Newsletter# 68 / January 2000
David Domeier recently posted a short item on the internet about how he uses his
airplane. Maybe it would be interesting for others to provide interesting items as well.
David writes on 10/27/99:
My wife and I launched on a 3 leg mission at 9 am this morning and returned at 4 pm.
The purpose was personal business and pleasure, and the Cozy made it a piece of cake.
The first leg was 49 minutes. We usually drive it in 3 hours. The second leg was 29
minutes. We usually drive it in 1-3/4 hours. The third leg was 102 minutes. We usually
drive it in 4 hours. At each airport we were asked about the "cute" airplane.
Some people had never seen one or heard of it. A very interesting day. Keep building,
guys. It is worth the effort for sure.
Dave Domeier
Nat replies on 10/29/99:
A few weeks ago we took a 5 day vacation, joining some friends on a houseboat out of
"Halls Crossing" on Lake Powell, to travel the upper part of Lake Powell. There
were no direct roads. It would have taken 10 hours to make it by car, and we would have to
have left a day early and stayed overnight somewhere to meet at the marina at 10 am. So we
flew. It took less than 90 minutes to fly up to a really nice airport 10 miles from the
marina, and they had a free shuttle service. We really impressed everyone else (we flew
over the marina before landing) Same on the way back, just 90 minutes.
Nat
Newsletter# 68 / January 2000
9/21/99
Cozy Builders,
We apologize to the Cozy group for not reporting our arrival (in Venezuela), especially
Nat and Shirley, who were ever so helpful to us during the whole of Oshkosh. When we got
ready to fly back we were so anxious that we forgot to say goodbye.
This is the story of our trip back to Venezuela: We took off on Sunday, 8/1/99 from
runway 18 in Oshkosh. This was our scheduled day with the FAA (you know we needed a
special flight authorization from the FAA, limited to an itinerary, which included dates
and stop airports.)
In our 4.5 hour trip we had splendid weather, even when we landed in Rome, GA. We had a
2-hour rest with nap and lunch and took off for Ft. Lauderdale, where we arrived at 5 pm
local time. Our friend picked us up and took us to a crab house dinner. On Monday we
stayed at Miami to rest for the Tuesday flight.
On Tuesday, we took off from FXE at 6 am for Puerto Plata, but after about 45 minutes
flying (approx. 100 miles out over the Gulf) the left engine started missing until it
stopped completely. After the left engine quit completely, we did a turn to the nearest
airport, which was the island of Bimini. From 9,500 ft. we spent a lot of time trying to
start the engine, descending to 5,000 ft. in the meantime (while trying to start the
engine, the propellor is engaged, causing a lot of drag). We realized then that no engine
start was possible and reduced speed to 80 kts so the oil pressure would drop and
disconnect the idler pulley and disengage the propellor from the left engine. We flew like
this for 20 minutes or so, arriving at Bimini at 5,000 ft. We then told Miami control that
we were landing safely at Bimini. We did not declare an emergency, but had told them that
we had engine trouble, so they asked us to call once we landed.
After we landed we took our cowlings off and found a dead ignition coil. Our plane has
a single electronic ignition system for each engine. A broken coil is a dead engine. Our
friend in Miami sent us a part on a charter plane that was flying from FXE, but the coil
we received did not work. In desperation we disassembled the old coil (it is the oil
filled type that you can take apart) and found a broken connection inside. It had broken
due to vibration from the engine. We made the mistake of installing the coil on the engine
itself. It should be installed on the firewall like we have on our right engine....there
is no vibration there.
After we repaired the coil, we took off and flew to the nearest civilization, which was
Nassau. There we spent the night. On Wednesday morning, we went out shopping and bought a
brand new coil at the local Nissan dealer. We installed it and flew to Santo Domingo
(Dominican Republic). We skipped all the bad cells of thunderstorms and bad weather on the
way and landed at Santo Domingo at 5 pm (after 5 hours). Our surprise was to find a bunch
of EAA guys that flew Chinnuk Helicopters for the Alabama COF (military). They were based
there at the airport, right next to where our Cozy was parked. They offered accommodation
and gave us some survival food. We were really grateful, although we could not accept to
sleep there because our friend picked us up at the airport.
To our friend's disappointment we took off on Thursday morning for Valencia, Venezuela
(We were so eager to get there after two day's delay) and arrived at Valencia at 1 pm for
the usual welcoming.
Carlos & Rueben Leon
Valencia, Venezuela
Newsletter# 69 / April 2000
12/9/99
Nat,
I'm writing to let you know that I will be turning 500 hours on my Cozy Mark IV (498 as
of today). It has been a wonderful cross country airplane. Everywhere you go: What is it?
How fast does it go? Did you build it? It's a Cozy Mark IV, fast cruise is 190 knots and I
built it at home in my garage. Thank you!!!!!
Tim Jones
Jefferson SD
12/13/99
Builders,
I have 300 hours in my Long EZ with right hand stick and I was very concerned about
test flying a friend's new Cozy from the left hand side, so I flew if from the right side
for the first 10 hours. After that I transitioned to the left side and I can tell you that
it was a non-event. Even after 300 hours of right hand flying, you forget the stick is in
you left hand on the first landing. Nat has always said this and he is right. As a bonus,
I now have my preferred right hand available to write things down. I am building the per
plans left hand Cozy and would recommend you do the same.
Steve Willhoite
Sante Fe NM
12/13/99
Hi Nat,
Last Friday the FAA modified my Airworthiness Certificate to the new -D one. So far so
good, reason was to be able to switch props and I guess the timeing was right. N241KD 218
hours and loving it!
