Hangar Flying => Hangar Flying => Topic started by: tonyslongez on November 19, 2005, 03:19:52 AM
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: tonyslongez on November 19, 2005, 03:19:52 AM
Hey Guys just wondering if there are any templates that have been drawn on autocad that have all the dimensions of the bulkheads on them? I allready have NG-30 and F-22 drawn with dimensions. I also have included a bulkhead with the standard mods in place. One drawing is for a bone Stock LongEZ, the other drawing of the same bulkhead has some of the more favorite modifications on it such as a slightly more rounded F-22 bottom, makes for a really nice nose. If you want a longer nose then NG-30 changes slightly, NG-30 drawing is the same length as the stock LongEZ however it is slightly wider and flatter on the bottom, so the NG-6 position changes slightly and I have dim'd that out as well. So my question is do I keep going or is this a waste of time? Also all dimensions are rounded to the nearest 1/16 my reasoning for this is while I'm building my LongEZ the measurements are down to the 64th's however, while I measure a piece of foam down to the 64th I mark all my lines with a felt tip pen and then I cut the foam wiith a hacksay or some ohter primitive device so even rounding to the closest 1/16 is still pretty precise with the crude methods of cutting the foam. I only use the word "crude" because as a machinist cutting with a hacksaw seems very crude. no offense to Burt. I will put these in PDF format and Autocad 2000 or lower if anyone wants them they can be plotted to full size. I'm not saying you can build from these templates :wink: just that the dimensions are very correct and very close +/- 2/32. By the way I'm building a LongEZ and have rounded all my dimensions to the nearest 1/16 and my life was so much easier. Do you know how hard it is to count 59/64 or 23/32 Jesus! (measure with a micrometer, mark it with chaulk, cut it with a hammer. :lol: ). Tell me what you guys think. I will donate these to the EZsquadron when I'm done. If they want them, they will be free. all the modifications drawn on the bulkheads I have on my airplane. For the sake of the NG-30, the "modified" version includes the mounting for the Jack whilhelmson nose lift. I will not be doing any flying surfaces templates the reason is because you can buy precut wings. those templates are still pretty easy to get a hold of.
Tony
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Waiter on November 19, 2005, 10:56:45 AM
"Close enough for Government work"
1) Measure it with a micrometer.
2) Mark it with a crayon.
3) Cut it with an Axe.
Tony, What would be a reasonable inexpensive "CAD" program for peopel like me who don't do CAD.
Waiter
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: tonyslongez on November 19, 2005, 01:55:16 PM
Waiter
I believe you want what is called (Autocad LT) it allows you to view cad drawings and has slightly less drawing capacity as a full autocad version, a great way to learn cad techniques before spending thousands on autocad. I think you can pick this program up in a frys or Circuit city or some office supply store. There may be some other programs out there that can convert cad files into some other format that may be less exspensive. But in the end there is no substitute for a good drawing program you can do wonderful things with it.
Tony
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Waiter on November 19, 2005, 02:06:01 PM
AutoCAD LT, I'll see if I can come up with it.
I MISS FRY'S. I lived out in San Jose in the mid 80's when the first Fry's electronics opened. WOW, Parallel Printer cables for under $5. Now look!!
I passed through Indianapolis a couple months ago and seen one there. I should have stopped in.
Waiter
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Radioflyer on November 19, 2005, 04:36:00 PM
Tony,
That is great news. I may be getting a set of torn, folded, crumpled, used plans with a LongEz, but definately no templates. I feel deficient having plans without templates to accurately remake a replacement part and your drawings would be very appreciated.
About 1/16" tolerance...Your point is well taken. However, my gut feeling that plus/minus 1/32nd would be better. Some builders, I think, can use a thin cold wire saw around a formica template and that would produce more accurate cuts than a hacksaw. Just my opinion.
It would be good to have both the "original as drawn" and the "improved, mod'ed" versions of the templates. That would make it easier to judge if the improved drawing works in a given case or not. Again, IMHO.
