Hangar Flying

The only thing I would ask you to consider is how you think about carb icing.  It is not just a winter problem.  There are serious problems at all times of the year.  When I was flying with a carb, I kept one of these in my checklist (http://www.ez.org/carb_ice.htm).  Just to pick off a couple of points:
at 30F, it isn't until I get to about 55% rel humidity where you have a possibility of getting into carb ice at cruise and glide power.  As you get more and more rel humid at this temp, you get into the "serious carb ice at cruise power"

on the other hand, at 80F, when you get to a little over 20% rel humid, you get into the same condition.  As you get more rel humid at this temp, you get into the serious carb ice at glide power (vice cruise power for 30F)

Waiter,
Any chance there is something wrong with the alternator?  May need an alternator filter.  You can isolate this as a problem real quick by turning off the alternator to see if you have a problem.

Regardless, sounds like you recommend to choke the power line prior to entering the noise effected device rather than filtering at the alternator (if that is the problem).

Good stuff!

When I have the heat on (muff), I always have a fresh air vent blowing in my face.  Plus I have a carbon monoxide detector too.

Thanks for the info, Frank.  This kind of forum with these kind of comments are going to keep people safe.

There is nothing wrong with buying that kind of plane (a dog----and most likely currently unsafe) as long as you know what you are getting into (a restoration project).  But the price should reflect that too.

One thing I have mentioned several times (sometimes publicly----and mostly on private emails) is that I weigh my decision to buy on the reputation/integrity of the seller.  I would walk away from sellers who don't know their aircraft.  I would also walk away from a seller who was not pointing out what the problems are (there are always problems).  It gives me great pause when I talk to a seller on the phone----ask him specifically about flaws, problems, or even little things that still need to be done----only to hear there are no problems whatsoever.  Then I show up to inspect the aircraft and point out about a dozen flaws during a cursory inspection.  Does the guy not know his plane----or does he have no integrity?----Walk!

When I sold my Longez, I had a documented list of flaws and things still left to be done if I kept the plane.  I was convinced that the buyer would find no more existing problems.  I also like to document those items to protect myself.

I sure don't mind getting getting warnings---especially from an experienced Varieze driver like Frank Pullano.  He should be able to quickly size up a Varieze by its description and looks better than most.

There are a lot of sellers that will sell to anybody----we need to be careful of this----it is my business-----the new buyer's action with the new plane can effect my insurance rates-------sellers---heed Frank's warnings.

There are a lot of buyers who don't really know what they are buying.  Each buyer should know exactly what he is getting.  There is nothing wrong with buying or selling a dog of an airplane.  The seller needs to convey this point-----or he could end up hurting someone.  These are not cars that we are flying.

As to the specifics (not being a Varieze guy like Frank though)
--cuffs----hmmmm
--engine time high----but I prefer buying high time engines so I can get a lower price and overhaul the engine myself to my own standards
--top speed.  I interpret this to be the max speed of the aircraft not in level flight (red line)----but the buyer needs to be made aware of this
--cruise speed.  It does not seem that 190 mph TAS is that unreasonable with a O235 engine on a light frame----but then again, I would defer to Frank------the climb prop thing seems kind of weird for the speed though (isn't Klaus in the 240ish mph TAS range?)

<snip>sorry for the obvious newbie q? but ... what is a naca?<snip>

The "naca" is the submerged inlet used to cool the engine.  Naca style scoops are used in a variety of low drag applications.  My Cozy has 3 Naca scoops---2 small ones for cabin cooling---and 1 large one for the engine.

As an aside, I planned and chased the first Tactical Tomahawk (and hand flew too!---guess that makes me the first Tactical Tomahawk "pilot").  One of the features of the older style Tomahawk was its drop down "P-51" style air inlet.  The new TacToms have submerged Naca inlets----as well as a bunch of other new stuff.

The one in my Longez did not work worth a crap so I took it off.  The one in my Cozy works very well.  It is the standard muff used for the cozy.  Basically is aluminum sheet wrapped around the two pipes on the right side and attached with worm clamps.  The outlet takes it to a mixer valve at the firewall.  From the mixer, I can take in cold cowl air right next to the naca or I can take in heated air from the pipes---or whatever mixture I want----or I can shut it off altogether.  The mixer valve is not standard Cozy.  Since I don't have fresh air feeding the muff, I always open a cabin vent whenever I have the heat on.  The heat works great-----without the mixer valve, it was working too good.

Absolutely no offense taken on my side----I'm a buyer too!----twice!  You don't need ready made skills to work or build these planes----but you have to have the desire-----and you have to have some kind of inkling that you would like to learn.  Just want to make sure that there are not buyers out there that think they can buy an experimental plane and not work on them-----like a car.  The plans are essentially written in a way that a non-handy person can build one of these.  The only exception may be the part of the brake system.  Both Rutan and Puffer assumed everyone knew how to bleed brakes.  However there are some good sites on the web that show how to do it.

Just remember 2 things
--You WILL have to work on your plane---and it really is fun
--You really need to fly it often----otherwise the plane really will rust away---If you can't fly it often (time, money), you can mitigate this risk by getting partners .

The high landing speeds do not take a greater skill----it just requires a longer runway.  However, these planes do have a great tendency to accelerate----and more attention is required to maintain on speed.  

The right hand left hand thing is not that big of a deal.  I prefer the stick in the right though.  All fighter airplanes are set up this way (stick in right hand throttle in left hand).  The only main difference is that the EZ stick is totally on the right side (like an F-16).  At least in the F-4, F-15, F-14, F-18, etc, you could fly with your left hand----and some do when you want to do some other cockpit chores that requires the right hand-----but in the EZ/F-16, you really don't have this option.  There is a good thing for a right hander flying a left stick (or a left hander flying a right stick)----you don't have to let go of the stick to write down freqs/clearance/etc.  Some of the F-16 right handers I know say they teach themselves to write with their left hand.

When I got my Cozy (stick on left), it actually took me a couple of flights to get used to it.  I could not understand why my first two landings in the plane were perfects----and my next 10ish or so were...not that great.  When I say not that great-----they were still good---but it was like I lost a little of my touch.  Then I realized that my first 2 landings were done in the right seat with the stick in my right hand----no wonder!  Well, as stated, after the first 10ish landings, it was a non issue.