Aviation MegaThread!!!!

[Heyload]

My co-worker said the 1st Flight Det was his first squadron. He ended up being some of the initial cadre on the C-5 when it came out, and has been with it ever since. In fact, he was MY instructor when I came through the initial qualification course for the C-5 about 20 years ago, and he's still going strong.

They made you bastards tough back in the day.

What an amazing world aviation is, that so many can cross paths in so many different ways!

[painterjohn]

Originally Posted by Flying-D

Here are a couple shots I took last Friday of a friends Radial Rocket. He's an ag operator, with businesses in both Missouri and Florida, and this is his commuter! I think that it's one of three flying now. When he arrived, my first flight instructor (now retired from the airlines) was in the back seat. It was built for him by another friend in Texas, and the fit and finish is absolutely amazing.

Thanks for the compliments man! Great pictures!! Its rare sometime to get to see my work in its natural habitat. (and completely assembled lol) I assisted with the building of this aircraft.. but the paint and design was my baby.
Would you mind if i copied these pictures and put them on my website?

[No False Enthusiasm]

The Radial Rocket is the most beautiful aircraft I've seen in a long time.

http://www.radialrocket.com/index.html

NFE

[RedRocker]

You do nice work painterjohn!

[dorkpunch]

This may not be the right place, but anyone know anything about the Varieze? I found an old partially assembled kit somewhat locally... Curious what I should offer for it. Pretty sure its just the kit, but I havent seen it. Are they all fiberglass construction? You carve the shapes out of foam block and glass over it? Any ideas as to the cost to get one in the air? Are they pretty forgiving planes both to build and fly- good for beginners? Rough idea of what it would cost to get one in the air (engine, avionics, etc)? What kind of engines would be good for this plane? I have an old Subaru Brat engine that was originally intended for an aircraft but it would probably need to be completely gone through so if there are better options, what would they be?

Wow, enough questions for y'all?!

If you dont know what a Varieze is, heres a pic:

[EvilGenius]

Originally Posted by dorkpunch

This may not be the right place, but anyone know anything about the Varieze? I found an old partially assembled kit somewhat locally... Curious what I should offer for it. Pretty sure its just the kit, but I havent seen it. Are they all fiberglass construction? You carve the shapes out of foam block and glass over it? Any ideas as to the cost to get one in the air? Are they pretty forgiving planes both to build and fly- good for beginners? Rough idea of what it would cost to get one in the air (engine, avionics, etc)? What kind of engines would be good for this plane? I have an old Subaru Brat engine that was originally intended for an aircraft but it would probably need to be completely gone through so if there are better options, what would they be?

Wow, enough questions for y'all?!

If you dont know what a Varieze is, heres a pic:

Just strap some model airplane wings and a couple of JATOs on the Daihatsu.

[Lornce]

Perhaps the most remarkable Experimental Home-built design ever concieved? Holder of impressive CAFE speed and efficiency records.

There are vast encyclopedic reams of information related to the type. Lots of research before committing to a project of this scope is your best bet.

Join the Experimental Aircraft Association - EAA.

Originally Posted by dorkpunch

This may not be the right place, but anyone know anything about the Varieze? I found an old partially assembled kit somewhat locally... Curious what I should offer for it. Pretty sure its just the kit, but I havent seen it. Are they all fiberglass construction? You carve the shapes out of foam block and glass over it? Any ideas as to the cost to get one in the air? Are they pretty forgiving planes both to build and fly- good for beginners? Rough idea of what it would cost to get one in the air (engine, avionics, etc)? What kind of engines would be good for this plane? I have an old Subaru Brat engine that was originally intended for an aircraft but it would probably need to be completely gone through so if there are better options, what would they be?

Wow, enough questions for y'all?!

If you dont know what a Varieze is, heres a pic:

[Daniii]

Originally Posted by Lornce

Perhaps the most remarkable Experimental Home-built design ever concieved? Holder of impressive CAFE speed and efficiency records.

There are vast encyclopedic reams of information related to the type. Lots of research before committing to a project of this scope is your best bet.

Join the Experimental Aircraft Association - EAA.

Wasn't John Denver flying one when supposedly he couldn't reach the fuel switchover valve?

[GuyRocket]

Originally Posted by dorkpunch

This may not be the right place, but anyone know anything about the Varieze? I found an old partially assembled kit somewhat locally... Curious what I should offer for it. Pretty sure its just the kit, but I havent seen it. Are they all fiberglass construction? You carve the shapes out of foam block and glass over it? Any ideas as to the cost to get one in the air? Are they pretty forgiving planes both to build and fly- good for beginners? Rough idea of what it would cost to get one in the air (engine, avionics, etc)? What kind of engines would be good for this plane? I have an old Subaru Brat engine that was originally intended for an aircraft but it would probably need to be completely gone through so if there are better options, what would they be?

Wow, enough questions for y'all?!

They can be great planes. They are fiberglass over foam, but some folks throw some other fabrics in there too. Before you purchase, you need to make sure the previous builder (or builders) knew what they were doing. Find an experienced builder at your local EAA chapter. You need to inspect closely for voids, dry layups, micro (filler) between layers , etc.

With regards to price, the airframe should be relatively inexpensive. Where you run into money is on the panel, prop, and FWF. I built an aluminum airplane. The entire airframe was only about 25% of the total cost. I went with a constant speed prop ($$) and a new engine though.