I would be using TurboCad. It can do more than I can and is very affordable. There might even be a free version somewhere.
Thanks.
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Hmanvel on November 19, 2005, 05:36:21 PM
When I was starting my airplane I had the pleasure of having a couple of "seasoned" builders coaching me on the hot wiring etc. One time I was laying out a ruler on a foam block, couldnt seem to get it to sit on the exact position in "tenths" that I wanted. One guy grabbed it from me, eyeballed it without a tape, and put some nails in the rule to hold it to the foam. I measured it and it was perfect. He said something that stuck with me: "You will never reach the level of perfection called for in some of these plans. Which is good because you're not building a swiss watch". I applaud your efforts to put the stuff in CAD. And Waiter, go online and search for "free cad software". Most everything will import autocad.
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: tonyslongez on November 20, 2005, 02:43:24 AM
That is good news guys I'm glad we are on the same page. I was a bit worried that these drawings wouldn't be well received. Also I'm not sure if any of you noticed that when you where building your LongEz there where a few mistakes made in dimensions on the originals, these have been corrected for. They are nothing major and I doubt you noticed them while you where building the airplane, but I made corrections as I went along. So I'll press on and I will post them to the group as soon as I have double checked my work and make sure they are absolutely perfect. Thanks for your posts.
Tony
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Drew on November 20, 2005, 06:32:20 AM
Many issues (most?) of the Canard Pusher issued corrections to the plans. The plans are of limited value if you don't have a copy of the CPs.
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Waiter on November 20, 2005, 09:35:43 AM
I just ordered TurboCAD Deluxe 11 for $80.
Time to learn something new.
Waiter
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: tonyslongez on November 20, 2005, 12:58:01 PM
Drew I agree the C.P.'s did address most of the issues. However, I'm drawing the bulkheads with the correct dimensions. So for at least the portion for the bulkheads of the C.P.'s the corrections have allready been drawn in, and dim'd. So the C.P.'s will not be needed for the bulkhead assembly everything else though you will need a copyof the C.P.'s. I believe all of the C.P.'s are now on CD and you can buy them relatively easily. My goal is to draw the templates that have to be used during the building of the fuselage. As I mentioned before the wings and canard you can buy precut which I would recomend for any new builder, so the wing templates I won't be drawing right now. The only other templates needed to build the airplane are in the fuselage which I'm drawing now. With these drawings it is possible to rebuild a bulkhead should any of them get damaged. :D and the tolerances will be within +/- 1/32. Not tooting my own horn but I think that is pretty darn good.
Tony
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Drew on November 20, 2005, 08:48:43 PM
Tony, I see that I did not read your first post very carefully-----pretty cool
Title: cad files are done
Post by: tonyslongez on November 29, 2005, 01:04:24 AM
:D O.K. just to let everyone know the cad files I have made are done. this is for the long nose mod and a few others I have done to my bird. I have e-mailed them to the web master I hope he will post them soon if not e-mail me at tonyslongez@cox.net and I can send them that way. I sure wish I had these when I started building. I will be posting more as I finish off the rest.
Enjoy Tony
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Waiter on November 29, 2005, 01:45:37 PM
Got my copy of TurboCAD 11 today, I can't wait to get home and see if I can crash my computer.
Tony, I'll see if I can load those drawings into TurboCAD 11.
Waiter
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: tonyslongez on November 29, 2005, 04:44:38 PM
Hey you guys let me know how those look and if you need anymore dimensions. I'll be working on the firwall, and front seat, and back seat bulkheads for wider fuselage pretty straight forward really.
Tony
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: JB on December 07, 2005, 05:35:57 PM
For those of us who maye are a little computer stupid. How do I open these files?
JB
Title: TurboCAD 11
Post by: easyrider on December 08, 2005, 01:38:19 PM
you can download a free 15 day trial of TurboCAD 11 from their web site Turbocad.com Easyrider
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: JB on December 08, 2005, 02:26:48 PM
Thanks easyrider, I'm excited to see them, Also maybe someone knows, The wings that Aerocad markets, would they work on a Long EZ?
