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Topics - Lowlevldevl

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For Sale/Wanted / Long Ez Fuel sight gauges wanted

« on: February 08, 2013, 07:21:05 PM »

Does anybody know where I can buy/ how I can make, fuel sight gauges for my LE?
The old ones went brittle cracked, leaked and are now removed.
Vance Atkinson is or was making them but the old email address and website I had for him aren't working.
Cheers,
Don

Hangar Flying / Replacing the cables in a LongEz Speed-brake.

« on: June 29, 2011, 09:37:39 PM »

Hello Folks,
One of the cables running from the speed-brake lever to the pulley behind the pilots seat in my LongEz is frayed.
I can't find drawings for the speed-brake installation in the plans I have (I'm a non-builder), which came with the aircraft.
Before I pull it apart too much to replace it, can anyone give me an idea of how the cables are attached in the pulley and then how are the new cables rigged to give the correct tension?
Cheers,
Don

Hangar Flying / What to do after a fall onto the winglets?

« on: October 29, 2010, 05:14:23 PM »

A few months back I had a friend in the back of my Long-Ez while I did a fuel drain and walk around.
It was up on its nose gear.
He moved and the plane tipped back, landing hard on the winglets. The wings deflected maybe six inches (I was watching) and the bottoms of the winglets were crushed.
I decided to do the upgrade to the high performance rudders. I procrastinate a lot, so am still at the stage of shaping the styrofoam.
I came across this just now
http://www.eaa.org/experimenter/articles/2010-10_feature.asp
and thought it'd be a good idea to get some advice from you guys about how I should confirm the structural integrity of the winglet to wing attachment.
I look forward to your sage advice!

Hangar Flying / Cross flow cylinders for updraft cooling?

« on: May 23, 2009, 05:53:49 PM »

Has anyone considered converting an IO360 to use the same cylinders the Navajo uses? The IO540 in the Navajo has cross flow cylinders (exhaust out the top). I'd have thought that arrangement would be perfect for the updraft cooled LE. It would make it super easy to terminate the exhaust closer to the prop hub. I think I read somewhere here that contributes a lot to the thrust of our pusher props.

I have a dream that involves fuel injection, electronic ignition, an MT prop, longer nose with battery further forward to keep the CofG right and a super fast, efficient, high altitude, most weather cross country Long EZ.

Aside from the cost, anybody see any pitfalls here?

Hangar Flying / Nose Light

« on: July 31, 2007, 06:33:48 AM »

Just curious. Has anyone mounted a light in the nose of their ez?
If so, where'd you put the pitot tube?

Hangar Flying / Camera Hole?

« on: May 08, 2007, 05:11:14 AM »

Hi all,
I may have found a reason to install a camera hole in my Long.
I'm thinking that the area immediately forward and center of the passenger thigh support would be ideal. I'm looking at around about a six inch circular hole.
The plans call for, and my plane has been built with a roughly four inch wide ridge running through this space in the passenger floor.
My question is: Is this structural? Can anybody see a problem with a mod like this?
Obviously I'd glass the sides of the hole and plug it nicely when no camera was installed.
I would consider mounting the camera in a baggage pod if necessary, however I don't have any and the pax floor would be way easier until I prove this up.
Leave aside any concerns about the legality of doing commercial air work operations with an amateur built, that doesn't appear to be an issue in Oz.
Cheers,
Don

For Sale/Wanted / Large Rudder plans wanted.

« on: May 02, 2007, 07:37:15 PM »

Well I sent my money order across a month ago along with an order for the large rudder and hidden bellcrank plans.
I just got my cheque back with a note to say that RAF has finally closed!
Does any body have a set of plans for those two mods?? I'd be happy to buy them from you.
Cheers,
Don

Hangar Flying / Feather Fill? Wet Sanding?

« on: April 29, 2007, 07:40:17 AM »

I'm in the process of finishing the modifications I've made to my cowls the last few weeks.

I've sanded the micro and am nearly ready to prime and paint.
Two questions:
1. The plans talk about Feather-fill. What is it, do I need it and is there a West Systems equivalent?

2. I expect to find a few irregularities that need to be sanded back through to the micro and re-primed as I go. Assuming I'm wet sanding when that happens, is it ok to get micro wet? Is it hydroscopic? Is there anything I'd need to do to get the paint to stick properly afterwards when this happens?

BTW I'm using the West Systems poly micro not glass balloons.
Thanks again,
Don

Hangar Flying / Help needed re: Adding shim washers to increase incidence.

