Mechanizoid

Congrats on getting your build started, Sam. I want to build an Open-EZ too. I'm still just reading the plans to familiarize myself with the B.O.M/techniques though!

BTW, are you a commercial pilot? I looked up Embraer 140 and found a twin-engine regional jet. http://www.embraercommercialaviation.com/Pages/ERJ-140.aspx

@John Matcho Your link to the epoxy specs seems to be broken (for me at least) so I'm putting another here: http://www.kirkside.com.au/Uploads/Images/aralditekitk3600.pdf

I can't keep myself from looking for pics of pretty birds, particularly Long-EZs. I've run across a lot of pics of a particular bird with red trim and the number LV-X383. http://www.airplane-pictures.net/registration.php?p=LV-X383 There's some nice pictures of this plane around the internet. She found her way onto my wallpaper before I spotted her LV number and realized it was the same plane as in a whole bunch of the other pics I found.

Can't find a lot of info on this bird but I noticed that she's sporting a Nasa logo on her nose. http://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/168432/lv-x383-private-rutan-long-ez/ This confused me a little since she's got an Argentinian registration number. Anyone know anything about that? Is she actually associated with Nasa somehow (I heard they do have an EZ, but I was pretty sure they still have her and she's not in Argentina) or is it just for show?

I think you got it from another comment, but just to be clear... the reference marks are not actually off by 1 inch. The issue is that, in those cases that are mentioned in that first post, you need to measure a different length (1 inch less in those cases).

 

The easiest and best thing for me to do to is just get Rev 6 out there! Every time I think of this I am reminded, so thanks! 

Oh yes, I misspoke there. The length written on the templates is off by 1 inch, not the reference marks. That is what I mean to say (I knew it was the indicated lengths and not the marks that were the problem).

And yes, please, do get the Rev 6 out there! That will really help everyone who wants to build an Open EZ.

Thanks for the link. I also found this site: http://ibis.experimentals.de/ which seems to be the only web site with any substantial information on the Ibis. No inkling on whether plans are still available (and AFAIK the designer still wouldn't support US builders). There aren't that many recent messages on the Yahoo Group, and those going back the past two years are mostly about the difficulty of obtaining a set of plans, and the fact that the designer refuses to recognize anyone but the original buyer (as well as refusing builders in his "black-list" of countries). I wonder if they are still available at all?

Just out of curiosity I was researching the Ibis canard. I'm not planning on building one, but I was curious to see what other tandem canards have been designed besides the Vari-eze and Long EZ. The wikipedia article had a link too the designer website: http://www.junqua-aircraft.com/ . I clicked on it. Instead of finding the designer's site, I found myself at a site featuring an article on breast-enhancing creams, of all things. Huh.

The domain name www.junqua-aircraft.com seems to be owned by a web portal devoted to aromatherepy and women's health issues now. Hard to imagine a less relevant domain name for such things, actually. Whatever happened to the original manufacturer's site? Is he no longer in the business of selling plans for the Ibis? Seems a pity for an interesting little canard like this to go away.

I have some serious newb questions about these reference dimensions. Do they refer to the overall size of the printed template? I.e., when printed, A1 should be 23" by 16.5"? And how do I make sure that the printed templates are the right size? Do I have to use a specific sheet of paper? I've never done this kind of thing before. If there is a guide already up on how to do this please link so I don't bug everyone with questions that have already been answered.

Never mind... just realized I forgot to read the README, duh. So I just print them out on an 18 x 24 in. piece of paper, check the reference dimensions using the corrected dimensions from http://www.canardzone.com/forum/topic/20540-important-update-regarding-open-ez-rev-5-templates/?p=47350 , and if it checks out they are good to go? Sounds easy enough.

They do add extra time and work, and I'm not recommending anyone follow suit unless they themselves have researched thoroughly! I'm drawing up quite a few parts in CAD (just 2D drawings) to ensure things fit, will be precise, and if needed, reproducible. So far so good, but I'm so early on in the project - once it's flying we'll know if it was all worthwhile!

