Newsletter# 35 / October 1991
Dear Nat, 7/12/91
Cozy #300 has 125 hours on it now. It is an incredible airplane. This
is the first thing that has surpassed my expectations, except for my
family!. I am working a lot of hours and traveling a lot so I won't be
able to attend Oshkosh again this year. Thanks for a great airplane!
Dave Mendenhall
Newsletter# 36 / January 1992
N76PJ has flown off its 40 hours and has been jetting around quite a
bit. We usually try and get over to Sedona or Prescott to see some
friends quite often. I am having to add ballast to the rear starter pad
in order to carry my wife along in the front seat. At my current A/C
weight and cg. I can't get the cg. aft of center even at gross. Empty
wt. 828# A/C cg. 109.9. Together my wife and I weigh in at around
310. Any thoughts on this other than go on a diet?
(I sent some
suggestions to Pat).
We've been having a ball in the Cozy and encourage all would be Cozy
owners to hang in there cause it's all worth it. Hope to get over to
see you soon.
Regards,
Pat Young
After nearly two years and 175 hours, N267CZ is still a thrill to fly.
I still receive a lot of admiring comments from people locally at the
airport as well as at fly-ins I've attended.
I've made most of the recommended modifications and like you, I'm
considering installing a Navaid wing leveler. I agree that it's a good
safety feature for non IFR pilots. We hope to see you at Sun N Fun next
spring.
Sincerely,
John Ashe
11/6/91
Dear Nat;
All continues to go well with flight testing. I have 34 hours on N456DP
now and it has performed flawlessly. I'm looking forward to getting out
of the test area. I have been in no hurry to fly off restrictions.
I've been trying to enjoy the time in addition to making it meaningful,
allowing time between flights to about what was accomplished, analyse
aspects of envelope expansion, both speed and weight, and looking for
things that a rush test period would not allow time for.
The weather here in Homer has slowed down the process slightly - being a
coastal community most of the weather heading into the state hits us
first. I haven't been able to fly at all for about the last week due to
weather, and am itching to wrap things up so that I can make my first
trip to Anchorage, normally a 5 hour drive; in the Cozy, a 40 min
flight. There is lots to see in the state and from are a surprising
number of hard surfaced runways to allow me to see most of it. Its a
big, big state, but the Cozy should cut it down to size.
One of the reasons I'm writing Nat, is to ask a favor of you. As
designer I'm sure you personally know people that would like a Cozy or
Mark IV who don't have the time or volition to build. I miss building
terribly. I enjoy it immensely. If someone should ask you, would you
mind giving them my name and address? I would be willing to fly to
their location and do whatever they would like done for a reasonable
cost. If I worked on a project full time, I could complete it in less
than a year. You know my background in homebuilding. I'm 44 years old
and have been in management in the grocery business for the last 10
years (until recendy-stepped down due to job dissatisfaction and wanting
a career change).
I hope all is well with you and your wife. I look forward to meeting
you at Oshkosh '92. I'll be flying down with a friend who has the only
flying RV-6 in the state. We have been doing a lot of formation flying
together. He has been flying off restrictions also. Enclosed is a
snapshot. Mt. Redoubt is in the background.
Take care,
Dave Petrosino
Newsletter# 37 / April 1992
3/25/92
Dear Nat & Shirley
Just a note to update you on the flight testing of our Cozy N3EP since
you reported our first flight on April 20, 1992 in Cozy Newsletter
#34.
The 40 hour test period was completed some time ago and now my wife
Pearlie and I are ready for a few tnps.
N3EP weighed in at 990-lbs. The engine is a rebuilt Lyc 0-320 E2A, 150
hp. The propellor is a B&T 62 x 75.
I found the Cozy to be a very fast, high performance airplane. All
controls are smooth with elevators and ailerons normal and satisfactory.
Durtng several speed runs at 3000' MSL and 2700 RPM, N3EP indicated 160
Kts. The stall turned out be a non-event with no wing rock or tendency
to fall off on one wing. It's a delight to fly.
Thanks, Nat, for a very fine airplane.
