Newsletter# 72 / January 2001
9/20/00
Dear Nat,
Here is an interesting bit of information. Two days ago we loaded up the Cozy to go to
Chicago to see Cory. She moved to a different apartment closer to school.
When I say loaded, I mean LOADED! In addition to full fuel and the two of us, I took
out the back seat cushions and proceeded to stack the rear seat area to the ceiling. We
had rugs, a pair of standing wall lamps, light fixtures, an old fashioned type-writer,
half a dozen suitcases, so on and so forth. It was a LOT of weight. Some of the items were
HEAVY.........
It was a very smooth ride going up there We did about 180 kts due to a slight tailwind.
The amazing thing was, once at altitude, I'll bet I didn't touch the pitch trim more than
twice in the whole 4 hours. It stuck on altitude like it was on rails.....I was amazed.
I'm thinking all that weight in the back somehow stabilized the pitch plugoid mode. Whatta
ya think? We paid big-time coming back, it took 6 hours to get home as we were bucking a
40 to 50 kt head wind. . Yes, we did a night landing at home, first one in about 3
years....(in the Cozy)
Vance Atkinson
Bedford TX
Newsletter# 73 / April 2001
...
My Cozy has been in the air 3 years now. Great airplane! While it (N171BH) is in
annual, I want to upgrade my aileron torque tube bearings from the original phenolic type
to the triangle type to remove excess aileron slop. Is the nylon bearing the proper one to
put in my wing roots, next to the engine compartment (ans: yes)? I can't believe these
bearings are so cheap! Take care.
Brian Heinitz
Gold River, CA
Newsletter# 73 / April 2001
3/1/01
Dear Nat,
I am including a book of pictures of my bird. The registration is F-PGJL. It means Le
Fier Petit Goeland Jonathan Livingston (the proud little Seagull) story of Richard Bach.
When I am asked why I love flying, I tell the asker to read that book. The answer is
written a lot better than I could express my feelings.
So I decided to have the decoration of my bird on this idea. My son did the design. He
wanted it quite simple with feathers at the end of the flying surfaces, and a few seagulls
painted on the plane (pictures in next newsletter).
We are quite active near Paris, because in the last year there are 3 new Cozys flying.
Mine first flew 5/5/00 and now has more that 50 hours on it with no problems. Alain Raposo
Flew in September 20000 and he also has 50 or more hours with no problems. The last one is
Yves Pranal, who flew his in January 2001, and it looks like he has no problems as well.
All of us are very happy. When do you come to see us?
Benoit Lecoq
Paris, France
Newsletter# 73 / April 2001
2/20/01
Howdy Nat and Shirley,
The Cozy was my first aircraft construction project and I can truly say that after six
years of construction, Cozy III N296MH is flying with me as the pilot. Although the maiden
flight took place in June 1999, it wasn't until January 2000 that I was able to get into
the plane unassisted and actually take off and land. Since then I have spent over 175
hours in the air making several cross-country trips. N296MH is powered by a 1955 0-320
engine with a Jeff Rose dual electronic ignition and Airflow fuel injection. I'm slow but
sure. In July 2000, I completed the wheel pants and then flew to Oshkosh. In October 2000,
my son, Tom, and I made it to Copperstate and to your barbecue. Thank you and Shirley for
your hospitality, it was a great time at your house. In November 2000, I finished an
oil-cooled heater and placed it in the nose.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve Willhoite for test piloting N296MH
and then flying beside me in the plane for seven months as I adapted the controls for
one-handed flight. Thanks to Gene Davis for sharing his tremendous knowledge of airplane
construction with me as well as flying to Santa Fe to help me with the weight and balance.
And, last but not least, thank you for making yourself available at a moment's notice to
provide support and guidance and answers to the hundreds of questions I asked. I cruise at
155 knots at 2500 rpm and the plane is truly hands-off flying. Great design!
Malcolm Hart
Santa Fe NM
(Editor: Malcolm is severely handicapped with only one arm. He is
truly an amazing person.)
Newsletter# 73 / April 2001
01/29/01
Dear Nat,
Here in Venezuela I had the opportunity to fly as co-pilot with Carlos Leon in Cozy
YV-22X. It flys fantastic and stable.
Rafi Kalustian
Caracas Venezuela
Newsletter# 74 / July 2001
April 12, 2001
Builders,
I am remiss in not sending this note of thanks sooner. I am shocked that I should let a
month go by without so much as a word describing the warm welcome I received while in
France with my daughter. This list is a wonderful place to meet the best people in the
world. Thanks to Marc for making it possible and to Nat for designing a plane that has
been the focal point of many friendships around the world.