Its something like $14k to buy the wings, canard, rudders and control surfaces, How much time would one save doing this?
Reading all these forums has peaked my interest.
JB
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: tonyslongez on December 08, 2005, 07:00:46 PM
Yes the wings Aerocad markets will work. basically all their doing is the work for you they are still Long Ez wings. Yes they will save you a ton of work if you have the means I would buy the wings and the main spar. If you are going to stretch the fuse or widen it, you need to let them know that the hard points for the engine mount extrusions on the spar will have to be moved to accomadate the wider fuse, its no big deal! you just want them in the correct spot when you attach the engine mount.
Tony
Title: L-EZ wings
Post by: magman on December 21, 2005, 02:22:46 PM
Quote from: "tonyslongez"
Yes the wings Aerocad markets will work. basically all their doing is the work for you they are still Long Ez wings. Tony
Danger! The Long-EZ wings are the same as Nat Puffers Cozy 3 place but they are NOT the same as the MKIV 4 place that IS the same as the Aerocad. The Aerocad wings are prefab MKIV wings and bigger and will not work for the L-EZ. I have seen the WINGS, CANARD, SPAR BOX kit that the New AL Aldrich Aerocad supplies and they are of the finest quality I have ever seen. They are a bargain for the money!! ....provided you are building a Cozy MKIV or AEROCAD.
You can still purchase plans and templates for the European Cosy which has the L-EZ flying surface and control templates and you can also purchase the E-Racer plans which include the same. Fact is, You would be hard pressed to beat the E-Racer in a one on one comparison with the L-EZ over all IMHO for a 2 place canard. The really big advantage to the Long-EZ is the C/G in the center of your chest for fighter like "Cool" factor. Oh Yea, and the best group of folks on the planet! :-)
...So why boot leg off OL Burt? BUY SOME LEGAL PLANS AND TEMPLATES!
Steve M L-EZ N591BJ & building 2nd L-EZ from plans #1339
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: Spodman on December 21, 2005, 05:51:04 PM
Quote
...So why boot leg off OL Burt? BUY SOME LEGAL PLANS AND TEMPLATES!
Back in CP45 'Burt' said: "In order for us to right from us to manufacture the design, we must deal only with the licensee. Keep in mind that if you sell your plans, you are not merely selling someone a library book. You are authorizing them to build an aircraft and warranting the information. You ethically should promise to them that you will follow up whatever support is needed in the future to allow them to safely operate any aircraft built from the design information you have sold them."
In that CP they also ran a survey and basically made those who didn't respond no longer supported and made those previously licensed plans 'boot leg'.
Later in CP65: "support is expected, to be good forever. We must, therefore, cancel your license to build a RAF design unless you show that your building project is started by Jan. 1, 1991 and completed by Jan. 1, 1993."
So, as of 01JAN1993 there is no such thing as a Rutan designed project that doesn't "boot leg off OL Burt". I really don't think this is an issue any more. If you build from existing unused plans, plans used before by you or others, or from sketches you made while a Vari flew overhead once you are boot legging off OL Burt, so if you REALLY want to build one, base your decision on that.[/quote]
Title: Long Ez Autocad Templates
Post by: tonyslongez on December 23, 2005, 04:09:35 AM
Magman
I'm almost certain you can buy a set of Long Ez wings and spar from Aerocanard. I wasn't suggesting that someone retrofit a set of Cozy wings to their Long Ez that seems a little dificult at best. I'll call them to verifiy. I believe it's on their web site, and if it's not Aerocanard, it's another company that offers LongEz wings precut. I'm pretty sure you can buy an actuall set of precut LongEz wings. That would eliminate any need for that template. Maybe I'll draw that next in my autocad program :wink: lets see, where is that naca chart? :D by the way if anyone is curious I did send Avery the firewall for the Long Ez it should be on the site soon.