To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.

Author Topic: To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.  (Read 30617 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

NEGuest

  • Guest
To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.
« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2005, 08:43:23 AM »
Hi Guest38,
I was wondering if one of your significant mods was to add trailing edge aileron fences?

Also, would it not be possible to X-ray the wing joint to determine soundness? If so, someone out there with the proper equipment could do a little business checking out Vez wing joint and other parts in other composites.

dave

  • Guest
eze
« Reply #16 on: January 28, 2005, 03:58:07 PM »
:D
   hi guys,
        IF you want to know what the condition of of the inside of the wing attachments "might be"  why not look at OUTSIDE ...the exposed part, it  will Tell you a lot about what the condition of the UNDERNEATH is.
           a few years ago i helped in repainting/ restoring  a "mooney mite"..which was wood wrapped in fiberglass.15 years ago ..the outside was BAD..really bad it was left out in the sun and sat for 3 years until my frind bought it... we had to cut some pieces..open to inpect the wood ....underneath  and   the wood  was "LIKE NEW"....
   Fiberglass is a fantastic sealant against weather ..unless water can "GET IN"  its only the outside that will "look bad"...nothing sanding and micro cant fix...
  i do agree that the Article on the "mandatory ground" has been taken way out of proportion...it has actually Hurt the  reputation of the VEZ in the "wrongest" of ways....check the outside first.
    :lol:

Anonymous

  • Guest
Re: eze
« Reply #17 on: January 28, 2005, 04:45:16 PM »
quote="dave
   hi guys,  IF you want to know what the condition of of the inside of the wing attachments "might be"  why not look at OUTSIDE ..."

Dave,

This logic is about as perfect an example of Einstein's "Information is not knowledge" statement is as possible.

Take a close look at the pictures on the net of the corroded wing attach fittings.  Note that the EXPOSED areas look GOOD and the HIDDEN areas are TRASH.

Guest 38

  • Guest
Varieze mods
« Reply #18 on: January 28, 2005, 08:56:43 PM »
Quote from: "NEGuest"
Hi Guest38,
I was wondering if one of your significant mods was to add trailing edge aileron fences?

Also, would it not be possible to X-ray the wing joint to determine soundness? If so, someone out there with the proper equipment could do a little business checking out Vez wing joint and other parts in other composites.


Hi,
Yes, the wing fences were the last mod, but  they didn't make as much difference as LongEz style lower winglets. They really stabilized the slow speed on final.
However, I expect that any Varieze built for max high speed, eg. bigger engine, lots of prop thrust, etc. will have a tough time on getting a real slow touchdown speed.
Happy to give a reasonable answer to a reasonable question by a reasonable person!!
I don't have a clue about hi-tech equipment to check for corrosion. Surface corrosion looks like it would be tough to see other than visually.
Guest38

Anonymous

  • Guest
To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.
« Reply #19 on: January 28, 2005, 08:59:13 PM »
Quote from: "NEGuest"
Hi Guest38,
I was wondering if one of your significant mods was to add trailing edge aileron fences?

Also, would it not be possible to X-ray the wing joint to determine soundness? If so, someone out there with the proper equipment could do a little business checking out Vez wing joint and other parts in other composites.


SEE MY RESPONSE BELOW
Guest38

Anonymous

  • Guest
To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.
« Reply #20 on: January 28, 2005, 09:00:32 PM »

Anonymous

  • Guest
To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.
« Reply #21 on: January 28, 2005, 09:20:54 PM »
Maybe your airspeed indicator is not calibrated correctly and you just think you are that good.

dave

  • Guest
eze
« Reply #22 on: January 28, 2005, 09:36:11 PM »
TO THE guest that quoted einstein
 
     i have seen the pix..of the corroded wing attach fittings..INFACT  I KNOW WHO REBUILT THAT PARTICULAR PLANE.( shady person never flew it)  ..that plane also had a CHRONIC GAS TANK LEAK ...IT TRANSFERED ANOTHER 2 OWNERS AFTER THAT. i live in that area.
..      
       and NO !THE EXPOSED PART WAS NOT GOOD...the TApered shims where highly corroded (outside),,,and there was a lot of  small screws...all over the main fittings...ONCE AGAIN ON THE OUTSIDE.....the inside corrosion was due to the FACT THAT THAT WING...HAS HAD A  ACCIDENT  AND WAS REBUILT...IMPROPERLY USING OLD CORRODED WING FITTINGS TO START WITH.......OK  EINSTEIN?
  EINSTEIN QUOTE WAS REFERING  TO  INFORMATION BEING INCOMPLETE, and that REAL KNOWLEDGE  comes with ALL the RIGHT information.  you dont have to be Einstein to know that. :roll:

Anonymous

  • Guest
To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.
« Reply #23 on: January 30, 2005, 12:22:25 PM »
Ok enough is enough..

There is too much mudslinging happening here..

For the person that wants to buy the VE,, well I personally have one and think its a great little plane. There has been a few VE's with corrosion in the wing attachments but it is limited to a few planes, I for one would be more concerned if the elevators are correct!

As for the "g" limitation, well that has nothing to do with corrosion. thats a poor layup problem that can exist in the Long as well. (Dry Layup)

Find and airplane, get it inspected, inspect it some more.  go flying!
its as simple as that.

One word of advice, if you can buy a plane from the builder.. DO IT!!

Avoid the plane that has had 10 owners..

Give me a call if you want to talk

Tom

403 607 8457.

