living in SD

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yank&bank

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living in SD
« on: November 28, 2005, 09:04:36 PM »
Hello,
Having grown up in San Diego actually right near brown field I would remember seeing long eze's flying overhead.  Many years later now im contemplating buying a ready to fly EZ or RV 4 can you guys shed some pros and cons.  I seemed to have remembered the ez being a pretty fast plane, now looking up some stats the perfomance seems to be somewhat vanilla with regards to cruise speed.    My girl is saying the back seat looks to confining but hey im not in the back, just joking is it really that cramped back there.  Unfortunately I now live in Las Vegas and do not see to many ezes up here if I were still in SD i would head to Ramona.  thanks in advance.

Anonymous

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living in SD
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2005, 10:59:33 PM »
no opinions on the ez.  personally i love the rutan design, unfortunately i havent had many up close experience with the bird.  i understand luggage is limited but what can one carry realisticly?  make that two carry?  guys help me out here please.

Offline JIM MARTIN

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« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2005, 01:31:55 AM »
Speeds are dependant on horsepower compare the o320 ezs and they are closer.  My o235 i flight plan at 120 to 130 knots and that is real. Baggage can be managed just be frugal, but the neatest thing is the strangers who will walk up and talk to you about your unusal bird. I even had one couple who drove out to the airport (French Valley) to settle their argument about if it was real or a model that i had just flown over their house. ezes are just more fun than the others. my two cents. Jim Martin

Anonymous

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living in SD
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2005, 12:33:26 AM »
Thanks Jim,
I appreciate the reply.  Do you travel with a female?  I only ask because they love to pack the closet you know.  From what I read it appears your baggage is confined to the side strakes?  can you stuff a duffle bag in there.  with a load out of a couple of shirts, pants, and the rest of weekend stuff that would apply?  
Thanks again,
Jimmy

Offline Drew

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living in SD
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2005, 07:12:37 AM »
My wife and I (I am 150 lbs and my wife is 125ish) could carry a week's worth of clothes with us in our Longez.  You just had to pack smartly.  Each of us would carry a duffle bag.  I would carry a shaving bag separately and she would take some sort of extra bag that was about 5 times larger than my shaving bag.  Additionally, I would carry 2 small flying bags that held all my charts, tools, approach plates, etc.

Once at the plane, I had to do some juggling around.  In each duffle bag, I had prepacked a lot of clothes in those big ziplocks (gallon?).  Each ziplock would generally carry a pair of socks, underwear, and a shirt.  It is amazing how many of these will stuff into the center section spar.  A shaving kit and a bunch of other stuff could go behind the rear cockpit headrest (held in place by a bungee cord.  1 or 2 pair of jeans could go behind the cusion of the front seat.  I generally had a cusion underneath the seat cusion that I could remove and stuff about 5 shirts instead.  My wife would take her smaller duffle and put it in the space between here ankles and seat.  Flying gear went into the strakes along with anything else.  

I once flew from Camarillo to Oakland for a black tie event over the weekend.  Was able to bring my mess dress blues (USN) and my wifes dress----all wrinkle free.  Put both of those behind my seat back.

The point is that it can be done----but you have to work at it.  Can't bring roller boards!

My Cozy MKIV is a truck.  You don't have to be careful how you pack.  There is a LOT of room in the back seat for luggage----and you don't even have to unpack it to fit it!  No problem bringing rollerboard here!
Drew Swenson
Cozy N171ML

Anonymous

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living in SD
« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2005, 10:01:14 PM »
thanks drew,
any chance you could post pics of the amount of room one could expect while sitting in the ez?

Offline Drew

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« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2005, 06:35:25 AM »
You mean a picture of just sitting in a Longez or sitting with everything loaded?  I don't think I have a picture of everything loaded and sitting in the plane.

Regardless, the amount of room up front did not change being loaded down or not.  The Longez is quite roomy in the front.  The Cozy on the other hand "feels" much smaller in the front---even when solo.  This is because the room from your left shoulder to the side is smaller in the Cozy than the Longez and the canopy seem to come a lot closer to the left side of the head and angles in faster to the front.  The backseat in the Longeze is not that roomy with or without bags.  Most of the baggage was gets hidden in the strakes and center section spar---so this does not impede the rear passenger at all.  Bags that fit between the r/c ankles and seat did impede movement of the legs.  My wife was happier to have that bag for a 5 hour flight than to not have it.  People bigger than about 150 lbs or so would only be comfortable in the back for relatively short periods.

As stated before, the front seat in a Longez is quite roomy.
Drew Swenson
Cozy N171ML

Anonymous

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living in SD
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2005, 11:39:58 PM »
Hey Drew,
just looking to see what kind of elbow, leg, and head room to expect from inside the tub.  Im about 5'10"  160lbs.  so i think it would be a good representation on what to expect.  as for most the time i suspect i will be flying solo anyway.  well thanks for all the information so far.  i have see numerous ezes on airplane classifieds so i would like to see what to expect.  

