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Messages - cloudman

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16
Hangar Flying / Re: some Varieze questions - looking for info and suggestions
« on: June 04, 2010, 08:05:18 PM »
Flyoz,
I know there are those out there that would rather not have a starter and not lose the weight. It's their choice, but not mine.
When my starter or battery are giving me a problem, I always have the nose up against something solid eg. the closed hanger
door, the rubber tire on a vehicle, etc. Once when I did not do that was the time I forgot to pull the throttle back to idle after flooding the engine. If it had caught, my Varieze would have gone on its way across the airport. This has happened to others with bad
results. Also, if I happen to run the main tanks dry and the prop stops prior to my figuring things out, I have a starter to
get me going again even at low altitude. We are humans and humans sometimes make mistakes.
I expect that a good battery, B & C starter, cable, etc will weigh a minimum of forty pounds.
I flew a three place Cozy that really needed an electric nose lift.....but it did not have one. I used most of my strength to lift it after adding gas with the nose down. A Varieze does not need any powered lift, unless a person is unable to lift much weight at all.
Good luck with your project !
Wayne Johnson.........

17
Hangar Flying / Re: some Varieze questions - looking for info and suggestions
« on: June 03, 2010, 03:59:34 PM »
Flyoz,
Your requirements for a single seat Varieze with an occassional passenger sounds like my Varieze with a C-85 with B & C starter.
I have pushed the max weight once in a while up to about 1125 #s. Flying to Jackpot , Nevada many years ago over the fourth of July with my 135 # WIB (wife in back) I limited my fuel to about two hours plus reserve of another hour or so. We had no trouble landing and taking off at Jackpot's approx 5000 ft altitude....by leaving in the morning before it got too hot.
So if you do not have to cruise much over 150mph TAS and burn 4 gallons per hour, the smaller C-85 is a good choice. My top TAS has varied with different props from around 175 to a bit over 180 mph
Flying south from the Seattle area to LA, I have stopped once for fuel at Red Bluff, CA. This is after being in the air around four hours. I am usually ready to get out for a break anyway, so stopping every 500 miles or so and adding 16 gallons of gas is usually appreciated.
Wayne Johnson .....Varieze N725EZ

18
Hangar Flying / Re: some Varieze questions - looking for info and suggestions
« on: June 02, 2010, 09:22:18 PM »
I would be interested in hearing from other Varieze owners who have the plug-in wings that Fred Jiran built way back around the late 1970's. I understand that Burt did not like Fred making this wing/main spar attachment, but would like someone to confirm that this did actually take place. I have seen a few pictures on the internet of one rough looking installation.

I have no idea as to how many Variezes may be flying with this type of wing attachment.
Any info would be appreciated, since it seems like a valid way to attach.

Wayne Johnson Varieze N725EZ........flying since 1981

19
Hangar Flying / Re: Nose tie-down?
« on: April 12, 2010, 03:58:14 PM »
I have carried in my Varieze a short piece of rubber hose with a rope inside. I wrap it around the nose in a loop and attach to the normal tail tiedown attachment on the ground, then push the nose forward to make the rope tight. Next, tie the wings down in the usual way.
cloudman........Wayne Johnson Varieze 725EZ.

20
Hangar Flying / Re: Hello
« on: November 22, 2009, 05:33:42 PM »

.




.............
Jamie,
One of the best Canard people in the USA lives in Olmsted Falls, Ohio.
His name is Terry Schubert and he sends out a quarterly newsletter called the Central States Newsletter.
His phone number is 440-826-3055.
email: jschuber@juno.com
Terry flys a LongEZ, so it looks like he would be the perfect person to visit.
So I would recommend emailing or calling him.
I have a Varieze that I built in California in 1981 and moved up to Washington
State that same year.
Good Luck !! We can always use a new Canardian.
Wayne Johnson