Ken Reiter
Plano TX
Newsletter# 69 / April 2000
1/13/00
Nat,
We spent New Year's Eve at our condo about 185 miles from here with 2 other couples,
one of which left some pills and personal stuff when we left on Jan 2. I decided I needed
to patrol the area between here and there with the Cozy yesterday, so why not drop in and
retrieve the pills for the lady.
It was a very pretty day except the winds were a bit weird. Surface wind was Northeast
at 5 knots, but at 8,500' on a course of 250* there was a significant headwind. A ground
speed of 110 was most unacceptable, so I let down to 1,000' AGL and recovered 35 knots but
it was quite bumpy. The Navaid autopilot coupled to the GPS course did not seem to mind
the rough air. It just kept on navigating without much ado. I am most impressed with
performance of this low priced autopilot. The S-Tech altitude hold also did very well in
the rough air. These aids are most helpful in doing a good job of patrolling and noticing
stuff that needs noticing - like good landing spots should one be needed.
Landing at the little airport was uneventrul. Total time from engine start to shut down
- 56 minutes. This place had a free courtesy car the last time I was there but some jerk
must have screwed up the deal. The attendant said the car was no more because of an
uproar. I had to take a cab at a cost of $22 round trip. It was an old beat up Ford van,
the only cab in the area. I noticed many junk cars parked at this airport, obviously owned
by pilots who fly in as I did. Many of them were in better shape than the taxi.
I was looking forward to the trip back to St Louis and pleased to see 211 knots on the
ground speed meter at 7,500' (242 mph for you marketing types). I had set up 66% power on
fuel flow of 8.7 gph and the machine yielded 160 knots TAS at that power setting. About 35
miles out I tripped off the altitude hold, gave a couple shots of nose down Alex Strong
trim, and started the descent. Speed picked up to 232 knots for a time. Tower approved a
straight in approach and I was parked in the hangar with 36 minutes logged from engine
start to shut down. Not too shabby for a hand built, homemade flying machine.
As I've said before, I remain very impressed with the Cozy MkIV. It is a pleasure to
launch every time. Hang in there builders and keep mixin' that glue. It's worth it.
David Domeier
Chesterfield MO
3/19/00
Nat,
I have decided not to sell my Cozy for a few more years. I flew with my 16 year old
daughter for the first time in a long time today. She and I haven't been getting along for
the past several years and we reconnected again with the airplane. She has been flying
with me since she was a baby. She told me that some of the best memories in her life were
the times that she flew with me. She wants to fly with me and fly the Cozy. She is full
size now, has her drivers license and actually has the makings of a good pilot. She has a
good sense of the instruments, where she is in the air, and what she is doing. This is my
opportunity to spend the last couple of years that she will be at home doing something
with her that she really enjoys. We had grown too far apart. My wife says that she will
fly more with me again too. It just took until it really looked like the airplane would be
sold until they said anything to me about it. They are both hard over about my keeping the
Cozy. I will just have to take it easy on my back and wear my back support band when
working on it. I hope to make some fly-ins this year.
Jack Grandman
Englewood, CO
Newsletter# 71 / October 2000
7/3/00
Nat and Shirley,
In the nearly 3 years we've been flying, we've taken the plane to all kinds of places.
Mike's also done some racing with it, tho it's just a stock plane, nothing fancy. I enjoy
it for visiting family in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and frineds in the Southwest. My most
frequent destinations are Santa Barbara, and Camarillo. I've also flown into Mammoth and
Oakland. It's just a fabulous plane We have 570+ hours in it, and it's been a wonderful
experience all the way around!.
Mike will begin training with SkyWest in August, and I will begin my master's program
in the spring. We'll try to find time to fly, tho! We love it!
Liese Aufill
Redondo Bch CA
Newsletter# 71 / October 2000
6/28/00
Dear Nat,
I am a former Navy carrier pilot and think that sliding into the Cozy is the next best
thing to being back in a military cockpit. It is a pleasure to fly and a lot of fun on 7.5
gph! I saw the item in your recent newsletter about the redesigned Cozy web page. I took a
look today and think it is great. I was motivated to send you some information about my
Cozy. It is N23CZ, plans number 108. It was built in Burbank, CA and first flew in
October, 1988. I purchased it from the original builder in August 1988 with just over 500
hours on the engine and airframe. I've flown from my home base at Houston Southwest TX to
Oshkosh, Sun 'n Fun twice and have made numerous trips to Augusta, GA and Tampa, FL to
visit family and friends. I now have over 750 hours on the 150 hp Lycoming 0-320-E2A and
Great American prop. The plane was built to plans and has an empty weight of 997 lbs. It
has a max speed of 180 KTAS at 2700 rpm but I usually cruise at a comfortable 2450 rpm
with a TAS of 150 KTS on 7.5 gph.
I will be on the lookout to meet fellow Navy Pilot, Don Westerfeld (Editor, and Jeff
Mallia, a 300 landing carrier pilot as well!) We had a local EZ fly-out from Houston to
Galveston a few weekends ago. A former F-14 Naval Aviator led a VERY LOOSE formation
flight. We prearranged to fly over the small outlying area airports picking up a plane or
two from each. I flew "tail end Charlie" to keep an eye on the group as I was
the only other military trained pilot. All went smoothly, safely and we entered the break
at Galveston in a loose five plane echelon.
I was the only Cozy, but a total of 14 EZ's turned out including two flown by NASA
astronauts. Frank Caldeiro, who has been training at Russia Space City for a new space
station mission and Jim Voss who just returned from the most recent Shuttle mission to
replace space station batteries only three days earlier! We all had a great time and there
were some envious looks at the room in my Cozy cockpit from some of the Varieze and Long
EZ guys.
Richard Reitz
Houston, TX
HI Nat,
Just a quick one from England. My Cozy G-COZI is now 4 years old, no changes or mods. I
just keep filling up the fuel and oil and FLY, FLY, FLY!
David Machin
Kent, UK