It is the third plane I have built and I would grade my skill as somewhere above average....
Excellent. This is a strong start with this much experience because it shows that you can stick to a project long enough to finish it and that you have a good skill-set.
I have begun researching the possibility of building a Long EZ. Is this even possible at this time? Have I missed the boat?...
No you haven't missed the boat. There are plenty of projects under construction. Some of the support for parts isn't there, but keep in mind that an EZ can be built from scratch if really required. You can still get a canopy (this is something you REALLY don't want to make from scratch), and gear legs, cowls and wheel pants are available. In some ways the situation may be a lot better because the fruits of 25 years of refinement are out there already discovered and often documented. The hard part may be too much information - finding and sorting through alternatives.
Is there factory support any more?...
No factory support, but a strong support community in the form of the Central States Association (get back issues), the canard-aviators forum, and this site, plus much more. Keep in mind that virtually any question that you have (or will have) has already been asked and responded to somewhere in the past. With luck, someone will point you in the right direction for an answer, but you need to be prepared to do a fair amount of the research yourself by visiting projects, reviewing the archives, etc., since some of us (most?) are worn out in responding to the same questions year after year.
How difficult is it to find components and materials. Is working with composits on this scale difficult?...
I built my VariEze having no composite experience and never called the factory once, start to finish. Information from other local builders and reading questions/answers to other builder's questions was all I needed, given the compteteness and quality of the Rutan plans. Obviously, you must have a full set of plans and templates, and back issues of the Canard Pusher to build the plane. A discussion of getting plans, etc. is outside the bounds of this topic - check the canard-aviator for numerous discussions of what's required, the legal status, etc., etc.
Is the o-235 the preferred engine?...
Heavily discussed in the past. Short answer - the O-320 seems to be the engine of choice. An O-235 is more economical and works fine, but the O-320 gives better preformance for high altitudes, Western operations, etc. There have been a number of conversions from O-235 to O-320 and the converters report that they wouldn't go back. As a VEZ owner, I don't have a dog in this fight, but that's my take on it.
Where is the best place to find documentation on the Construction Techniques?
The place to start is the plans (Chapter 0 is an excellent course) and the Canard Pusher issues up to #82. You can build the plane with no other source of infomation, although there are a number of faster and better construction techniques that have been developed and discussed over the years. There is a lot of discussion on the canard-aviator forum of techniques, but beware that the quality of the recommendations ranges from excellent to down-right dangerous. Read a variety of opinions and try to figure out who has real experience and knowledge vs. hot air and theory.
I realize I don't know enough yet to even be asking the right questions, perhaps you all can give me a hand up?...
The deeper you dig into what's available on the web the better off you will be. The amount of information is massive and there's no way we can recompile and feed it back to you. The good news is that it exists and is available. Happy hunting!
