Building the Long EZ

[The Buzz]

An open mike call to all Long EZ enthusiasts. Any tips to building a Long EZ in South Africa? Any EZ's flying in ZA? Any parts around? Whatever you got...MUCH appreciated

[JvTonder]

Hi Buzz,

Welkom!

Ask the same question on Avcom, there are some canards flying in SA and believe one or two off them are the Long EZ, one was for sale not so long ago as well.

[The Buzz]

I know of a EZ that was for sale on the east rand not so long ago, one at Krugersdorp, one in Stellenbosch and a Cozey at Barra
Must be honest for me its a lot to do with the building but anything EZ feeds my passion. Burt Rutan and Mike Melville (a true SA hero) are BOSS for designing such an amazing plane
Thanks for the tip JvTonder, I will check it out...

[Tailspin]

Hey Buzz

I have full set of Plans and many connections of people who can assist with this build.
Send me a mail and i will pass on as much of the information as possible.

Regards

Tailspin.

[The Buzz]

WoW that's Amazing!! Yes please. My email is ivan@ilrsafety.co.za

Thanks Gavin, this is just what we needed. Mega Brain Food, I love this stuff.
The history and performance of this little plane is staggering, altitude, distance, endurance, speed, economy, sheer great looks.
Sculpting one with my hands will be a near religious experience, to build,fly and look after one would complete me!

[The Buzz]

Updated Profile....

So this is what we have so far in the bag:

Permission and blessings from the Missus
Premises to build
Plans
Canard pusher all issues
Updates to plans all issues
Roncz canard plans
Internal rudder bellhorn plans
High performance rudder plans
Landing brake plans
Roll over structure plans
Revision 5 drawings
EZ Owners manual
Notes on Long EZ suppliers local and foreign
Glass, epoxy and foam specs
Local suppliers fore some of the above
Electric landing gear data
Engine pricelists and options
Engine mount suppliers

My good mate who will co build and co own the plane
Family and friends that own and fly aircraft and helicopters
Every Sunday and 6 hours a week is EZ time

For now it's loads of reading, studying, educating, checking and getting my head around it....
Ary Glanz's EZ project, see the internet, is a real help but needs to be applicable and affordable in ZA. All about the foam and goo and hopefully not at 18 : 1

Any body have a s-glass main landing strut lying around ? This is the one part you have to buy. Will email Featherlite in the US

[nomie]

Wow I shall be following this thread with interest!

Would love to do a project like this but the average build time seems to be 6+ years which is a bit . Hope you are very good friends with your building buddy

Now where are the pictures? Bulkheads done yet?

[The Buzz]

First the flat lay up x2
then the load test piece to prove to oneself the strength of design
Then the book stand to test that you poses the skillset to shape foam and lay glass and gloo. This piece teaches one all the materials characteristics
Then the bulkheads, wood and CNC routering on standby.

Working my way through 109 issues of the Canard pusher news letters, verifying the dimensions of the plans and 41 chapters of updates.

The nice thing about this plane is that it is effectively a completely evolved aircraft 1979-2015 and is extensively evaluated by NASA.
Every time somebody wants to try out a new engine, they probably end up testing it in a Long EZ. Pulsed detonation engines, Rocket engines (see e-racer), Turbine engines (see eazy Jet), Renisis rotary engines, Subaru engines, Volkswagen engines, Lycoming, Continental, Franklin...... It holds the record for the fastest prop driven electric plane, altitude, distance the list just goes on and on.

At Oshkosh there is an old saying that " If you fly an EZ you are probably further than 1000 miles from home". It is in a league of its own as a fast touring aircraft

The work that John Roncz did on the air foils is mastery in its own right
Rutan and Scaled composites (CEO Mike Melville born in ZA) won the reusable space re entry vehicle sent up 100 miles X-prise and now with Branson from Virgin have formed Virgin Galactic.
This history all starts with 3 planes The Vari Viggin, Veri Eazy and the Long EZ.
I rest my case...this plane will be built and flown

[rcbgreen]

I have always been fascinated by this aircraft as it is at the leading edge of efficient flying. I see in Wiki they quote a Lycoming O-235 but would like to believe that a Rotax powerplant would make it even more efficient. Do you have an engine in mind? Will follow this story with interest.

[The Buzz]

Lycoming o-320 A1A 160 Hp with a Hertzler wood prop is, with all things considered, the gold standard although some use the Lycoming o-360 180hp.
Rotax, Jabiru can all work. What you add at the back you add at the front

Trick with this thing is to do what Uncle Burt said. How to know if something is too heavy for your plane - Simple, throw it up in the air, if it falls on the ground its too heavy.
More power only improves the climb rate not top speed (220 knots) which makes the o-320 spot on. Climb rate over 1000ft per minute

[nomie]

Interestingly canard aircraft are actually fundamentally inefficient. Great feat by Rutan overcoming these inherited drawbacks.

Some semi balanced reading on the subject: http://www.apollocanard.com/4_canard%20myths.htm

Interesting about the top speed not improving with larger engine. Did not know that. My first thought would have been that Rotax has woefully inadequate horsepower for such a speed machine (not to mention the complexity and current price )

[nomie]

A quick study on the long-ez forums reveals that a long-ez with any less power than the o-320 is just impractical in terms of runway length.

Canard aircraft at the best of times need a very long runway. Now rob the long-ez of power and put two people in it and you are just looking for trouble.

From this I would say Rotax and other engines of the same class is a big no-no for the long-ez. Unless you are based in Upington with its 4,900m runway!

[The Buzz]

Spot on!
Once airborne it attains and holds cruising speed well, hence the small engines. Originally used a continental o-200 Hp or a VeeDub .
The lighter the plane the better it goes!
Its a fantastic balance of power vs weight vs range vs agility vs speed.
It flies at a glide ratio of some 35:1
I would not recommend changing anything on the airframe. Burt knew how to drive a slide rule and John Roncz is a master at wing design algorithms.
The wind tunnel testing at NASA in most cases simply proved the math that these guys figured out through sheer genius. With Burt's brother Dick at the stick for flight testing the goose turned into a swan.

[The Buzz]

Sorry that's Continental o-200 100HP

[John Boucher]

Not a Long EZ but worth a look..

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