Offline miketdrew

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 22
    • View Profile
    • http://michaeltdrew.com
VariEze or Not, that is the question
« Reply #24 on: January 31, 2005, 11:55:19 PM »
NEGuest

The original requirement you mapped out pretty much matched my requirements when I was trying to decide between the two.  But additionally, portability was one of my main factors in reaching a final decision.  No one has mentioned one of the features that was designed into the VariEze Vs Long-Ez –  portability.  

At the time, (turned out to be true for me) I thought it would be important to be able to do maintenance in the comfort and proximity of my garage and still easily transport the plane to the airport.  For the first couple of years I had a 15’ enclosed trailer for transport and airport hanger.  When I had a project, I’d haul it home to my garage.   On my own, I could take the wings and canard off and roll it into the trailer in 30-40 minutes, ten minutes less when off loading.  That worked fine until I finally figured out that a VariEze easily fits (without removing the wings or canard) into half sized hanger.   The half T hangers go for less than half the price of a full size one in my area.   Sold the trailer (= new eznoselift and electrical system) and plan to rent a trailer when I want to bring it home.

By the way the T.E. fences were very effective on my plane.  I’ve enjoyed making lots of other mods that help with comfort, operation and systems.  
Not much I can add about the wing attach corrosion, since mine has glider type attach system.
 
I find the sitting arrangement one of the most comfortable of any aircraft I’ve flown (6’2’’ 185#), but have no interest in spending more than  5-hrs in the seat of any plane, no matter how comfortable.  

Like you, I find that I fly 80% of the time solo, so the back seat provides enough baggage space (including golf clubs) for my needs.  

To date I have about 125hrs, 120 flights and 150 landings.  I’ve loved every minute of it, the best bang for the buck (fun and economic) that I have found.  Can’t think of any spam can that I’ve owned or flown that is such a joy.
Had VariEze N840EZ LyCon 235 Flying

NEGuest

  • Guest
To Vari Eze or Not, that is the question.
« Reply #25 on: February 01, 2005, 08:47:55 AM »
I've been learning a lot from this thread. I'm getting more convinced the EZ community is really special.

I will be checking out a Vari Eze this weekend to see it first hand. I think that if one could get reasonable confidence over the wing joint corrosion issue, the VEZ has to be one of the best values out there. Ultimately, you gotta trust the builder and the history of the ship and go with your own gut instinct on the mettalurgy...something one has to be willing to do with the VEZ. The easy trailability is a definate advantage, especially when storing for the winter.

However, the LongEz has it own set of advantages that I'm concluding are worth a $10k differential. Slower landings without mods, shorter landing & take off rolls, more docile handling, greater payload capability, updated design and stuctures are some of the more important advantages.

If I already had a VEZ, I'd probably be very happy with it. But since I'm still in a position to make a choice, this has been a worthwhile exercise.

daffy

  • Guest
VEwings
« Reply #26 on: February 01, 2005, 01:10:18 PM »
Could Miketdrew send some pictures on this forum of his VE wing attach system ?
The glider one's, and tell us what he think about them.
Why Burt did abort this well working idea ? :roll:
Many thanks

Offline Dan Patch

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 162
    • View Profile
Re: VEwings
« Reply #27 on: February 01, 2005, 04:07:04 PM »
Quote from: "daffy"

Why Burt did abort this well working idea....

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that it's accurate to state that Burt "aborted" this wing attachment method.  I believe that it was developed independently (maybe by Fred Juran?) well after the VariEze plans were released.  Since Burt neither developed nor tested this wing attach method, clearly he could not endorse this approach.  However, I do not recall that Burt ever said "don't do this" like he did for other modifications that he regarded as poor practice, risky, or unproven.  A search in past Canard Pusher newsletters probably would clarify this issue further, but I'll leave that to 'inquiring minds that want to know'.
DeltaPop
VariEze N862DP
(@1970 hrs)

Offline miketdrew

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 22
    • View Profile
    • http://michaeltdrew.com
Vari Eze or Not, that is the question
« Reply #28 on: February 01, 2005, 09:16:51 PM »
You can see a few on my website michaeltdrew.com under Jiran Wing & Spar, some of these same photos were copied by someone into canard aviator’s yahoo group’s photo section.  I think Jiran's system adds about 30-40 lbs over the standard tabs.  As Dan point out, If you look up Jiran in the early CP's you'll find a thread on the wings and at the end of development and testing (loaded to 7.5 g's w/o failure) Burt abruptly states he would not recommend them.  I understand that their is more to the story, because just as abruptly Jiran was no longer a major supplier of components for RAF.  I got the sense when I was researching the concept that their may be a dozen flying VE with Jiran Wing and Spar components.
Had VariEze N840EZ LyCon 235 Flying

daffy

  • Guest
VE Wings
« Reply #29 on: February 02, 2005, 06:24:26 AM »
Thanks Mike and Dan, I will search in my CP's some more datas about this mysterious story of Jiran's attach system. 8)  (7,5 G not breaking...)
Too good to be true. :shock:
It's too late to talk about the past, let's look forward and try to find a solution.
The picts are very small on the Mike's site and difficult to use for technical research.
I'll be happy to find ( to buy also) plans to study this system and find the way to rebuilt from previous model. An engineer could be hired to work on it.
I'm sure it could be appreciate by dozen of Vari-BOB (builders/owners/buyers). Me the first...
God save the Varieze ! :D