A Bruce Hughes

Do you have ANY idea of the structural parts of the Varieze ? Better learn more about the function of the "front hump".

Thanks. Bruce

Thank you Kent. That was an interesting run out to the island. I guess you know that the field was rebuilt as "an exercise" by our military after being in bad shape. I think putting the GoPro on the top or side of the nose will work for me, but that will create a problem when the Longeze is going somewhat toward the sun. Does ANYONE else have experience with a GoPro ?

I would like to place my GoPro 4 or GoPro 3 in the nose or some other spot that other builders have found to be useful. I am NOT planning to use a suction cup or tape but will make the unit in a permanent location. I will NOT be readily accessible so I was thinking of controlling it with a remote unit. GoPro sells The Remote for $65 and some other (cheaper) ones are listed on the internet. I hope to link the GoPro to my iPad so the guy (me probably) who is a passenger can see what is out front. By "permanent" I mean I have to take 5 minutes to get it in or out so I cannot routinely turn it on, climb in and go fly. I happen to have two lids to the nose chamber; the front one is very small but plenty large enough to hold a GoPro 4 or 3; I would put a flat lucite window in front of it; yes that would create a little turbulance but the canopy plastic is very curved; not very good for optics.

OK. My information is about 3 years old due to my winter vacations and the virus epidemic but this may help: When Terry Schubert was printing a news letter, there were 5 members on his membership list, most had considerable flight time in their Longezes. The only one that I know personally and have not seen for 5 years is Elwood Johnson, retired from flying. His phone was XXX-XXX-XXXX, and he lives or lived in Lawrence. Jerry Peck would know all of the canard people in KS. His phone is or was XXX-XXX-XXXX. I am sorry that this info is so old but it may still be good. Most of my records are on Maui and I am in WA. You will take twice as long to do the work than you think. I took 5 times as long.

Chris, you did not say your age. That is am important consideration as it is going to take a lot of time. 2nd: You REALLY have to either contact Freeflight Composites or Marc Zeitlin or an another expert (and how do you know that they are expert?) to get an inspection. It will cost some money and you may be disappointed. But it is better to be sure before you put work and time into it.

We need to see what Marc Z or some other expert says on that. I don't know; but I do use 4 bayonet types.

It is very important to have temp. info on ALL FOUR cylinders. Also you did not say if you are using a "wafer" type sensor under the sparkplug or a "bayonet" type on the side of the cylinder; there is a BIG difference.

I know almost nothing about Varieze building; I do have a Longeze which has flown 45 hours. The weight and balance problem may be more severe in the Varieze. I would suggest that you use one electronic ignition from Klaus and 1 magneto. You probably will have to put the battery as far forward as you can due to the weight and balance. Yes that requires more cable so you can try it with the battery in the back but I think you will have to put it up front. You might put a few tools up front and a can of oil (you need an empty plastic bottle to put water into if you use the oil). The alterntor from B & C should be their small one but will it fit in the engine compartment? In the Longeze, I had to cut a hole in the firewall (and repair the hole, of course) to get the alternator to fit.

To "TheSteaks": My Longeze is white and will stay white. The company says: Paliogen Black and Sicopal Black pigments achieve total solar reflectance (TSR) values of 45% and 30%, respectively. 45% is unacceptable to me. You can melt your foam on your plane is you want. I hope nobody is underneath when you have structural failure.

That canard looks pretty BUT it suggests that you can paint a canard any way somebody wants to paint it. That is OK with aluminum but fiberglass aircraft have to be painted WHITE or the energy of sunlight may create a structural problem. Put the colored paint on the underside.