To elaborate, Anna (aged 10 years) and I were on a Father-Daughter bonding trip through
Germany and France last month. I had been in email contact with a few people in France
(thanks to all who replied) before the trip asking for pointers on where to stay and what
to do while in Paris. Benoit Lecoq made the sacrifice of meeting our train at Gare de
l'Est at 7:00 am on a rainy Thursday. He then proceeded to spend the balance of the day
playing the tour guide on his day off. Driving us all over Paris in the rush hour traffic
in the rain and making arrangements for our hotel while trying his best to give
suggestions to ensure a wonderful stay in Paris.
After a few hours of this, he then drove us out of Paris to the airport at Nangis where
his plane is based and told us that he has planned for us to fly to Etampes to meet some
other Cozy builders and have lunch and return. This was more than I could ever expect and
when Anna realized what was planned, she was very excited. The weather although dirty in
the morning, cleared off nicely after our arrival at Nangis and we porceeded to prepare M.
Lecoq?s plane, the very beautiful "le Fier Petit Goeland Jonathan Livingston"
for our flight. After some discussion and picture taking, we rolled the plane out of the
hangar and climbed aboard. Fueled and ready, we took off for Etampes.
The ride was a bit bumpy, but the Cozy was very eager to fly and we zoomed along the
French countryside at 1000 ft. and 170 kts. I looked back at Anna and her smile (as well
as mine) was from ear to ear. Benoit was kind enough to let me fly as we circled
Fontainebleau on our way. I cannot describe the sensation of flight that I had. I was soon
relaxed and felt one with the plane even though I had not flown in over 6 years. What
control and responsiveness! Never a bad habit in this plane and she completely forgave my
ham-fistedness. Very soon, Etampes appeared and Benoit landed at this tower controlled
airport in heavy traffic.
On the ground we met Yves Pranal (I believe) and his wife while we examined his Cozy
classic that was a few hours away from having his time flown off. Also there we met
Jean-Patrick Lacote, Patrick Malle and another gentleman named Yves whose name escapes me
(All these names may be wrong as I am working from memory and I had had very little sleep
the night before. My apologies to them.) We had a wonderful lunch and talked of Cozys,
suppliers, travel, and life in general. In the end, they wouldn't let me pay for our lunch
and we were soon loading up for the trip back to Nangis.
Yves wanted to fly his plane some so we followed him out to the active and watched him
take off. We met up with him shortly afterward and flew loose formation for a short while.
Anna was flying and Benoit was coaching her to mind her altitude and heading, a most
excellent instructor. I was in the back seat. Sure enough, what with all the bouncing
around and not being at the controls, I began to turn green and thought that I was going
to ralph into my hat which would have been very bad form. I was glad to see our runway and
even more relieved when we opened the canopy. Anna did a fine job of piloting for her
first time at the controls and I believe Benoit just may have planted the seed I need to
justify getting out of the pre-build stage.
After we buttoned up the plane and hangar, we drove back to Paris. Benoit is a captain
on an Air France Airbus and we talked a lot about flying and life in general. He knew some
of the crew from the crashed Concorde and we spoke of lives cut short. Anna was asleep in
the back seat and before long we were at the hotel where we said boodbye to Benoit as he
had to be at the Air France desk at 7:00 to go to work.
I cannot say thank you enough to Benoit Lecoq for everything he did for us on his day
off when he could have been doing something else. Anna and I enjoyed our stay in Paris so
much the better because of his advice and willingness to help. Hopefully, Anna will always
remember that there are many wonderful people everywhere, but there is a special one who
lives on the outskirts of Paris. I know I will.
Randy Smith
Newsletter# 75 / October 2001
8/18/01
Nat,
VH-COZ, Sunday August 12th, Canberra to Mount Isa: 1012 nm, 6 hr 10 min, 65% power, FL
125. 166 KTAS @ 1600 lbs, 43 USG.
Mt Isa to Darwin: 701 nm, 4 hr 18 min, 65%, 8500 ft. 161 KTAS @ 1600 lbs, 31 USG.
Coming home, I looked at all the weather information and thought I might get some good
50 Kt tail winds via Alice Springs, but I was wrong. – perhaps avg =8 kts! So here
are the figures:
Saturday August 18th: Darwin to Alice Springs: 700 nm, 4 hr 12 min, 65% power, FL 135.