The split canopies look cool indeed. If one opens in flight you'll probably lose it and your prop, though. I'm going to install a forward hinging canopy, which has been demonstrated safe if it opens in flight.

It'll be cool to see how your bird turns out when she flies (though that'll probably be quite a time from now!).

Yeah having the canopy open in flight would be a bad day in a Berk, better lock them down tight. The only other thing I'm concerned about is if the Berk's canopy blocks the passenger's view more than the Long's. It's still cool though. Speaking of Berk mods, I am reading the LEZ plans and according to them, retractable main landing gear is simply not worth the increased complexity and cost. Obviously RAF wanted builders to keep it simple and stick to the plans, but I wonder how retracts break down for a Berk-EZ and whether there is a noticeable increase in performance.

You need not be... it's really a non-issue as long as you read the first post of the Open-EZ sub-forum here. I can help you through this.

 

 

Getting plans is just the first step. After that there are numerous hurdles. Imagine having "perfect" support... you still need to build the thing, which is the biggest challenge of them all.

Oh, so its not really a big issue? I was a bit scared of the big red warnings you put up here: http://www.canardzone.com/forum/topic/16835-introducing-the-open-ez-tandem-a-2-place-tandem-canard/?p=10450. Was this just to make sure that nobody just grabbed the templates and used them without reading the scaling updates post? I was also confused that the Rev5 download is still available here at Canard Zone despite the warning (I downloaded from here a couple days ago).

And thanks for the offer to help me through this! I'm not off to Kinkos yet, but I definitely have some questions before I go. As I understand it, you provided an x and y reference dimension on each drawing to help with scaling, but some are off by as much as 1 in. But if I print the affected templates using the corrected dimensions, the prints should come out the right size, correct?

I have some serious newb questions about these reference dimensions. Do they refer to the overall size of the printed template? I.e., when printed, A1 should be 23" by 16.5"? And how do I make sure that the printed templates are the right size? Do I have to use a specific sheet of paper? I've never done this kind of thing before. If there is a guide already up on how to do this please link so I don't bug everyone with questions that have already been answered.

For some reason getting the plans looked like the challenging bit but you are right. Building the thing will pose quite enough challenges once I have all the templates printed and scaled accurately. I probably still have no idea just how big a project I'm thinking of biting off.

There are people building Open-EZs that don't call them that, or maybe they do call them a Long-ez or something else.  There is no rule saying what you have to name your airplane.

 

However, learn to fly before you get too involved in building.  Lots of people find they don't have the money to complete the process, or life gets in the way.  Experience with airplanes is also important in determining what you want to build.  For example, the Vans RV crowd is very big into social events and formation flying.  There are a lot of airstrips you can't really go with an EZ.  EZs are not generally aerobatic.  The Vans kits are very complete and easy to build.  This is the kind of stuff you would pick up as you get your ticket. 

Yeah, that's why N-number inquiries are not at all reliable for estimating how many of a certain type of experimental have been built. They could really be listed as anything (how about John's Canard, or Sally Racer? ).

I definitely want to learn to fly as soon as I can arrange it. Even though I think the EZ is one of the coolest birds around, I am aware that no airplane is able to be good at everything, especially not a canard. I have thought about the fact that it may turn out not to fit my preferred type of flying. Canards seem to optimized for flying fast from one paved, not to short airstrip to another  If it turns out I like flying to backcountry airstrips or fly acro all the time, an EZ may not be the best choice. Now, the RV series seems to aim at being good at a range of activities, rather than being really good at one thing (efficient long range cruising) like the canards.

That being said... there are three airports within driving distance of my home. All are paved, and the shortest is 4252 ft., AFAIK that is quite adequate for an EZ. I'm not worried about finding a place to fly the airplane. I like the build process for the EZ. Since it is basically scratch-built, I'll be able to tell people I made it all myself.  I'm not really the camping type. As far as determining the mission for my plane goes, I've been living in the same spot for quite a while. I would like an airplane that can take me a thousand miles from home. And while I do daydream about acro sometimes, I'm not at all sure I'll end up flying like Svetlana Kapanina all the time.