Used 4 cylinder lycomings are hard to find, and there are few good deals. Since you would be experimental--the $20k used lycoming that would be a good deal for the certified guys is the same price as a new engine (without the certification paperwork) built at the same factory for your experimental. I thought about Subaru, but have yet to see someone build a good PRSU for one. At least in the RV world, the Subaru guys are all slower and heavier. They also spend much less time flying than tweaking their firewall forward package for cooling, reliability, etc. It depends on what you want. I wanted to fly more and maintain less, so I went with a Lycoming. If you really want to have the feeling of accomplishment from a truly unique engine package, then Subaru is a great choice.

My opinion of the VariEze is that it is one of the most efficient aircraft out there. It is very fast for its horsepower. The downsides of the canard design are that in general they love runways. Takeoff and landing distances are long as the canard has to be designed to stall prior to the main wing. This means you don't have control authority to rotate to a climb AOA nearly as soon as you do in a conventional layout. This is not intended to be a criticism--all designs are compromise. The EZ line is designed for overall efficiency at the cost of short and rough field performance.

On slight problem with pusher canards is that you need to keep a few props handy. If you over rotate or kick up rocks, you cream the prop. Most EZ guys keep a spare prop or two in the hangar.

Hope this helps.
Guy

[No False Enthusiasm]

From Wiki:

On October 12, 1997, Denver was killed at the age of 53 when his experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane, aircraft registration number N555JD, crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Pacific Grove, California.[27] The National Transportation Safety Board accident ID is LAX98FA008.[28]

Human-interface designer and pilot Bruce Tognazzini analyzed Denver's fatal crash on his webzine, AskTog,[32] in June 1999.

This particular aircraft had an unusual reconfiguration of the fuel selector valve handle, which had been moved from the instrument panel to behind the left shoulder of the pilot. Apparently it also had a sticky O-ring and was hard to move. Both factors may have led to Denver pushing the right rudder pedal when he turned to switch fuel tanks by moving the handle. The aircraft then entered an uncontrolled turning descent: a spiral dive or a spin. Flying at an estimated altitude of 500 feet (150 m), he did not have time to recover.

As mentioned, a family of great aircraft, each with certain compromises. Denver's crash was out of the norm.

NFE

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Speed3guy

Used 4 cylinder lycomings are hard to find, and there are few good deals. Since you would be experimental--the $20k used lycoming that would be a good deal for the certified guys is the same price as a new engine (without the certification paperwork) built at the same factory for your experimental. I thought about Subaru, but have yet to see someone build a good PRSU for one. At least in the RV world, the Subaru guys are all slower and heavier. They also spend much less time flying than tweaking their firewall forward package for cooling, reliability, etc. It depends on what you want. I wanted to fly more and maintain less, so I went with a Lycoming. If you really want to have the feeling of accomplishment from a truly unique engine package, then Subaru is a great choice.

VariEzes were originally designed to fly on VW power but by the time Burt Rutan had started selling plans he had tweaked the design to use Continental O-200s. Those engines, and suitable similar ones, (C-90, O-235, for example) are fairly plentiful and inexpensive. As in many aircraft, engine choice is limited more by engine weight than horsepower. A firewall-back package for a VariEze should not cost a technically-competent builder more than $10,000 or so which would include a running low-time engine and fixed-pitch prop. Among the small Continentals the O-200 might be the best choice since it is the most modern of the bunch and has the stoutest case. Digital ignitions are available that will shed weight and increase power and decrease fuel consumption significantly. High compression pistons are also available. Expect to burn between 4 and 6 gallons per hour. The VariEzes go fast on very little power.

Here are Burt, the designer and Dick, his brother and record-setting pilot.



Here you can see what is probably the most famous VariEze, flown and built by the man who knows more than just about anyone else about VariEzes and making them go fast on O-200 power.

[Flying-D]

Originally Posted by painterjohn

Thanks for the compliments man! Great pictures!! Its rare sometime to get to see my work in its natural habitat. (and completely assembled lol) I assisted with the building of this aircraft.. but the paint and design was my baby.
Would you mind if i copied these pictures and put them on my website?

No problem John! They aren't the highest resolution since they're cell phone shots. I'd love to drink a beer with you guys next time your up. Just call the tower...

Do you ride??

[painterjohn]

Originally Posted by Flying-D

No problem John! They aren't the highest resolution since they're cell phone shots. I'd love to drink a beer with you guys next time your up. Just call the tower...

Do you ride??

Yes sir! I have owned almost 200 motorcycles in my life.. started at age 4 with an Italjet/Indian 50.. raced MX for about 10 years, Road Raced for 6 years, trail riding my whole life, and have been riding street since age 15. Currently I own an extremely clean 96 ZX11, a 2001 YZ426, a KX500 road race project, and just picked up an XR200 for my daughter who has been riding since age 5 and is now 13.

I would love to get up there sometime soon and get some good pics of N69PE. Most of the pics I have of it were also from a cell phone, and very poor quality. Your pics are the best ones so far.. One of these days Id like to buff the airplane.. the paint job is exactly how it came out of my gun.. it needs a little buffing in my opinion.

[painterjohn]

Ive done a little work on the Rutan EZ series aircraft.. they are excellent designs.. but i have heard about spar delam problems.. the is an "A-D" so to speak for the spar problems on the older kits. But im told the newer kits have corrected the delamination problems.. Ill be painting one in about 2 months for a customer.. Ill give you some more insight when it gets here.

Fiberglass is wonderful stuff.. if its prepped correctly

[painterjohn]

Originally Posted by No False Enthusiasm

The Radial Rocket is the most beautiful aircraft I've seen in a long time.

http://www.radialrocket.com/index.html

NFE

I completely agree!!