lhendrick

Thanks for confirming this. As I was inventorying my order yesterday that was bothering me. Now I can make that fiberglass end table I always wanted, as I read your post after I received my order from ACS. I'll pass this on to ACS, maybe they will remove it and lower the cost of the Ch 4 kit a bit.

Of course they will be making shallow S turns so they will see everything and can climb out at 1000 fpm without hitting the birds.

So, to close out the original posting regarding Preparing to Build, I received my Chapter 4-7 materials from ACS yesterday at 3:00PM, so the build is officially .....ON! Only one damaged item, PVC foam for langing gear bulkheads was crushed and will be replaced. They also shorted me the fuel selector. All will be made right I'm sure by FedEX and ACS. So this morning it's into the garage to cut the foam for F22,28, IP and Front Seatback. Yesterday I cut the temporary firewall from plywood and it came out fine. Oh, I will be mixing my epoxy in a blender at frappe speed;) I also started a website so my friends and relatives can see whats up with this project, link in below.

Anyone have a set of the AeroCanard DVD's (10 DVD set) I could borrow or rent or steal, er....get for 1/2 price? I thought watching Jeff slog through a complete build would be helpful, albeit sleep inducing. I recently watched the Rutan composite DVD, very informative and I'm sure a cult classic.

Thanks all for the hazardous materials info. With regard to the build today I draped the space surrounding my bench (in my two car garage) with plastic, put an oil filled radiator style heater inside and got the temperature up to 60-62F, with outside temp of 37F. Not hot enough yet, so I may still move into the basement where ambient temp is 62F, and I can probably get it to 70F with same heater. That may be warm enough to layup the bulkheads. To cure I'll build a smaller tent over the bench and add a small 1500 watt forced air heater from Home Depot to aim for 85F. At least I can work in there now, so while waiting (still) for UPS Freight to deliver my ACS Chapter 4-7 order, I took a piece of 1/4" ply and cut out the temporary firewall to use in fuselage assembly. I bought the 1x8 pine for the fuse jigs and tomorrow will cut them for the upper longeron set up.

I like the bags of dirt solution for weights, so low tech. Finished tracing all the bulheads today. Useful exercise in visualizing how they fit into the sides/longerons/spacers. Tomorrow I will build my 'heated tent' for curing, and finish the epoxy hotbox. **Update** ACS has shipped my Chap 4-7 plus expendables so I should have all I need to start building next week **

OK, I am patiently waiting for the ACS order. In the meantime I continue to hone my aircraft assembly facility with all these suggestions, especially the clamps and weights. Currrently tracing plans. I'll be going to the EAA Sportair Composits class Feb 21-2. I've got all the building supplies coming from ACS so no practice until/when they deliver. After tracing the plans I may start cutting out all the wood for jigs and setting them aside.

me too, where can I see his work...Oh, wait never mind it's E racer - found it with Google...nice.

Wow, these guys are taking homebuilt to another whole...place! Clearly we are in a new race with the Soviets I fear there may soon be a technology gap here. The US cannot fall behind in homebuilt Cozy-Berkut-EZ-ETC-Z-technology. I recommend we initiate a joint Canard Zone/Canard Aviation project to develop next generation Kit based Canard with molded carbon fiber airframe, blended everything, 300HP/8 gph, 250 KT, retractable LG, Gull Wing Door/Canopy, a real nose gear, short field capable, with a build time of 1500 hours max from kit. Insert your desired features here....

Took a look at the ad on ebay, and noticed this.... "This is a Burt Rattan designed Long EZ Project"..... Visions of a bamboo furniture salesman Seriously though, this is some great deal if the reserve is not too high.

OK. Large order= lottsa $$$, you'd think in this economy they'd like to get the funds into their account fast, but they can't charge me until they ship. Wicks gets it. Send the goods, get the money. I'm just patriotically trying to do my part for the economic recovery.

So, today I received the initial order from Wicks. It contained the Cozy Girrls toolset, 5 gallons of MGS resin and appropriate hardener. It was like xmas opening up the boxes, lots of tools to play with and get acquainted with. On another note, my order with ACS for Chapter 4-7 kits and supplies has not shipped yet. Not impressed with ACS service at this point. I ordered from them same day as Wicks. The difference in service is significant. Called them yesterday and they said the order would ship that day, but today the online order status shows the order pulled, but not shipped. I still have lots to do to get the workshop ready, but I could be cutting out the Chapter 4 bulhead foam if they would send it! Q: Is this level of service (one week and counting to ship) to be expected with ACS, and should I plan for that to get their better prices. I suppose I could just reward Wicks for their great service by ordering everything from them. I like having 2 suppliers and want to support both for the service they provide to the homebuilding community but feel like ACS needs a wake up call.