Regards,
Ed & Pearlie Moulden
Dear Nat & Shirley,
Some news from France. I'm still enjoying the Cozy. Nearly 500 hours
without any problem. It's really a wonderful plane! We moved to Ugnan,
a little village near Beziers and we'll expect to move again to
Montpellier next summer because of my job.
Happy new year,
Daniel Hedricourt
2/25/92
Dear Nat,
As I reported earlier, I have been overhauling the engine of my Cozy for
the past 3 months. It is an 0-320 E2D and was purchased as a run-out
with 2500 hours TT. I put 170 hours on it since the first flight, and
it performed well, but oil consumption was high, and a major was
inevitable. The last time I flew, the CHT went to 525 F on climbout, so
I throttled way back and nursed it home. I tore it down and found that
the #2 exhaust valve was stretched. Otherwise, the engine looked far
better than I had expected, considering the TT and the fact that it had
never been topped.
I sent the cyls to ECI for Cerichrome remanufacture and fitting of 160
hp pistons. I also sent the crank, cam, lifter bodies, case, etc. for
overhaul. They line-bored the case. All other parts were polished and
returned yellow tagged to standard tolerances. It took 6 weeks to get
everything back. I then took all the moving mass to an automotive shop
that builds racing engines and had them dvnamically balance everything
to within 1/4 gram. With the help of a friend and Lycoming manuals, we
reassembled it over a two week period. A new oil pump, hydraulic
lifters, and scads of small parts were also installed. I ended up
spending around $5500 for parts, labor and shipping. A ridiculous
figure, considering what fthat will buy in the automotive market.
I was fortunate in that my friend Rick Cahill's Cozy was not quite
finished, so he loaned me his 62x74 prop to use to break in my engine.
I had planned to fly the Cozy to the Dominican Republic as a participant
in the Dominican 500 early in Feb, so I needed to get some time on the
engine. After about 12 hours, the temps and oil consumption had started
to stabilize, so I left on the trip. It was a week long fly in to the
D.R. in celebration of the quincentennial of Columbus's discovery of
the new world. We flew to Ft. Pierce, FL, and then off across the
pond! I had never done any flying over water and do not have either a
VOR receiver or an ADF, so I installed a Sony GPS receiver. It was a
good thing too, as the Loran could not navigate past Grand Bahama Is.
We landed for fuel at Great Euma Is. The next stop was at
Providenciales. It was getting dark, so we spent the night and departed
early the next morning for Santiago, D.R. It is about 200 nm to the
island and when we got there, it was solid IFR. The clouds build around
the 10,000' range on the south side and unpredictably will cover the
entire country. We diverted to Grand Turk Is. in the Turks and Caicos.
about 180 nm north and spent two wonderful days goofing off and
snorkling. Grand Turk is a trip back to the 19th century. There is
very little to do there, but the beaches are beautiful, the pace is
slow, and the people are very friendly. We finally flew into Santiago
where we met the rest of the group. We ferried the Cozy to San Isidro
AFB where the aircraft were stored, and then spent three days in Santo
Domingo. We were treated like royalty. The Dominican people had
received much advance warning as to the fly in, and as we moved along on
our tour busses, they were lined up along the streets cheering and
welcoming us to their beautiful country. There were three other
homebuilts on the trip, 2 Defiants, and a Glasair RG. It was a great
trip, that would not have been possible for me without the Cozy. It was
a hit everywhere we landed. The tower controller at Grand Turk had us
do a fly-by so he could get some photos.
The Cozy performed flawlessly on the trip (3200 nm total). There were
many times the GPS showed a ground track over 200 Kts. For a while at
11,500' we had a GT of 230 Kts. Not bad for something you built
yourself in your garage! I have an Ellison TBI to install, and a
Performance Props 3 bladed prop on order. I am anxious to get these
things done, as I feel that then my airplane will have developed it's
full potential. Thanks again Nat for a wonderful airplane!
Fly Safely,
Ron Kidd
Cozy #267 has over 200 hours on it now and is flying great! After all
these hours I still get excited each time I fly.
Thanks!