21
Hangar Flying / Re: e-mag, p-mags
« on: October 21, 2009, 07:10:33 PM »
Just got through thirty minutes of reading Marc Zetlin's problems posted a year ago about his e-mag, p-mag failures. I was wondering how they were doing and how they may be doing today.....however, judging from their past, I do not feel that I want anything to do with them and will for now stick with my two mags.
Possibly, installing them on a small Continental C-85 or O-200 would be different, but I am past being much of an experimenter. Does anyone have any experience with these smaller engines? 
cloudman

22
Hangar Flying / Re: what's the deal with varieze wing cuffs?
« on: September 10, 2009, 06:28:48 PM »
Quote from: Bill James on September 07, 2009, 01:13:35 PM
I'm bettin Cloudman either stores lots of books between his winglets when he is not airborne, or he has bookends made of the original small lower winglets, with the 90 degree steel sheet stuck up in them as the base. Either way Cloudman, i would claim at least 5 knots   :)
Bill,
Yes, I figure that anyone who is building an EZ type would figure that one out !!
My bookends are going with me to the old folks home along with old issues of Sport Aviation and other mags. The bookends will not hold
the mags very well, but will hold old VCR's, etc.
Wayne..........cloudman

23
Hangar Flying / Re: what's the deal with varieze wing cuffs?
« on: September 06, 2009, 12:26:45 PM »
Quote from: Bill James on September 04, 2009, 07:13:24 PM
Great info. Can you please describe your lower winglets. Are they thin or thick? Do they pretty much match the winglet outline at the wing tip? How would you change them, or what do you think in particular works well, particularly under the rudder area.
Thanks

Lower winglets............I patterned mine pretty much along the LongEz design. They are about one inch at the thickest next to the lower surface of the wing. The thing to make sure is to check and make sure that there is plenty of clearance (at full deflection) between the non-modified rudder bottom and the added lower winglet. I saw a Varieze recently with them that stopped rudder travel at less than one inch max.  I can measure, but think they are about five inches tall. Initially I used expandable foam to attach and fill any gaps and of course removed the original lower winglets. They have been bookends next to my desk at home for quite a while now. I used a couple of pieces of sheet steel with 90 degree bends.
WJohnson

24
Hangar Flying / Re: what's the deal with varieze wing cuffs?
« on: September 04, 2009, 05:58:50 PM »
Regarding wing cuffs or vortilons........
I first flew my Varieze way back in 1981 with wing cuffs and later changed to vortilons. My CG was never an issue since I had a C-85 with starter but carried a fairly heavey 28 amp hour battery in the nose.
I have always been interested in a slow approach and landing speed and noticed with wing cuffs and trying to fly final below 80 mph my plane would rock side to side. With the vortilons this improved some along with a lower angle that improved visability over the nose. When trying to touch down at the lowest possible speed (about 68 mph) I would have to look out the side since I could not see over the nose. The vortilons helped this some.
I also added trailing edge wing fences later on, but it was after installing LongEz style lower winglets. The lower winglets provided more lift at the rear most part of the wing and really improved my forward visability. So when the trailing edge fences were added, they did not seem to make any real difference. I originally built them fairly large and have cut them down in size three times. They were giving me too much of the weather-vane effect when taking off in a cross wind.
I wish that I would have installed the fences before the lower winglets to see what the effect was, but I feel that the LongEz lower winglets were the best modification of the bunch. I can fly final at 75 mph, but usually at 80 or higher, but I like knowing that if I have to make an emergency landing, I will be able to land at a low speed (for a Varieze) and with the lowest KE for my weight.
Cloudman.....WT Johnson


25
Hangar Flying / Re: Arlington Canard Fly-Out Dinner
« on: July 05, 2009, 09:38:24 PM »
Bruce,
How about dinner too?

26
Hangar Flying / Re: what runway length do you operate from?
« on: March 25, 2009, 08:41:51 PM »
Without the field elevation, you are not giving very good info to a newbe......or anyone that just wants to follow your lead.
My personal limit with C-85 powered Varieze is 2400 feet at close to sea level (0- 500 ft). I can do in 2000 ft, but do like a bit more runway. At 5000 ft. altitude, I probably have used 3000 ft to take off or land.....but that is just a guess.