James, I had that type of nose mechanism on my project until I broke it. The fix is fairly easy. In "fixing" it, I found that the original owner of the project had broken it, too. The fix is to turn the large gear over to get to teeth that are not broken. I thought I would just break it again and could not turn it over again. That is not an accurate statement because "breaking it" really just removes 7 or 8 teeth of many. So a broken gear can be "fixed" more than twice. If you wanted to buy mine, I am sorry, it is already flying on a buddies' Longeze because he broke his. IF you find one that someone is ready to sell, BEWARE, it may have been broken a few times and there is a limit to how many ways you can turn the gear. You might buy one that is useless. The gear that the "Cozygirrrls" sell is made of much tougher metal; it is very unlikely that you would break off teeth. BUT their gear is expensive. It is worth the price. I did not buy theirs; instead I went to an electric nose gear system. Wilhelmson sells an exellent gear system that will NOT strip. The problem is installing the DAMN THING. I had nobody to help so I made a few mistakes. NO A LOT of mistakes. He saved my butt once by correcting my mistake after I mailed the whole thing back to him. The main problems in using Wilhelmson's system are (1) you may have to remove the large bolt that holds the nose gear system (original RAF sysem). My project had NEVER flown but the bolt still would not come out.; it was rested enough, not bent. So I had to cut the bolt into two pieces. Well, NO, it would not come out until it was cut into THREE pieces. That is fun ONLY if you use the BEST blades in your saw; the average metal blade will not do the job. (2) You have to cut a small hole in the side of the nose to get the damn bolt pieces out. Then repair all of that (3) The 4 bolts that hold the entire system in place have to EXACTLY fit in the holes of the original RAF system. That installation took 3 months. Maybe just buy the Cozygirrrls gear; it is good. I am still happy with the Wilhelmson system. I bought the delux system so I CAN NEVER land with the nose gear up. I believe the system is absolutely foolproof and you may be lucky with getting the big bolt out in minutes.

Mike's name is Melvill, I believe.

The soil in that area can be VERY dry, depending.... If you don't have a VERY good tiedown system, get one. One type screws into the ground IF THE SOIL IS RIGHT. Throw that type away as they won't go into hard dirt. I saw a guy screw one like that in with the help of some water (I brought him the water) until it was almost OK. Then the top broke off, leaving two inches of steel sticking up. I went to mainenance and got a proper tool to dig up the remains.

I have a copy of that report and learned quite a bit by talking with two of my neighbors at Western Air Park. One of them was one of the test pilots. The other was in charge of construction at Fort Lewis where two Longezes were made. Some quick comments on the two: (1) Both were built using a parts and materials fund; that was not exactly legal but the did it. (2) At that time, the Air Force had to protect all of our ground forces; that changed and the Army got some flying aircraft. (3) There was a fire during flight and the plane burned; the test pilot was not hurt. (4) They had the original rudders which ;most people have never seen; they were square (5) One or both were taken to Mojave for testing but one burned in Washington state. (6) One of the officers flew one in a demonstration for some U.S. senators. They had a large grandstand and the Loneze made a "simulated" attack in foreign forces, flying below the level of the granstand. Some senators were impressed. (6) Some time after that Bert Rutan designed a canard with a jet engine and a 30mm cannon. Only one otfthose was made. It flew in a movie (maybe the worst flying movie ever made). (7) The 1st attempt to build one resulted in a "rough" job but it flew better than the nice looking one

Contact David Orr. He tries to keep a list of anything in the Canard world to sell or buy. David@CanardFinder.Net He also knows details of many of the aircraft for sale and has seen many of them. I think he will find a buyer for you. He DOES charge a "finders fee" but I think that is small.

I asked a question like that 22 years ago. I got several answers; just the common trainers; Cessnas. Cirrus 20 or 22. One answer was take some glider training. The CAP uses gliders very commonly to train those who are 12 to 18 years old. If you join the CAP you could get "Observor trainng" in a Cessna 170 or similar. For me, my wife and I have an Ercoupe and a CFI friend. We fly when possible but this virus problem has used up over a year of my time so I am a rusty pilot again. I do like the Ercoupe but you probably cannot find one in student training. You just have to see what the FBO has.

I bought a project which included a Lycoming O-235 when I knew very little about homebuilts. When I discovered the facts, bought a rebuilt O320, and finished the project. What nobody mentioned was SAFETY. If you take a buddy or wife on a summer trip, maybe you stop at a nice little field to refuel; they have CHEAPER avgas. OK, it is midday. HOT. You urgently need to get up to cooler air. You get to the runup area. Then you realize that (1) there is no wind (2) the runway in use when you landed has a slight slope UPHILL; well,you COULD taxi to the other end but it is HOT so maybe it is OK. But the asphalt is BLACK so it absorbs the sunlight and there are heat waves rising from the pavement. You and your buddy or wife weigh a total of almost 400 pounds. Will your 100 HP get you up to the air? In the winter or from a different airport where the fuel is more expensive or if you had picked a runway that is sloping downhill or if you are flying solo, the 100 HP could be OK. I remember when we lost two guys that went into a "nice little airport" in the summer and filled it with fuel. Killed them both. Don't even think about that O-233.

I knew a guy that flew around the world TWICE, once going west, once going east in year 2000. He started in or near Zurich. PLEASE somebody tell me his name and I will say more about that flight from Oakland; I saw him on Maui on his way west in a Longeze.