« on: April 15, 2007, 09:11:40 AM »

Hi All,
Chapter 19 mentions that main wing incidence needs to be jigged to zero by adding 860-916L washers to the outboard wing attach bolts to change incidence. Any body here have experience with doing this? I'm not the builder. Mine rolls right and I'm assuming I need to loosen all 3 bolts on the starboard wing, remove the upper outboard bolt, slip another shim washer down through the gap at the shear web, reinstall the bolt and tighten all 3 again. Any advice gratefully received.
PS I have an A&P in my hangar here full time to supervise but he's never done this either.
Don

Hangar Flying / Downdraught Cooling with Exhaust Augmentation

« on: April 05, 2007, 04:14:29 PM »

Hey everyone,
I've decided after reading a number of articles (Bill James's EZ Chronicles in particular. Inspiring!) that I'd like to convert my 0-320 Long to downdraught cooling with exhaust augmentation. Unfortunately my construction talents are nothing like Bills' so I'm looking for a conversion that is way simpler than that. I'm thinking pressurized top cowl (like Drews) with simple alloy tubes surrounding shortened exhaust stacks for augmentation. I'm sure some others on here must have either done it, thought about it more than me or tried and failed :cry: I would love to here from any of them.
Happy Easter!
Don

Hangar Flying / CHT & Oil temps data

« on: March 25, 2007, 08:47:42 AM »

Hey guys,
Thought you might be interested in hearing about my new engine monitor installation. I finally got it fitted 2 days ago. (Started before Christmas)
I got the fuel flow, oil temp, carby temp and memory stick data options with mine. By the way my Long has an 0-320 Lycoming.
Original equipment is a JPI slimline oil temp gauge which usually showed fairly high temps, I fly in the tropics and only have a smallish oil cooler. The new EDM-700 oil temp shows around 10 degrees hotter than the slimline. A test flight today saw 262F. Looks like I'm due for a bigger cooler :cry:
No. 1 cylinder is the hottest and touched 470F today on the same test flight. The original CHT probe was a gasket type on No.2 and showed mid range. I have to conclude that my real temps have always been much higher than I thought so I achieved my aim of better understanding whats going on with my powerplant because I have the engine analyzer. What to do about #1 CHT now?
The memory stick option is great. I downloaded the last couple of test flights and analyzed em in EZ Trends (JPI) and I can see exactly what my engine was doing the whole time. Interesting! I got some crap under the needle valve during my first test flight so the float valve wasn't sealing, the carb flooded and the engine flamed out when I pulled the power on base. It all shows on the graph and I see it took me about 25 secs to recognize it, restart and make it back to the field.
Apart from downdraught cooling, anybody have any suggestions as to how to fix the high temps on No.1?
Cheers.

Hangar Flying / My Long-EZ nose gear won't stay up!

« on: July 19, 2006, 12:33:46 AM »

The nose gear in the Long-EZ I recently acquired doesn't seem to want to stay in the retracted position until we're up into the cruise. If I wind it up after take-off it might stay put sometimes, but if I pull an extra G during the climbout it just lets itself back down again. I'm new to this and even though I've searched these boards, Canard Pusher archives and other forums, can't see anything to explain the cause of the problem or what needs to be adjusted/ tightened to fix it. Thanks in advance.
Don

Hangar Flying / Whats a good way to jack a Long-EZ for wheel & brake mai

« on: July 11, 2006, 04:41:13 AM »

Hi guys!
Here's yet another dumb question from me.
Following on from one of my earlier questions, I need to jack my Long-EZ to remove the wheels (one at a time) so I can change brake discs. Where are the jack points? Do you go under the gear legs with a floor jack? Or padding on a saw horse under a wing?
If so at what station?

Hangar Flying / Keeping your feet warm on long trips in winter.

« on: July 08, 2006, 01:47:17 AM »

In one of the other forums, I read that somebody used heated socks. I found a couple of pair on ebay that are powered by D cell batteries, so bought em and have been trying them over the past month. My personal feeling is that these socks don't work at all. I bought some chemical heat pads from the pharmacy and they worked way better.
Anybody have any other solutions?

Hangar Flying / Brakes and Rudders Question

« on: July 04, 2006, 04:46:36 PM »

Hi All,
I am a new Long-EZ owner (non-builder) and feel that my brakes (Cleveland) don't have the stopping power my aircraft needs. I'm very close to ordering a set of either Matco or Groves with around the 300,000 KE rating. An aborted take-off and a scary ride to the end of the runway prompted this decision.
My aircraft also has the old stlye small rudders. Doing some crosswind take-offs the other day I noticed that I was using a fair amount of brake to hold the thing straight. My questions then are:
(1) Will I be constantly locking brakes and scrubbing/smoking tyres during crosswind take-offs with the new brakes?
(2) Is it possible, if so how big a job is it, to modify the vertical stabilizers to the newer, larger rudders? And will that make a noticeable difference to crosswind ground handling control?
I look forward to your wise counsel.
Cheers,
Don