Jimmy

Offline Drew

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« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2005, 07:00:14 AM »
In the front seat there is lots of room.  There is plenty of hip room and elbow room to the sides of the fuselage.  And in the front seat, you can put your elbows in the strakes.  No problem with headroom either.  You need to add or subtract cusion to make sure that you are at the correct height.  You can wear a baseball hat with no problem.

In the Cozy, the elbow room is less.  The left strake does not hit the fuselage at the same "geometry" as the Longez---and is pretty much not available to put your elbow in.  On your right side, you have a passenger sitting there----so you can't stretch your elbow there eigher.  I always wear a baseball hat when flying to shade my eyes----and in the Cozy, it is hard to look left because the bill of the hat hits the canopy.  Of course you can look left---but you sort of have to move your head right to look left---to keep from bumping the bill.

I was more comfortable-----and probably had more fun in my Longez.  However, my passengers have more fun in the Cozy----and the Cozy is a more practical airplane.
Drew Swenson
Cozy N171ML

Offline NWade

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Back-seat thoughts...
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2005, 12:34:50 PM »
I'm not a canard owner, but I've had a chance to climb into a few.... Thought I'd pitch in with some comments about the back-seat, since that's where all of my time has been.

I am 6' 1" and weigh just over 200 lbs.  I have only sat in a Long-EZ on the ground; but it was just fine for space.  These planes are small and fit like a glove - so when I say "fine" I mean enough room for my hips, shoulders, knees, etc. to avoid being pinched.  The difference between the Piper I've flown in and the EZ's is like the difference between a Minivan and a Corvette.  OK, so the EZ is probably more comfy than the Corvettes I've been in - but being a licensed race-car driver, I have the experience to make that space-comparison with authority. ;-)

I've flown in a nicely-built VariEze, and it was OK.  The fuselage had been built an inch or two wider than the plans - and that was a GoodThing(tm) for me.  Without that extra inch I would have been squeezed a bit.  As it was, the VariEze had enough room for me to sit in and that's IT.  I wasn't wedged in, but there was no room to shift about or flail my arms.  Of course, I had so much fun with the stick in the back seat that I didn't care; but a long flight would've gotten to me.

The biggest issue for a tall guy like me in the back seat, is the leg-room.  My knees were just rubbing the seat in front of me; and my legs were slightly tucked underneath me because the seatback goes to the floor (thus requiring the tips of my toes to be behind my knees, when viewed from straight above).  On my short 30-minute flight in the VariEze, again I was having so much fun that I could ignore it...  But anything more than about 2 hours of that and I would have been in pain.  I'd say I was at the cut-off for size and weight, for the back-seat of a VariEze.  The Long-EZ was slightly more forgiving, but not by much.

One final note:  I had never flown in a plane as light and small as the 620 lbs. VariEze...  Initially the feedback on the ground from the asphalt, and the wind on the takeoff roll, were somewhat disconcerting (additionally, I was trusting my life to the building-skills of a man I had just met).  If you have a spouse or significant other that you're trying to get to fly with you - prepare them for that and make sure they have confidence in you and the plane; and your first flights will go a lot smoother. ;-)

Just my amateur $0.02...

--Noel

Offline Drew

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« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2005, 04:04:24 PM »
Noel,
That is a pretty accurate description of fitting in the back even for a small guy like me.

I would challange any Mooney or Cessna 182/172/152 driver on who has more room and comfort in the front seat compared to my Longez.

The reclined position is very comfortable.  I can stick both elbows out as far as I can and not touch anything (elbows go in the strakes).  Longez passengers can't really stick their elbows into the strakes because the strake hole is a little too far forward.
Drew Swenson
Cozy N171ML

Offline MacGyver

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VariEze back seat
« Reply #11 on: December 07, 2005, 12:22:21 AM »
Noel,

Remember, my back seat was cushioned and contoured for maximum comfort for my 5'8" far-better-half - with stock cushions, your fit would have been a bit more comfortable.  I've spent 9 hours straight in the back seat of a Long-EZ (when I weighed 185), and felt fine.  The Stock VariEze's rear seat is probably best suited for passengers who are 5'10" or less, and who are not over about 150-160 pounds.  

My Eze is one inch wider, from firewall to nose bulkhead.  I did this primarily for back seat comfort.  I have taken a 245-pounder aloft, and although he was tight in back (I put in a set of stock cushions), he was not too bad off (try putting same person in the front seat of a C-150, for example).

My nickel's worth,

-Joe Person
Joe Person
EAA Tech Counselor 4418
VariEze N79JN
Bothell, WA (KPAE)

Anonymous

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living in SD
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2005, 12:30:17 AM »
thanks for all the info guys, happy holidays
Jimmy