Looks like all decisions made were the right ones and it worked. What more can you ask. I say we reward such behavior. Hell, I'd be glad to get one thing right today as I build my workshop and try not to cut my fingers off or electrocute myself.

Any estimates of total A/C system weight because we would be carrying the total weight whether we are using the system or not. Cost also comes into play. I recall A/C being up there in the $15-22K as an option on some high end planes. As of now I'm thinking of a bag of ice in my lap. Get in hot plane, ice cools you off, ice melts - water evaporates - no weight penalty - climb to altitude - cooler air - voila, Burt would smile.

Excellent advice, looking at the plans the seatback does look like an acre of foam and glass. F28 it is then. Now to get ACS to actually ship stuff. Once I get some feeling for how I like this composite stuff I Will place an order for bulk glass and peel ply.

TV sounds like a great idea so I can listen to F1 cars and MotoGP bikes scream around while I hack foam.

Placed orders with ACS and Wicks today. Interesting experiment as I ordered the Chap. 4-7 kits and building supplies from ACS and the Cozy Grrls Toolset and Epoxy (5 gallons MGS 335, 10 quarts hardener) from Wicks. My observations so far are: Better Pricing at ACS, made better yet with EAA VISA card discount (5-10% discount depending on item) Incredible service from Wicks, with the order placed at 9 am and shipped same day, all items complete and only a $10 shipping surcharge for the MGS. Some confusion at ACS over inventory status of Chapter kits. Online system shows Ch 4,5 back ordered, but they were in stock, Chapter 7 shows as in stock, but by the time the order was picked it is back ordered. Phone conversation indicated all parts of order should be in stock within a week so I may have them hold the total order for one shipment. Anyway, all this is terribly exciting as in one week I will be BUILDING THE FRONT SEATBACK!

I've been working on the bench with the top set at 34 1/2", putting together the epoxy hot box. The height works fine. The casters will probably make it too high so I may cut down the legs by 2" or so when I have the energy to jack the beast up. Added 8' double tube fluorescent to the ceiling over the bench. Will add another soon.

Some great input. I need the casters on the legs so I can shift the table out of the way to get to a wall of shelves with all my home maintenance junk and so I can get the motorcycle out. Will have to cut down the legs a bit as they currently bring the table top to 34" which is fine for reach, but the casters add about 4" to that and 38 will be too high. Sigh. I found some nice 6foot strips with outlets every foot or so at Lowes, thinking one on each side may work. Forget the cords from the ceiling, not gonna fly. I took a look at the table today after letting it sit for a few days and no sag across the 12 foot span with the TJI joists - they are SOLID. Measured the temp in the garage and it's hovering at 40F with outside temps in the high 20'sF. Just not fun working in there. Basement is reading 67F so I may set up a temp workstation in there on a sheet of ply resting on sawhorses for cutting foam, and then build a plastic tent on plastic pipe frame for a heating booth for layup and cure, using an oil filled radiator for heat source to get it over 85F.

Still debating putting outlets on the sides of the bench or using ceiling drop down cords. The casters are in and I'll install soon. Attachment is pic of the Workbench with hotbox under construction.... Got my EAA VISA card today so first order to ACS tonight, $$$!

I am looking for an epoxy ratio pump calibrated for the MGS 285 system. Must be in usable condition, not requiring rebuild or dynamite. Thanks. Let me know here or via private message.

Am I right in assuming all slow hardener because as a novice I will need the extra working time of a slow mix? I will be working in a 75F garage.

Well, I announced my intentions on the Intro's page, but I'm here to say that this weekend I built the 12'x4' workbench. Using TJI engineered joists as a backbone with plywood top and bottom for a torsion box and 4"x4"'s for legs. It came out nice and flat and weighs as much as an aircraft carrier, so I may add some locking casters to make it semi-moveable around the garage. Wife is very impressed with the acre of workbench, not so impressed when I told here her car will be camping outside once the tub goes on the floor. Next comes the epoxy hotbox and then I'll place my order for Chap 4-7 materials and some tools to round out my shop. It's 23F in my neighborhood, so may end up on a sheet of plywood in the basement until I can get the temp up in the garage.

I can appreciate that, as I am now retired, no kids, working wife and plan to put in many 8+ hour days per week. There is no way I will drag this project out for the number of years I have been reading about, as there are other things I want to accomplish in my life, not the least of which is actually flying. By my reckoning 2500 build time divided by 40 hours per week = 62.5 weeks, so anything more than 1 1/4 years is just wasted time. I haven't made my mind up regarding a pump vs scale, still reading and digesting all those newsletters, mailing lists and all that Marc is making me read before I make an ass of myself here.

Thanks Marc, I am half way through the Newsletters and working at it, and updating my first edition plans with the changes noted. Lots to learn.