Thanks for the response Marc!
That's a mistake on my part, the phrase should've been "But since it's outside of the range forward, any extra weight aft will solve for that pretty quickly".
I'm mostly just relieved that's the worst mistake - I was nervous my software self was going to get something completely backwards in front of you engineer types.
I completely agree - I was trying to start there, but I'm pretty wet behind the ears so will definitely not think of all the worse case scenarios at first, which is why I'm exposing the thinking to y'all much more knowledgable folks for critique.
I can take a good bubble bursting, at the end of the day if the physics and difficulty just don't line up, it won't fly, and that's no good.
I've seen some talk around the Limo EZ, and that seems like a possibility as far as the "can you actually sit in the thing," but that particular fellow hasn't been active in over a decade.
Unfortunately the problems are many, I think:
- Actual, physical fitment (depending on seat placement and panel structure, can be less or more of a problem)
- CG being wildly biased forward, to the point of almost being outside of the envelope in most configurations, without significant ballast aft
- MGW in general, exacerbated by any add-weight solutions to the above CG problem
It's also been brought to my attention that even if it "technically flies," the weight on the canards would make my runway requirements will be pretty long, eliminating some local ports I'd definitely be wanting to access.
It seems like without major change-of-plans, which is a pretty intimidating undertaking as someone who hasn't built before, the only real path would be convert to a 1 seater sitting further aft, and accept I'll never pack more than a backpack and full fuel.
I'll keep dreaming for now, and start looking at alternatives in the meantime. Bearhawks and RV8s have both been recommended, and seem like pretty great planes. Maybe one of those (as in, the 2 I know that exist) Limo EZs will pop up, or I'll get the courage to spring for one and do a 1 seater conversion, otherwise I might be in search of larger cockpit waters.
In any case, reading this forum, and going through this exercise, has been super helpful for my knowledge! My instructor was impressed at my weight and balance acumen yesterday as a "new to aviation" after I had started going deep on LongEZ feasibility. I'm really appreciative of all the knowledge everyone has shared, and continues to share!