I got an Ellison for my O-320 from a builder that switched his engine to fuel injection. I got it rebuilt by Ellison. It was the last or one of the last that Ellison rebuilt. I have just 45 hours on it and it has worked very well. The incoming air flow is filtered and does make a 90 degree turn but it does that smoothly, I believe. With a Plasma II E.I. from Klaus, starting is quick and smooth. There has never been a fuel leakage problem. I am amazed that some owners still use carburetors when they could have bought an Ellison or fuel injection.

I did not build from plans; it still took close to a millium to finish. There are some considerations that you did not mention: (1) your age and previous work with fiberglass, etc. - some people can do a lot in a year; I took years. (2) Where do you live and what is the weather ? Working in Minnesota or Phoenix are quite a bit different. My wife HAD A HANGAR when I met her and it still took years. (3) Where do you plan to do the work? My wife's hangar was warmed by two electric heaters and was a tiny space. Now I have the Longeze in a hangar in Olympia, WA. I cannot work there much of the year because the hangar is too cold for much of the work; I cannot warm that big thing with the electricity that they will allow. I can get about 3 degrees above the outside air. There is NOT AS SINGLE DAY in the year when Aeropoxy will set properly inside that hangar. There are other epoxies that are structural at the temperature that you will work but you should find one before you start this enormous project.

I have never FLOWN into OSH but I was a passenger in a Cozy and twice in a C-182. Just be sure that you have an official copy of the EAA manual for this year and study it. Get in the approach to 36, you don't want to be in the slow bunch. Arrive with plenty of fuel; I rode in a C-82 for 3.5 hours IN THE APPROACH; due to weather all of the aircraft for 2 days arrived on Sunday; a few said they were low on fuel; DON'T DO THAT! Have your HBC card ready and don't let them put you off on the grass if you have wheel pants; just go all of the way to the end of the runway; there is paved taxiway. That will put you into a lot of different non-canards; I don't know if they have a special parking area for canards; once they did but they changed. Maybe someone knows for this year. The "Rutan celebration year" was nice. Parking anywhere close to 36L is good, too. I don't have enough flying experience; I would not even try it. I would get an experienced pilot into the front seat. Many years ago, a canard was switched from runway 9 to 36 but he made an error in changing the radio frequency. The controller was telling him to go around but he landed; at the last second he saw another aircraft BELOW him; he went to the side and landed in grass; he spent the entire week rebuilding the Longeze. He was lucky to not completely wreck it and lucky to get it into a hangar.

I moved a Longeze from California to Maui in a box that I built with one other guy. If you need to do that contact me; the box was broken during loading because the shipper used strong flexible straps to hold the box down. So some parts fell on other parts. The insurance payment just about covered the charge for shipping so the shipping was almost free. HOWEVER I had a damaged Longeze. The right strake had about 2" x 2" smashed end so I learned how really sturdy the strakes are. After cutting back to obviously undamaged strake, I rebuilt. The entire part that I built has NO stress when in flight IMHO so it was just practice. Some years later I got into a divorce (building an airplane was a large part of the reason) so I met another woman and SHIPPED IT BACK to Tacoma. By then the Longeze was ready to fly but I had no test pilot so it never flew in HI. Having had a broken box problem, I shipped it in an ordinary container (but a high one: there are different sizes). I have a lot of useful information to tell on that shipping if you have to go that way; just contact me. BTW I had a friend who was stationed in Alaska, then moved to HI. I think he used a commercial service to bring his Cozy. A few years later he retired from the Coast Guard and planned to fly it back. He was afraid of running it low on oil so he set up a system to add oil. He did not use the add-oil system as one cylinder lost a valve through the head! He was 100 miles east/northeast of Maui in the MIDDLE of the NIGHT so his landing was rough enough to tear a wing off. So the Coast Guard guys that he trained picked him up and took him to Maui. He was OK but he lost his Cozy. Beware of flying over water at night. I had flown that Cozy partway from Maui to Kauai but not at night.

O! My first message was not clear. The $39 is for a directory AND quarterly newsletters that are in COLOR and 32 pages. They do have a small problem that I believe they will fix. My last copy had 26 very good pages and 6 pages were somewhat tattered in the postal machines. The outer page is pretty stiff and all 4 of the recent copies broke a little on one corner or had an edge torn a little.

David Orr is at: David@CanardFinder.net