Hello (new guy in TX)

[realfstkid]

Hi Guys,

I have been secretly eyeing your forum for a while now, and thought I might as well take the plunge and say hi. I've wanted to own an airplane for a few years now, but only recently have I decided to look seriously into a purchase. At this time, building just isn't an option, as busy as I am and how frequent I am required to move (military). As such, I definitely have my heart set on a canard aircraft, and my favorite out of those is definitely the Long EZ. Currently being a T6 instructor pilot for the air force, I love the tandem seating and bubble canopy, and the amazing efficiency, speed, and just downright good looks are all bonuses as well.

Anyhoo, I guess the other reason that I wanted to say hi was to see if there are any long ez owners in my area. I am a bit remote, stationed at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX (about 120 miles northwest of Dallas). I got a chance to poke around a rutan canard (I think its a long-ez) up at KLAW a while ago, but it was in a mock paint booth being sanded down for a repaint. I really want to see one up close and personal, and talk face to face to some owners about their thoughts/concerns/information about buying a finished Long EZ. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, and have already found a suitable T-Hangar, now I just need to get my act together and find an airplane.

I have talked to Dana Byerley about his aircraft up in Utah, but I am having trouble figuring out what exactly needs to be done to get it flying, and if I would have to disassemble it, truck it to Texas (not a short drive), or if it could be flown. That second thought is where my next problem lies. I have flight time in pipers, cessnas, the T37, T38, and T6 (about 600 hours total time now), but really have no idea how to go about learning how to fly a Long EZ. Is there somebody that I can pay to teach me? I have heard of people getting lessons in Cozys because they are side by side. Is that my only option?

Anyway, glad to be a part of the group. I have emailed Mr. Schubert about joining CSA, but have not received a reply yet.

Cheers,

Christian

[cloudman]

Christian,
If I were you, I would take a serious look at the Varieze (est.90% completed) for sale in Corinth, Texas. I have not checked how far that may be from you .....but seems like it is worth a good look. The plane is listed on Barnstormers per mickeyt9's post here
 on ez.org.
With you experience, you should be able to do a couple canard flights down the runway and head to altitude. The canard is the best 'instrument' on the plane for pitch and roll.....just fly the canard. I only had about 80 hours in Cessnas and a Piper Tripacers in recent years when I first flew my Varieze 29 years ago.
If you really need the extra room that a LongEz provides for more storage, I suppose the Varieze is not the plane for you....but if you go and check this one out you may change your mind !

Good hunting, Wayne Johnson.....Varieze725EZ.......Lake Stevens, WA

[flyingwaldo]

Christian,
With your experience you could fly an EZ as well as most of us rookies.  My seller went on a bender the night before he was supposed to give me a few hours and never made it to the airport.  Can't blame him, he was heading back to Diego Garcia the day after that.....
After a few hours of taxiing up and down the taxiway and faster on the runway I just went for it.  Had to go around the first try as it was so hard to slow down but the second try resulted in a great landing.  You'll do fine.  Or find a Cozy to get some time in where your controls will be correct for an EZ.  I only had a couple hundred hours in Cessnas over 20 years so you'll be fine.
Have fun!

[realfstkid]

Thanks for the replies guys. Wayne, I am rather tall (6'3") and was thinking that the Varieze might be a bit of a tight fit, in fact im sure some of the Long EZs out there are going to be as well. From what I understand, pilot room is a factor with the Varieze, right? I know that the rudder pedals will probably need to be moved in a Long EZ if it's built for a shorter pilot.

It sounds like a lot of you just went for it, so did you just buy the airplane without test flying it? There was a Long EZ that I was looking at in southern California, hangared at John Wayne. It was an O-320 Long EZ, but when I talked to the guy, he mentioned that the plane was cheap because he didn't want to deal with fielding lots of questions, spending time trying to market it, etc. Does anyone know of the owner that I am talking about? I have sort of steered clear of that, since I think it's pretty important in the homebuilt world to know the previous owner and definitely builder (if at all possible), in case you have problems/questions at a later time. In the case of Dana's plane in Utah, I would love to go for it, but the plane hasn't flown in 2 years, and I'm not sure if I would be able to fly it to Texas (too risky?). On top of that, insurance would be an issue, since I don't have any time in this type of airplane.

Thoughts?

Christian

[flyingwaldo]

Christian,
Check in with Beagle at canardfinders.com.  If you already know of a plane he'll give you all he knows about it.  If he finds you one you buy, he has a small fee.  He's been tracking canards for a lotta years and has data on many as well as leads on inspectors for pre-buys etc..  You can certainly do it yourself, it just takes a lot longer to do as good a job of due diligence.  His last plane was on the market recently and you couldn't do much better than the one David Lind built, not cheap.  Otherwise, don't bother with the proverbial 'pig-in-a-poke.  They seemed to have been built with tremendous safety factors from the Master Designer.  BUT, as has been documented often and lately, errors in construction can be very dangerous and you won't know until they bite you.  A good inspector can usually tell if the un-inspectable construction is 'probably' done well.....
Take your time, read posts on the 2-3 forums and their archives, learn who to ignore, and you'll learn a lot about these fun planes.
Good luck!

[cloudman]

Christain,
I would at least see the owner fly the plane that I was considering buying. If you were confortable with his demo, I would consider riding in his back seat. But certainly not flyiing it home without any other experience in it. I suppose if I had several days to get totally familiar with the plane I would fly it home.
If you end up with a project plane.......one that has not yet flown....I would want to rent a truck to haul it home. I helped a friend do that a few years ago. We brought a Varieze back to Washington state from California. The plane had flown, but the new owner was very inexperienced and I did not want to fly it for him so we trucked it.
One other thing about trucking an EZ home........The LongEZ is a bit more difficult getting into a closed U-Haul type truck since it is wider from strake to strake...The plane has to be tipped up to fit width wise. The Varieze fits in okay with the wings tied to the sides of the truck. Another friend took his LongEZ all the way across country on an open trailer.
When Burt Rutan designed the Varieze, he did allow for a fairly tall person ...at least as tall as you. Some EZs have adjustable rudder pedals and others do not. If there is no adjustable links on the cables they can be added....with a certain amount of difficulty, I suppose, in the limited area involved. I have an extra piece of foam behind my seat cushion so a person taller can possibly fly it. The width may be more of a problem for anyone that is fairly heavy. The LongEZ is a few inches wider.
Good luck, Wayne