Good advice, but there are many, like myself, who are builders first then flyers. I am building and am still in pursuit of my certificate. It's not an uncommon situation, but I readily admit I'd much prefer to be a pilot.

 

Regarding this FAA registration, it's so far in a project state with the N-number reserved. You can tell by the blank A/W (airworthiness) date.

I started out assuming that I would get my certificate first and start building after, but since learning to fly takes quite a bit of time (and money) and I can start playing with composites for the price of a hundred-buck practice kit from Aircraft Spruce, it's quite possible I'll jump in before I'm a pilot. We'll see.

Thanks for the clarification! I did not realize it was still in project stage. Should have read more closely.

Yes. I have a number of planned modifications, after which I can't really call it an Aerocanard anymore.

Wow, that is quite a number of mods you have planned. They sound good, but they must add some extra work. Do you feel that this extends the time required to finish your not-quite-an-Aerocanard?

I haven't really thought about Cozy/Aerocanard mods, but I do think some of the Berk-EZ mods are pretty cool. Especially that spit canopy.

I'm thinking about building an Open EZ. I've been wondering, though, if any actual airplanes have been completed using these drawings (especially considering the scaling confusion).

When I get interested in a design, I often run a make/model inquiry at the FAA Registry to see if any turn up. This isn't absolutely reliable since a plane could be registered under a different name, but it does turn up interesting info often. So I ran a inquiry for "open ez", and a result popped up!

N-number N871CG (http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=871CG) is assigned to a fixed-wing, single engine plane with the listed model "OPEN EZE". The number was assigned 12/14/2016, just a few months ago. Does anyone know if this plane is actually a completed canard built using the Open-EZ templates? I cannot find any other reference to this aircraft. If this is the first Open-EZ constructed from the drawings, congratulations to the builder.

Do you know of any planes that have been completed from the Open EZ templates? Might this be the first?

I suggest buying a practice kit like this. You can get familiar with the basic materials and techniques, learn a good deal, and decide if working with composites is right for you (assuming you haven't used the materials before).

That's an excellent suggestion, I will do that. I have never used composites before so it's a good idea to try out the materials beforehand. And the kit looks like a lot of fun.

Best of luck with your Aerocanard! Very cool choice of project. BTW, are you going for retractable landing gear, and is this one of your mods?

Thanks, that is an extremely useful link! I had no idea there were some many Cozy builder web pages. And thanks for the warm welcome.

I'm actually a bit torn between the Cozy and the tandem EZ. The Cozy has the advantage that plans are available and there seems to be plenty of builder support (and is clearly a very nice plane), but the tandem Long's fighter-like lines always appealed to me.Since RAF no longer exists to support the Long I'm interested in the Open-EZ project. I'm a bit confused by the scaling issues with the templates, though. I'd rather not have my choice made for me by availability of plans (or lack thereof), though, especially since the Long is just too beautiful a plane to just be allowed to die.

Hello everyone, I'm a total newbie from Arizona. I have never built a plane, nor learned how to fly yet (in fact, I didn't find out about experimentals in general until a few months ago). I've dreamed of flying a Long EZ since I was a kid paging through a back issue of Air & Space, and ran across an article about the EZ-rocket that mentioned the LEZ. At that time I thought it was a kit airplane, and heard something about it be discontinued. So I was pretty sure I could never build one. Years later, I finally found that the Long EZ was always built from plans, and I could build one (or a derivative canard) with the right set of plans. Now I hope to actually fulfill that childhood dream and build a Rutan canard. I know I want to build some kind of plane, and while I've been drawn to other designs (such as biplanes) over the years, but I keep coming back to the EZ.

I'm not yet ready to start a big project like this, but there seems to be quite a bit to learn before building a canard. So, I see no reason not to educate myself now. I hope this is the right place to start!