John Ashe
Newsletter# 38 / July 1992
ALTITUDE RECORDS
The Cozy altitude record, until 5/5/92, was held by Vance Atkinson at
23,000ft. Mike Green established a new record of 25,530 ft. on 5/5/92.
He said he did it with a tired 0-320 D2J with 2750 hrs since new.
4/29/92
Dear Shirley and Nat,
Hope our letter finds you both in the best of health. As you know, Helen
and I live in Michigan and fly out of Midland-Barstow airport. Yesterday
the weather was just beautiful so we decided to take our Cozy for a
little pleasure flight. We headed north and passed over the Big Mac
bridge, the world famous Mackinaw Island, and landed at Sault St.
Marie. A distance of about 180 miles by air and approx. 250 miles by
car. Visibility was in excess of 50 miles at 7500 ft. and the eagles
perch we had, presented a spectacular view that can best be appreciated
from the air.
We spent nearly four hours at the Clarion Kewadin Hotel and Casino, and
after our lunch and gambling losses, we figured we went through a ten
dollar bill. At one time we were actually a hundred dollars ahead, but
you've beard that story before.
Our return flight took us over Harbour Springs, Lake Charlevoix and down
the west side of the state. We landed back at Midland-Barstow at 5:30PM
and had been gone for a total of only 7-1/2 hours. Our total flight time
was less than three hours and we used $29.70 worth of fuel (18 gals. 100
LL). We drove our loran crazy as we did 360 degree turns over Mackinaw
Island and checked out the ice still clinging to the shore line around
Drummond Island. This was truly a pleasure flight we took on the spur of
the moment because of excellent weather.
In the past three years, Helen and I have chalked up 514 hours on our
big/little airplane. Many things needed fine tuning that first year, but
since then, our Cozy has been literally trouble free and has performed
like many a big plane wish they could. We certainly are fortunate that
we chose to build the plane we did.
Again, we wish to thank you both for your dedication towards making a
truly great airplane available to us. We also want to encourage all the
hard working builders out there, to continue and complete their
projects. The time, expense and effort are all well worth it!
Sincerely,
Walt & Helen Suminski
Newsletter# 39 / October 1992
8/9/92
Dear Nat and Shirley,
We enjoyed the Cozy dinner at Robbins. Good food, good company, and good
Cozy conversation. For the benefit of Cozy builders who didn't attend,
we volunteered to type up a list of Cozy builders who attended the
dinner and mail each person a copy. Perhaps there are others who would
like to be included on this list so they can correspond with fellow Cozy
builders or visit when traveling. We will include additional names and
addresses if we are sent: name, address, phone number, which Cozy you
are building or flying, would you be interested in a Cozy builder/flyer
visiting you, and include $1.00 to cover copying and postage. I'll wait
until the October Cozy newsletter is out before I send this list to
include any additional names/addresses/phone numbers.
We took our first realy long trip in our Cozy in July. Having had no
experience in mountain flying (Iowa elevations average around 800 msl)
we decided to fly to Oregon to visit an uncle. We experienced a major
storm system in Nebraska (flight service said we could get through it by
11:00 a.m., but didn't say which day! We ended up flying around it (100
miles south to Salina, KS) dodging thunder storms in eastern Colorado,
experienced what density altitude can do on take-off, and know what
"moderate turbulence" is. We have an 0-235 engine and were carrying
about 30 gallons of fuel most of the time along with our luggage, so we
were pretty heavy, but other than a take-off at Boulder airport (4,000'
rwy at 5,500' elev. and 75 degrees) where we used up all the runway
(know what it must feel like to fly off an aircraft carrier!), we had an
enjoyable trip. We flew interstates most of the time and never
encountered elevations where we had to fly over 10,550'. A cozy 31 hrs.
round trip from Waterloo, IA to Kelso, WA in our Cozy. We had radio
problems on the way home and have been so busy since we got home, we
haven't found the problem.
We have had problems with our Loran and think some of the "position
errors" were due to static electricity. The trim on our N611CZ are
automotive decals and we have been told that static electricity builds
up on these. We put metal static bleeders on the winglets and this seems
to have helped. We found that weather and magnetic variations affected
the loran in some areas.
Sincerely,
Rex.Pershing