162 KTAS @ 1600 lbs. 35 USG.
Alice Springs to Canberra: 1054 nm 6 hr 25 min, 60% at FL135 for 2 hrs, then 54% at
FL155. 54% = 159 KTAS at 1600 lbs. FL155 = full throttle and 2400 rpm and 42 USG used.
Yep, I had to slow down on this last leg because having left Darwin before dawn with 30
deg C (86F), I arrived home in Canberra having to carry IFR alternate and reserves due to
low freezing level, low clouds and blowing snow at about 6 C (or 43 F). The remaining 12.5
USG would have been good for about 2.3 hours at 54% which down low translates to about 140
KTAS, enough to go to Sydney via Wollongong with an approach at each place and 45 minutes
to spare. It's a great feeling to be that fat with fuel. You can do well over a 1000 mn
and still have that kind of reserve without really slowing right down to best range and
sweating over every drop used.
Most everything is working fine except that dam heater still isn't. Gotta fix that. So
Nat, I am still having fun – thanks again!
Tony Rothwell
Canaberra Australia
8/21/01
Builders,
Just returned from our "Black Hills Adventure!" Below are the highlights:
Left Oshkosh on Friday morning, got fuel at Pipestone MN, then went on to Spearfish SD
(north side of the black Hills). When we arrived a guy was franticly waving for us to park
the plane by him, so we did. After we shut down, he came up to us and said, "Hey, you
guys are a little early, aren't you?" Kent (my traveling buddy) and I looked at each
other, shrugged and said something very profound to him, like "Huh?" He said,
"You're here for tomorrows fly-in, aren't you?" "No, we just came to do
some fishing in the black hills." "Oh really? I saw your plane and I just knew
that you were coming to our annual fly-in. It's going to be really great, and lots of
planes are coming. Oh well, you just go ahead and park here anyway, and if you have time,
come back for dinner tonight, we're having a cookout."
Although that sounded interesting, the trout were calling, so Kent and I loaded up the
car, put the cover on the plane, and left for the hills. We fished for three days in
different remote locations (caught 40+ trout), then went to Custer state park to see the
buffalo herds (we had to wait ½ hour while the entire herd crossed the road). On Monday,
we went to Mount Rushmore (awesome). The plan was to pack up the plane and leave by 2pm.
However, it was 95 degrees outside, which translated to a 7,900 ft density altitude. Since
the plane was nearly max gross, the runway was only 5400 ft, and I didn't have a takeoff
computer to confirm how much runway I needed, we decided to pack the plane, go to a hotel
for the night and then takeoff in the cool morning air.
When we got to the plane, Kent's job was to unpack the car while I got fuel. I took off
the reflective cover and surprisingly found a note taped to my canopy. "Hey Kent!
Look at this! Someone taped a note to my plane!" Kent laughed and said, "Ha!
that's what you get for not showing up for the fly-in..they gave you a parking
ticket!" However, when we read the note, it said that my Cozy was the best homebuilt
aircraft at the fly-in, and that we won first prize! You've got to be kidding, I thought.
The note went on to say that we should go into the FBO to pick up our prize. Sure enough,
when we went into the FBO, we were greeted with a smile and given an engraved plaque
shaped like South Dakota, which said "Spearfish, SD Fly-in, EAA Chapter 806, Best
Composite Homebuilt Aircraft!" Cool!!
After packing the plane, we went to the store, bought some snacks, and went to the
hotel to watch the Packers play Monday night football. Great game except for the second
quarter when they played pretty lousy. After the game, we watched the weather channel and
got a little worried about a weather system causing some severe weather between us and
home. Oh, well, we will just have to see what it looks like in the morning…
The next day (this morning) after watching the weather again (and still a little
worried), I called for a preflight briefing. The briefer said that most of WI was IFR, but
by the time we get there it should be OK. He suggested that we stop half way to confirm
the weather conditions. With that information, we took off at 5:30am. The flight was
smooth and we only had some minor deviations due to weather. 4.3 hours later we landed at
OSH! The end of another short Cozy adventure!!
That's the kind of fun you can have after your Cozy is completed and flying! Good luck,
and keep building.
Mark Beduhn
Menasha, WI
Editor: Mark made a good decision. The OM says that at 7,900' density
altitude and gross weight, you need about 4,800 ft.
6/25/01
Dear Nat,
I just wanted to tell you David Domeier took me for a ride yesterday. It was wonderful!
I can tell that I am going to enjoy flying our Cozy immensely.
We went to the EAA Chapter 32 meeting and both (Randi and I) joined up. Randi got a
long ride in an Aircoupe, a first for her and she had a blast, so both of us came back all
jazzed and excited to get going further…so much so that we were up until 5 am this
morning laying up the fuselage sides and got them done. This is getting obsessive….a
good thing I hope.