27
Hangar Flying / Re: Synthetic oil ??
« on: February 04, 2009, 08:39:33 PM »
Quote from: Tom on February 03, 2009, 12:33:58 PM
Phillips in my opinion, is tractor oil,

this year at Reno, I ran redline in my Cassutt, and all I can say is its WAY BETTER! At high temps, the oil pressure doesnt budge,
and it also made more rpm then with stock oils!

Not to mention, after running the engine for 20hrs, (at high rpm 4k) with mineral oil, ALL of the cam lobes/lifters were shot. not to mention the main bearings
looked as though they had 2000 hrs!  I havent torn down the engine this year, (after running redline synthetic) but I doubt it will look any different than new!

T


I checked out the Redline oil site and it seems like their multi-wt oils are not recommended for sustained oil temps below 225 degrees. My Continental runs much cooler that that, so probably not appropriate to use. The $ 9.95 per quart is not a real problem, but if another oil works at normal operating conditions ( including not racing at 4000 rpm) I think I will still try it. Guess the Aero Shell 15-50 oil that I used some years back is a bit more expensive that the Phillips 20-50 so we will see how the Phillips works for me. I do have fairly new Millennium cylinders so my oil leaks will be limited to gaskets, seals, etc.
Cloudman.......... Varieze 725EZ ...flying 26 years and still experimenting.....

28
Hangar Flying / Re: Synthetic oil ??
« on: January 31, 2009, 07:35:41 PM »
Quote from: Joe Person on January 21, 2009, 01:22:28 PM
I began using the Philips X/C oil I noted above, on the recommendation of ECI.  I have been happy with the performance of this oil, in conjunction with the use of the new ECI Titans on my O-200.

Your mileage may vary.

Decided to go the way of the 'Person' with experience in using Phillips X/C oil in his Continental engine. Found a case at the airport this week for $62+plus tax and took it home. I have confidence it it working great.......without experimenting.
WTJohnson

29
Hangar Flying / Re: What system to use?
« on: January 12, 2009, 06:27:05 PM »
Quote from: ezbill on January 11, 2009, 08:49:33 PM
Great info so far, I live in Lake Elsinore Ca, 90s is not a probem. I'll be doing this in my garage. I want all the input I can get before starting and no better place to go than the guys that have been there.
Bill
Bill,
I built and first flew my Varieze just a few miles from you in Corona....but that was back in 1981 when I first flew it. My first ride was with Jerry 'Cowboy' Gardner from Ramona. He used to fly up to Big Bear for breakfast fairly regularly on the weekend and would stop for gas at Corona. During my building time 1976-81, there was a fellow that did trailer his plane to some other local airport that I don't recall and did also come into Corona for gas. As far as I know I was the first locally built Varieze to fly out of Corona.

Prior to the Varieze I owned a 73 Tripacer that was tied down near the gas pumps.
You should not have any trouble finding some nice warm weather to build your plane ! I would check with the Cozy folks to see what they are using for epoxy, since they are the ones that seem to be doing a lot of the current building.

Good luck, Wayne Johnson.......Varieze N 725EZ

30
Hangar Flying / Re: What system to use?
« on: January 11, 2009, 07:29:18 PM »
Quote from: ezbill on January 10, 2009, 08:08:33 PM
I'm going to build the wings on my long project soon, and read somewhere that the West System with slow hardner will work fine.
I'm looking for any and all comments before starting.
Thanks
Bill

Bill,
Since the wings have the largest surface area of any portion of the plane, I would recommend to have all of your materials including the epoxy and hardner at a very warm temperature. I do not have any numbers to give you as to how much weight you may save, but when I layed up the surfaces of my wings a long time ago, the temperature in my garage was in the 90's. The epoxy flowed like water. I mixed the epoxy and hardener and my wife did quite a bit of the smoothing out. It seemed to work very nicely as a two person job. If you need to provide extra heat to get the temperature up, it would be well worth it.
WTJohnson

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