bmckinney10

There are 7 VariEze listings on Barnstormers right now. Would be great to see all of these flying again someday. I love flying my VariEze. Thankfully I have too many projects to complete with the Long-Ez and Cozy, otherwise it would be tempting to get another VariEze back in the air...

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Just returned from RR. It was my first time. I had to leave early, but there was a good turnout building up on Thursday and Friday. There were near 40 canards when Ieft this morning at 10:00am. I assume several more arrived after. If you have never been to RR, I highly recommend it! You can fly or drive in. Camp, RV, or stay at the lodge or cabins. There is a resteraunt at the lodge, and another at the end of the runway. It was great to meet many of the people who post on the forums. There are so many things you can learn by peeking in open canopies and chatting with the owners.

If you watch the FlightAware trace replay, it shows the plane holding altitude on base to final, with a slight decent on final approach speed around 80mph ground-speed on short final until about about 3/4 mile from runway when the ADSB stopped. News report indicates it came down in a backyard. It appears it was stable just before the ADSB stops recoding

I am considering a trip to Ann Arbor,MI soon. Anyone here based at KARB?

A good number of people had no idea what it was and were shocked when I told them mine was 42 years old. They thought it was a brand new design. Of course I spent quite a bit of time explaining why they parked on their nose, etc. I agree with you on the last comment. There may be hope with the resurgence of the Vari/Long as all other options are so expensive. I love the VariEze. So simple, fast, and efficient. It would be great to see it get legs again. I fly mine every chance I get. On a side note, Eureka CNC (wing cores) was recently purchased by Curtis Porter in Utah and he is working to get the machine running again. Hopefully that helps people make the choice for LongEz build.

I have tried to not complain too much about the changes at Oshkosh because it is still a great aviation event that I get to see a massive amount of planes and connect with like-minded airplane guys, BUT, I get more aggravated as years go by. This year they had ONE Homebuilt showcase flyby on Tuesday with about 12 planes who each got to fly one lap. They should have one EVERY DAY before the start of the airshow. I recall there used to be the something similar to this not that long ago. As I watched thousands of people walk in the main gates each day, I wondered if they understood what the EAA acronym stands for. You are greeted initially by multi-million dollar airplanes on the main path that many could never afford. I usually spending a few hours a day hanging out by my VariEze on EZ Street with the canopy open and talking to people. Next year, please stop by and introduce yourself. It is always fun to meet fellow EZ people on this forum!

My VariEze made to Oshkosh again. I arrived Thursday, 7/21 and parked it in the HBP area on EZ Street. There were more EZs/Canards there this year than last with 12-14 on EZ Street in HBP, about 12 in HBC, 6-7 in front of the Homebuilt registration building on the flight line, 5-6 in the AVC race area, and others scattered in the North and South 40. A few were stuck in Fond Du Lac, Appleton, and Stevens Point. Kyle Fowler was there flying the airshows in his Long-Ez. A few highlights were 4 Defiants onsite, the only known flying VariViggen there for the 50th anniversary, and Ken Swain's VariEze for its 45th consecutive year. EAA completed an air-to-air photoshoot with the Viggen that should be in next months magazine. The Viggen (Ryszard Zadow), a VariEze (Leif Johnson), a Long-Ez (Dave Adams), and a Cozy 3 (Jim Springer) completed a Friday morning formation flight. It was a very cool sight to see them break for landing from the ground. Here's a Viggen cockpit video from Ryszard. https://www.facebook.com/ryszard.zadow/videos/371728898453881 I tried to spend a few hours each day at my VariEze talking to people and answering questions. There was a lot of interest. Several are still working on builds or rebuilds. I pointed many to this forum and the Open-Ez project if they were considering starting a new project. There seems to be a a growing interest in the EZ's. Let's hope people can keep finding projects to resurrect or start new.

The only known flying VariViggen is headed to Oshkosh for its 50th year anniversary! https://www.rutanaircraftflyingexperience.org/post/rafe-variviggen-lady-vi-launches-for-oshkosh

RAFE has both a Cozy and a standard category dual-control tandem canard, the Gyroflug Speed Canard. I trained the Speed Canard with Ryszard Zadow of RAFE before my first flight in my VariEze. I was only a 350-hour pilot and transitioned without issue. https://www.rutanaircraftflyingexperience.org/canard-flight-academy

The RAFE crew have been working on a donated VariViggen since 2019. It had its first flight recently. They are planning to get it to Oshkosh which will be 50 years since Burt brought his first VV. https://www.rutanaircraftflyingexperience.org/post/lady-vi-flies?utm_campaign=7ef949a8-22d6-4956-9905-d1623b4451ba&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=bb9e2642-e6ca-4e9b-9c6c-4a149d452ef0 777b83_01e2808c7b2542f789cf36537c6b1777_mv2.webp

RAFE, Ryszard Zadow. rutanaircraftflyingexperience.org Great instruction. I flew 5 hours with him, then transitioned to my VariEze without issue. I was a 350 hour pilot In a Cherokee 140 and Cessna 172. It is a different experience flying a canard, but very exciting!

Here's the post from the forum: "The O-200 has an odd carburetor spider mounting arrangement. If it's not assembled correctly, rough running and big RPM loss is possible. We've dealt with this before. Here's what I have posted many times: The Continental O-200, as you have in your 150, has a carb "spider" intake manifold. The carb bolts to it and it, in turn, is bolted to the crankcase. The O-200 is different from its older A-and C-series granddaddy engines in that the spider is mounted loosely on the case studs, with special "Lock-O-Seal" washers on the studs between the case and spider and between the spider and castellated retaining nuts. These washers are metal with a rubber insert molded into them, like an O-ring. The overhaul manual says that those castellated nuts are to be turned only finger tight and the cotter pin installed. The reason is that the MSA carbs don't like being shaken, or they'll spill fuel out of the bowl vent and into the carb throat and the engine will run rich and rough. The old Strombergs weren't nearly so prissy, and those old A- and C-series engines had much stiffer rubber engine mounts so the engine couldn't move around so much. With the carb spider a little flexible on the studs, and the rubber hose connections on the intake tubes, the engine can torque-vibrate around the crank while the carb will stay relatively still. I have smoothed out O-200s just by installing the proper washers and doing up the nuts exactly as the manual says. So your mechanic needs to refer to the O-200 overhaul manual and look for that paragraph. This is critical for that engine. The whole carb and spider need to be able to flex sideways a bit." https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/0-200-rpm-loss-on-take-off.137511/

Read O-200 overhaul manual, section 16-10. Lock-O-Seal washer and "finger tight" nuts to hold intake spider. Also, do not overtighten intake rubber coupling clamps, just snug. The whole thing is supposed to "float". I had all mine too tight. At certain RPMs or bumps the engine sputtered. Too tight and the carb dumps excess fuel with vibration or jolting. I found this on a C150 forum and loosened mine up and it's gone.

It looks like you have the wing cuffs. Did the previous owner indicate that there were issues? Mine has the cuffs and no fences. I have not noticed any issues at all.