We both came away from yesterday feeling that the club is really a great bunch of guys
and deservedly so when you think that they are a small and unique cross section of the
population that choose to build and fly their own aircraft. I hope we can get involved and
make a contribution to the group ourselves.
Christine Bush
St. Charles, MO
9/10/01
Builders,
It's been almost 6 months since Cozy Mark IV N166PT took its first flight. Yesterday I
put 2.3 hours on the Hobbs and made nine landings. She flew without a hitch. The total
time is no 11.5 hours on the engine and 9.5 on the airframe.
The FAA allows us to build our own experimental aircraft for pleasure and education.
The emphasis is on education because I have learned a great deal about aircraft systems
and engines since my first flight. Up to this point, I have found and corrected a number
of problems with my bird. I will briefly describe these items here to hopefully help
others.
The initial canard incidence was set too low (this has been discussed a number of
times). After adjusting it twice, I am now on the high side of the tolerance limits of 0
to +0.6 degrees.
My engine had a complete overhaul prior to being installed in my plane. As has been
discussed before, breaking in a new engine and flight testing a new aircraft don't go
together well. If you have a choice, don't use a new engine in a new plane.
I have the Airflow Performance fuel injection unit. It seems that at the time of
installation, Spruce did not have a high pressure gascolator so I didn't install one. Big
mistake. The gascolator not only catches water, but all other sorts of things that the
injection system doesn't like. I was very good about keeping my tanks clean. I had a very
good filter and, what with having the fuel pickup in the sump well above the bottom, I
figured that water and dirt wouldn't be a problem. I had three injectors clog on different
occasions We caught the problem when the engine ran rough and a CHT was low. After the
gascolator was installed, that problem went away.
I have a Lightspeed electronic ignition unit. I installed it (or so I thought) as
illustrated in the manual. Upon checking the timing, I found one side working perfectly.
The other side, however, was missing occasionally and I could see my prop in two different
positions with the timing light. The missing was caused by a poor crimp on one of the
spark plug wires at the spark plug. The other cause was from the magneto wire in the same
bundle as the CDI trigger coil wires. Separating the wires cured that problem. I had been
given an ignition switch, so I used it. If you are going to use electronic ignition, use
toggle switches. My engine would cut out when I switched between Left and Right. Toggles
eliminate the problem and are cheaper and lighter.
Oil temperatures were very high initially. I had the plans cooler up on the firewall
but I had offset the air outlet to help keep rain out of the engine compartment. I
enlarged the outlet after the second flight and ducted air up to the cooler with scat
tubing. That brought the oil temps down but as the weather got warmer, so did the oil
temps. I have now removed the cooler and have installed a larger Positech cooler to the
recommended location. The oil temp was much better even on a 92 deg day out in the desert.
It also helped the CHTs.
In level flight, I had to adjust the aileron trim to keep the plane from turning to the
left. I adjusted the right wing down by one thin washer, but it wasn't enough, so I
brought the left one up by a thin washer as well. Now she flies straight and level without
a problem. Fairing the wings into the strakes was easy.
I utilized many talented people in my EAA chapter and in the EZ community to help find
and correct these issues. For that I am indebted (and they are not letting me forget it).
For a low time pilot like myself who has been building for 8 years, taking the time to get
things right has helped me transition from being a builder to being a pilot.
Keep at it guys for once you've made it up there, you know it was worth the effort.
Paul Stowitts
San Dimits, CA
6/21/01
Builders,
I recently made my first international flight to Canada in my Cozy and wanted to share
the experience.
My Wyoming college buddy from Iowa and I loaded the Cozy with our fishing gear and full
load of fuel. We were right at 2150 lbs but there was no hesitation whatsoever by the
plane to fly in the cool morning air. We were nose gear up on the first leg of the flight
at 6:42 am on June 8th out of Sioux City, IA, filed direct to Minot ND. We had a stiff
headwind, good VFR all the way and it took us almost 3 hrs to cover the 460 nautical mile
leg. We were turning 2550 rpm and showing 182 kts TAS. At Minot we hit the head, gassed
and stopped in US Customs to get acquainted, show our paperwork, and let them know our
return date. Yep, everything was okay. We had the FCC license, 12" letters, US
Customs sticker, registration for both federal and state, airworthiness certificate,
passports, operators manual, log books, pilot license, insurance card, and weight &
balance data. The customs folks in Minot were really nice to work with. Very accomodating
and helpful. The lady even said she would let the person working the shift on our return
trip know when we were coming back. She said "cute little plane". Canada changed
last year and you no longer need prior approval to fly experimental into Canada as long as
you have all the required paper work. I called 1-800-CANPASS. They asked where we were
going, how long we would be there, how many people, birth dates, whether US Citizens, make
of the plane, pilot certificate number, and time of arrival. We filed IFR direct to
Saskatoon at 10,000 ft. Picked up our IFR and blasted off. The hand off from Minneapolis
Center to Winnipeg was easy. Still had the headwind and this 340 nautical leg took about 2
hrs., but the drive time to Saskatoon would have been almost 24 hrs if we had not flown.
