Hangar Flying

Stan,

What goes where is totally up to you.  My panel has the following:

Ifly 700 gps touch screen
Flightline FL-760 comm radio
KT76 transponder
XM radio receiver
Grand Rapids EIS 4000
Dynon D-6 with encoder for transponder

Total investment was about 3K or so

This combo has been far more than I needed and although it would be classified a glass panel, it weighs less than comparable steam gauges and the amp consumption is very low.  I do not use an alternator and I have an 18 amp/hr 12V battery, this will last me 4 hours between charges.  Since I only do a really long x-country once in a great while, this combo works good for me.  I have attached a photo below, pay no attention to the fact that I had the Dynon in a little crooked, its been straightend since the photo.

Stan,

Those electric lifts are really nice, I used to fly a speed canard that had one.  Just sit in the cockpit and flip a switch, nice......You'll have a lot of fun with your ez, I know I really do.  The only advice I might  be willing to give without someone asking is watch out for the weight creep.  In aircraft that I have owned before and with my ez now, I tend to try and find things I can take out vs. what I can add in.  Light airplanes are happy airplanes so be cautious with adding to much to your ez.  Just throwning that for what it's worth.

Friends,

Had a fun flying day yesterday.  Went on a short X-country with a buddy who owns a Mooney, we decided to go to lunch over at Williston (X60).  I took off first from Leesburg and he followed right behind (for a few moments).  I had not left the traffic pattern before he called and said 'can you slow down I can't keep up!"  I was outclimbing him by a wide margin and I was 3/4" tanks and had my son in the back so I was right at MGW.  He was light on fuel and also had one passenger but I smoked him none the less.  When we took off from X60 he went first.  I waited for him to break ground and start a positive rate of climb before I put the spurs to her,  I passed him in the climb at the end of the runway!

Good gravy I love flying this thing!!

I don't yet have any gear leg fairings or wheel pants but I was beating him in cruise by about 10-12 knots.  Since I am not getting more than 2400 rpm in climb due to my heavily pitched prop, I only making 65% power, so 65hp vs. 180 hp not bad.  I relize that it's not an apples to apples comparison but it was still fun.

My normal operating procedure (I have a manual system) is to get the backseater in and buckled.  I put the fuel selector in the header tank (pointing up) position so that I can use it to hold the right seatbelt up out of the seat.  If I get in and sit on the seatbelt then I gotta get out to retrieve it.  I take the left seat belt and slide the buckle tang in the slot for the trim lever to hold it out of the way.  I don't do anything with the shoulder straps as I can get them no matter where they end up.  Next, standing at the cockpit, I use my left hand to grab the front of the canard and my right hand grabs the canopy rail and I lift the nose up until I find that the airplane is about balanced.  I use my right hand to reach inside and crank down the nose gear.  As the nose gear touches the ground I continue cranking until it is fully extended, at this point the fusleage has come up a little farther.  NOTE>>>>>>do not let go of the canard yet!!!!!!    At this point I insert my left foot in the foot well on the outside of the fuselage and apply some body weight, then I can move my hand from the canard to the canopy rail.  While applying body weight I put my right hand on the roll over structure and hoist myself up and usually end up in a standing position in the cockpit.  Checking to make sure the seatbelts are still clear, I put my hands on the armrests and slide my feet and legs into the forward fuselage.  Buckle up, set fuel lever to mains and hit the start button.  That's a long winded response to an easy operation.  You will not have a problem.

easyrider,

I have to laugh.......I was just talking with a friend of mine and I commented that if I were to believe the numbers associated with each common improvement, I would be going 300 mph!!  Every common improvement seems to yield between 8 and 12 knots.  So with wheel pants and inner fairings, MLG fairings, downdraft cooling, hertzler prop and hershey kiss spinner I have an speed improvement of about 40 to 60 kts!!  Not to mention that going faster will unload the prop and allow it to turn faster making more horse power....Look out Klaus I'm coming for ya!!

Bill,

Do you have any pictures of the trailing MLG wheel fins that I have read about?  I came across one of the many excellent articles you have written where you mentioned these as being not much worse than a set of pants.

Easyrider,

I did the same thing when I started flying my Vari.  I was in the first three hours and had been flying around the airport, climbing, cruising  and whatever else just to feel the airplane out.  I had just come down out of 10K and was in a left downwind for 13 when the engine began to sputter.  I quickly changed to the head and she fired right back to life.  I made a beeline for the runway.  I had underestimated my fuel burn during those first three hours.  When I made it back to the hangar I checked both mains and the left was empty and the right had about a gallon.  Stupid mistake but I learned from it.  Fortunatly I stayed near the airport for about the first six hours until I had a better feel for the airplane and it's fuel burn.

Bill,

My biggest regret this year was that I could not spend much time at the show.  I had hoped for more time to talk with eze drivers and get some feed back to do some comparative analysis.  I did spen a few moments talking with the Vari driver parked next to me, his name slips my mind at the moment.  I had a nice conversation with him concerning various eze habits, he has been flying his since 78' so it was nice to hear of things common and uncommon in our respective rides.  I have been attending OSH since 85', when as a freshman in high school me and several friends talked our parents into letting us drive the family car from central Indiana to Osh where we camped for several day's.  I have not made every year since then but most, for some reason this year really stood out as to how different it is now vs. then.  The biggest thing is that the center of the show (aeroshell square) is totally dominated by corporations and not hombuilt companies.  All the expermintal companies are pushed off to the side as far as I can tell.  It bothers me a bit that it has become so commercialized.

I had hoped to fly in the tribute flight but did  not get back to the field soon enough for the briefing, as it turns out I don't think it actually happed, at least for the eze's so that took a little sting out of missing it.  I built a fairly large list of things that I would like to do the eze in the next few months, including wheel pants and some aerodynamic fairling work.  Maybe I'll get that all done and see some of you at rough river??