in the dark on the cruise attitude. Along the way I was able to talk alone with one person in particular. He is in fact the one that I would most want to talk to about these things. After discussing the other two mods, I mentioned that I wanted to raise the canard and main wing incidence one degree. He said that was what was done on the LongEZ to get a better cruise angle compared to the VariEze. I had guessed right. That was valuable info and confirmation to me from one of the horses mouths, but of course it is only hearsay now from me. Each of us gets to do our own research to confirm the validity of internet statements Mine is the only VariEze that I know of flying with the incidence mod. It is what I was after, about the same as the LongEZs I have flown, and about half that of the other VariEzes I have flown. A carpenters level bubble hot glued on the fuselage wall is useful for a number of quick attitude measurements, like the effect of TE Fences. I have also used an attitude string on the side windows, and a string outside at eye level on the side the canopy. Could probably get some good change info with a string about half way up the inside of the winglet. I have heard questions about lowering the cruise attitude on the LongEZ, but certainly am not commenting on that. In the 80s I heard of at least one winglet that was installed upside down. Makes a guy think twice about mods, doesn’t it.
  12. Came home from Osh with a couple of things in mind to do on the plane. Am certainly aiming to have them done or stabilized in time for RR. Looking forward to seeing what everyone's been up to!
  13. Chrissy nice to see y’all at Oshkosh.
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