WOW! Are we spoiled or what? The landing at Saskatoon was uneventful. Saskatoon is quite a
large city. We were directed to Customs. All we needed to do was call back to
1-800-CANPASS and they gave us a port number. We discovered that Saskatchewan is just like
Arizona and doesn't change to Daylight time, which put us well outside the ½ hr limit,
but they said "no problem". Is that simple or what? In Saskatoon, 4 more college
buddies from Wyoming picked us up (they had driven the 24 hours) and we drove to Buffalo
Narrows to get on a float plane to Complex Lake. I opted not to fly to Buffalo Narrows
even though they have a nice airport there, because to legally fly in the 'sparsely
settled area' we would have to have loaded up additional survival gear, per Canada
regulations. Besides, this gave us time to tell old stories with our friends. We got on
the Otter at Buffalo Narrows and I got to ride right seat. Looked to me like the only
difference between the Otter and the Cozy is the Otter flys 100 mph slower than the Cozy
and you rock the heck out of it to get it to fly. Fishing was spectacular. The Wyoming
guys were fishing Northern Pike on fly rods and caught lots of nice ones and a couple up
to 37""and 18 lbs. My Iowa buddy and I mostly fished Walleye (excellent eating)
with our much ridiculed spinning gear from the Wyoming buddies. We caught all the 2-5 lb
Walleyes that we wanted. Somebody had to feed us. On our departure day, it was fun to
watch the Otter land early morning on June 13th. My buddy from Iowa is also a pilot (spam
can) and he flew right seat on the way out. The pilot even let him fly for awhile so he
could have a smoke and a nap. After landing at Buffalo Narrows and repacking we got back
to Saskatoon about 5 pm. Checked weather. I told them this was my first flight in and out
of Canada and requested their patience, which I got. Oh oh! IFR and rain! We filed IFR
direct to Minot. We gassed up and picked up our IFR and blasted off about 6:30 pm. Flew
through quite a bit of rain and hard IFR most of the way to Minot. Shot a VOR approach
into Minot since they're working on the main runways and the ILS was not available and
ceiling was 400 ft broken so the circle to land was not an option. Hadn't shot a VOR
approach for awhile and was rusty. Made it down okay and didn't even have to go missed
approach. Nasty 18 gusting to 28, 90 degree crosswind. US Customs was waiting for us. What
a snap. We filled out the forms and that was it. Checked weather again back to Sioux City.
Didn't look good there because of severe thunderstorms so we filed IFR to Sioux Falls and
would check weather again down the road for Sioux City. Gassed up, picked up our IFR and
blasted off. This last leg was also hard IFR most of the way. Finally we got to FSD about
11:30 pm, weather at SUX still bad so we rented a car and drove the last 70 miles home.
Returned the car and flew home the next day.
This being my first International flight, I really did my homework . The international
operations portfolio I got from AOPA was quite helpful. I was quite anxious and ended up
being way more prepared than was necessary. You know, measure 10 times and cut once just
like the first flight. I'll definitely do this again. Maybe even Mexico or the Bahamas.
Timothy Jones
South Dakota
5/28/01
Dear Nat and Shirley,
Colby and I have just returned from Duluth this afternoon and have an "it's a
small world" story for you. We had a rainy, foggy to the minimums (rolled in off the
lake) trip to Duluth on Saturday. After drying off and warmin up from their lovely spring
weather, I realized I had forgotten to bring Duncan's and Stephanie's phone number off the
computer. When I told my friend, she said, "you mean Duncan Puffer, the oral surgeon
whose wife Stephanie just had a baby?" It seems that my friend Libby Welsh, nurse
practitioner, knows them well. She said Duncan had been off turkey hunting and she would
say hi for us when she visited with the baby this week. The fog finally lifted yesterday
afternoon and we had a grand time. Return flight was lovely. Hope you all are both doing
well.
Elise and Colby