Welcome to Rick and Mary's Cozy III
Welcome to Rick and Mary's Cozy III project!
Intro:
This is Cozy #40. It was started in Massachusetts by Roger Roy. After getting it closer to finish, Roger decided to sell it. Enter us. We saw the ad, emailed, and talked. After about 2 weeks of talking, we hitched up the trailer (borrowed) and went to Massachusetts to go inspect, buy, and pick up. It took us all day to get the plane up on the trailer from the basement of Roger's house. After a long road trip, some dodging of the DC snipers, etc., Cozy #40 was unloaded at 5W5 in Hangar #20. First things first. Insulation, unpacking, inspect for damage, etc. People ask when it is going to fly? Answer: not soon enough.
Current activity:
Main spar is bonded to the fuselage. It is amazing how much stiffer the fuse got when this happened. Took 3 of us to get it done. The problem is when you make one adjustment at one side, the other side moves. After getting the measurements dry to 0.1 degree overall, and 0.1" on skew, I wound up within 0.1" on skew, and 0.2 degree overall. Not bad, not perfect.
Working on the strakes section now. I held off the firewall for now. I plan on flipping the fuse as little as possible. I figured I would do all the bottom stuff at one time, tapes, firewall, strake bottoms, etc. Then when I flip upright, do all the firewall stuff. Another deviation I will do is the Weldtech way of drilling and setting the engine mount.
Basic theory:
1. Drill the engine mount on the drill press first.
2. Match drill the extrusions to the mount.
3. Bolt the extrusions to the mount.
4. Then go to the airframe, align the mount with the bolted extrusions to the firewall.
5. Wet out the 10 ply BID, clamp the extrusions and wait for cure.
No trying to bend a mount, easy to work with, and easy to set. Makes sense from a machinist point of view. Easy to duplicate.
My view on changing from the plans:
1. Published better way that is easier AND safer.
2. Has proven out over 5-6 years
3. Meets with wife approval.
4. Safety (ex. Confor foam for the seats. I have seen enough accidents that should have killed people to satisfy this weight penalty in my mind)
5. Does same job, costs less, is lighter, works better, and is safer.
6. I need more?
Feel free to email me at: