HERE IS WHERE I AM PRESENTLY 7/23/2011 12:02:06 PM - NOSE SECTION COMPLETED - Another view of completed nose. 7/23/2011 11:46:38 AM - NOSE SECTION COMPLETED - In this picture it shows my beautiful shaped nose. This part of the plane is completely freehand and is up to the builder how it should be shaped. Some "noses" I have seen at air shows make me wonder what the builder was thinking. BUT....what do I know. You could be saying the same about my nose right now. I guess that old saying of "BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEER HOLDER". I hacked off the nose 4 times before I finally got what I wanted. I am FINALLY DONE!!! 6/16/2011 10:37:06 PM - PITOT TUBE INSTALLED - Here is another picture showing the installation. 6/16/2011 10:35:28 PM - INTALLED PITOT TUBE - I made a jig to make the pitot tube level with the longerons. I made sure the longerons were level before I started. I also used a laser to draw a line from the canopy and the top of the nose section and it is straight on. I used flox and glass blue the phenolic material into the point of the nose. The phenolic is used for heat shielding from the heating element that I will be installing for the heated pitot tube. 10/19/2010 9:39:09 AM - 13B ENGINE REBUILD - I sent my engine to Banzai Racing at Banzairacing.com. They run a top notch shop and was recommended by Tracy Crook of Real World Soltions. Tracy flys a RV-4 with a Mazda 13B in and builds and sells redrives for this engine. I bought one myself :)!!! In this picture you see an intake manifold that was custom built for a low profile under the cowl. 9/4/2010 4:20:15 PM - STEVE WRIGHTS NOSE RETRACT - Here is another view of the installed nose gear behind the bulk head. 9/4/2010 4:17:14 PM - STEVE WRIGHTS NOSE RETRACT - This past week I prepped the NG-31 box. I had to cut, reinforce, sand and then paint the whole area to make it fit. Thank god I had the top of the nose off it made SO EZ. I also installed the Dale Martin brake system to show what it will look like after the nose is complete. 8/12/2010 11:15:33 PM - NG-1 BEARING UPGRADE - I installed the new and improved bearing assembly for the top of NG-1 strut with Jack Wilhelmson's NG-6A nose bearing. This bearing has been engineered to minimize the wear caused by the strut. On the standard bearing, this wear has led to the nose wheel wobbling. Jack's uses a tapered bearing that is a tighter fit and minimizes wear. 5/5/2010 9:05:18 AM - DRIP RAIL - FRONT HATCH (top view) - Here what it looks like from the top. I will be trimming it back after I install the latch system. 5/5/2010 9:02:46 AM - DRIP RAIL - FRONT HATCH - Before removing the hatch I glued 1/4 wide 1/4 high strips of foam and duct tape to the underside of the hatch to create a Drip Rail so that the rain water will drain to a nylon tube that will exit the plane on the bottom fuselage. This was a real easy mod to do and will insure unwanted water in the front nose compartment. 4/26/2010 11:54:54 AM - HINGES- NOSE ACCESS - This weekend I attached the hinges for the nose access panel. I purchased the hinges from CGparts Inc. aka Cozy Girls. I cut out 2 grave stones and wedges from plywood to fit the hinges to my nose. Notice that I attached the hinges/grave stones close as possible to the door cutout. This is important so that the door opens all the way. 1/23/2010 3:21:00 PM - STRAKE RIBS - Here is another shot of the ribs. 1/23/2010 3:19:52 PM - STRAKE RIBS - Made some strake ribs for left and right strake. 12/12/2009 1:41:02 PM - BRAKES PEDALS - These brake pedals were built by Dale Martin. He sells them complete as you see in this picture. I floxed them in for now and will be glassing them in when it gets a little warmer. 12/12/2009 1:36:11 PM - GLASSED NOSE TOP SECTION - Here I glassed the upper inside of the nose. I had to sand away the foam around the door area. Next on this part I will be installing the "Berkut" style "J" hinges. 12/12/2009 1:32:33 PM - MOTOR MOUNT - My buddy that works in a auto paint shop sanded and prep my motor mount. This mount is for a 13B Mazda Rotary engine built by the Cozy girrls. 10/14/2009 9:47:09 AM - GLASSING INTERIOR NOSE - This week I contoured the lower half of the nose and glassed it. Next I will contour the upper half and glass that. 9/10/2009 9:27:39 PM - NOSE DOOR PREP with MICRO - Here I used west system to laydown my first layer of micro. When its dry I will sand to countour and make my access door lines and cut the nose in half. 9/10/2009 9:24:55 PM - NOSE DOOR PREP - I will be cutting my nose in half to carve and shape inside the nose section. First I have to cut the nose access door before I cut the nose in half. The blue tape is a guide for my cut and a line to stop my finishing. 6/15/2009 11:14:40 AM - GLASSED NOSE PART 2 - Here is another view of the nose from the side. 6/15/2009 11:10:51 AM - NOSE GLASSED - I finally got the nose that I always wanted. I used templates that were provided by Steve Volvosek who got them from Dave Lind. I am very pleased how my nose came out. Next I will cut the access and shape and glass inside the nose. 2/17/2009 8:39:26 AM - NOSE LIFT - Last week I purchased my Steve Wright's nose lift from ezjetinc.com aka Valerie. The lift arrived yesterday and I am one more part closer to completion. Here is a picture of it. 2/13/2009 10:53:21 AM - NOSE JOB - After looking at my nose all winter and not really liking the shape I decided to hack off 10 inches or so of the nose. I added new styrofoam to the nose and started carving and sanding and finally came up with a "pleasing shape" as Burt Rutan had said in the plans. Besides...beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Next step is to glass the nose again and see how it comes out. 9/25/2008 2:16:58 PM - AIRPLANE IN THE MAKING - I have to admit I got really excited when I placed the canard on. It really is starting to look like an airplane. This weekend is Rough River and its perfect timing to be there. I have a ton of questions that need answering. 9/25/2008 2:11:29 PM - BOTTOM OF NOSE - Floxxed the corners of the NG-38's to the outside skin. Nice and clean. 9/22/2008 5:52:09 PM - GLASSING OF THE NOSE PART 2 - Here is another view of the nose. 9/22/2008 5:48:22 PM - GLASSING OF THE NOSE PART 2 - BOTTOM - Today I final contour before glassing the bottom section of the nose. I used a big sheet of peel ply to cover the wet fiberglass. 9/20/2008 7:48:25 PM - CANOPY ON TABLE - Here is a closeup of a todds canopy with the ferring strips bonded onto the sides. This is to prevent warping. 9/20/2008 7:46:02 PM - CANOPY SECTION - Today I finally got back into the garage. Per plans I used ferring strips and bondo to secure the canopy from warping after removal from fuselage. I used a the fien cutting tool to cut out the canopy away from the fuselage. Great expensive $200.00 tool but worth every penny...cuts through glass like butter. I flipped over the fuselage today to work on the bottom side of the nose. The bottom needed some additional shaping so I used the 2 part foam and added to the bottom of the nose. Shaping and glassing is next. 7/10/2008 11:15:25 AM - HANGAR TALK - This is my Dad and I on fathers day having Q and A session about my airplane. Mostly about where the engine goes and how much work I have to do. I told him since he is retired and plenty of time on his hands that he should come to my "hangar" and help me do the finishing work. I get a lot of those Q and A days from people walking by. One little girl refers to the Long EZ as a Rocket. As it sits it does look like a Rocket without the wings on it. Well...this first half of summer has not been productive cause of work and family obligations. HOWEVER...there is no excuse for me not working on the plane. I am commiting myself to work at night for at least 2 hours a night while everyone is sleeping...(will see if this comes true) 5/13/2008 6:23:47 PM - 13B TUBULAR MOUNT ARRIVED - I ordered from the Cozy Girls a custom made Mazda Rotary Motor mount and it arrived today. YIPPPPEEE. The mount is made of 3 pieces...the tubular mount, and 2 plates one attaches to the bottom of the engine and the other is perpendicular and is the mount for the Rotary Aviation Re-drive (on order). If you are going to do the 13B in your plane I recommend the Cozy Girls Mount. There has been a lot of time invested in developement for the mount to make sure it fits and functions properly. 5/7/2008 9:03:57 PM - GLASSING OF THE NOSE PART ONE - This picture here shows the glassing of the top of the nose and front of the canopy. I will have to finish glassing the canopy and then cut out the canopy to flip over to complete the bottom of the nose. 3/26/2008 9:00:20 PM - NOSE SHAPING - Finally the weather is bearable to work on the plane. The past few nights I have been hacking away on the nose. Using templates from Steve Volvosek's Long EZ, pour foam and 2 inch urethane foam I finally got what looks like a cool extended nose. I still need work on it but I am so excited that its starting to look like an airplane. I hope to have the shaping all done by this weekend. 3/13/2008 9:46:38 PM - NOSE HATCH - I called the cozy girls about a latch system they used on there Cozy. These babies are oxygen fittings and have a spring release and are held in place by a metal tab that fits into the groove of the metal stud. The original plan was to use delrin. Chrissi thought it would be wiser to use aluminum so she machined these studs for this application. This is a great solution for the front hatch latch. The weather around here is warming up and days are getting longer. I am back in the garage this weekend :) 12/19/2007 12:29:03 PM - CONTROL SYSTEM - This is a complete contol system that I purchased from the CG Parts. It has the latest and greatest improvements from the plans built version. Superior quality parts and a couple of engineered parts specially made from the Cozy Girrrls aka CG Parts. Take a look at the picture and it will tell you the whole story and the price is WELL WORTH IT!!! BEARINGS is the key word here. Not the homemade phenolic stuff that you create in your garage we are talking about perfectly machined parts. 12/7/2007 3:05:00 PM - TORQUE TUBE OFFSET - I ordered these baby's from the Cozy Girrls aka CG PARTS. In case you don't know what they do...they are used to keep the air out of the front of the airplane by offsetting the roll of the elevator when the elevator travels in the down position. The center of the "Torque Tube Offsets" are configred to roll in one symetrical position. With that you can build around the center of the torque tube to block out the cold air when flying at high altitude or winter time. Go to the canard forums for more info on this topic. 11/30/2007 1:53:33 PM - CANOPY SIDES AND FRONT CONTOURING OF FOAM - My friend Allen Floyd whom also is building a Long Ez showed me this technique to use pour foam (order from Wicks Aircraft) around the sides of the canopy. We first, via the plans, attached ureathane foam on the sides and front. Then we made small dams using duct tape and cardboard on the sides. Mixed up the 2 part foam which only has a pot life of 5 mins and then gets guey and then expands rapidly and then finally hardens to where you can sand it easily. The plans wants you to micro pieces of foam together and then countour it to shape. There is a lot of gaps and uneveness when you do that way thus creating more work when finishing. We squared off the foam after it dryed. This gives you a nice base to start the countouring process. NO GAPS ANY WHERE thus giving you a nicer surface to glass on after countouring and shaping. Check out these PICTURES of the process. Warning it looks scary but in the end it came out real nice. 11/9/2007 8:33:15 AM - CANOPY LATCH MOD - This is a view of the outside and where the key is inserted to allow access. Completely machined and anodized :) I am going to change the key to something cool like a the Blue Max medal as the handle. 11/9/2007 8:27:03 AM - CANOPY LATCH MOD - Just received this canopy latch system from my friend Allan Floyd and Longez builder. He told me about this mod and that will replace that ugly door and will require a key to enter the cockpit. This mod costs $170.00 and well worth it. Shoot me an email if your interested in this mod. 10/31/2007 9:37:53 AM - FRONT GEAR WELL - The front gear well was made from a mold and is installed after a little bit of trimming. Though you can not see it from this picture I installed a piece of plexiglass for visual reference on the cockpit side per plans. Next will be shaping of the canopy sides. 10/25/2007 9:04:59 AM - ORDERED THESE COOL PEDALS - This time saver mod is an adjustable pedal system from Dale Martin. The master cylinders are installed too...NICE!!! This cool mod costs $400.00 bucks and will be worth every penny. 10/24/2007 6:38:21 PM - CANOPY FOAM BUILDUP - The plans use a canopy that was built for short guys. I bought a canopy from Todd Silver or aka Todds canopies which has a wider cross section for more shoulder room and has a higher vertical top that will give us tall guys plenty of room. I am following the plans as close as I can. The original type canopy has a lip all around the edge and thus locks it self under the foam/fiberglass. Todds Canopy has a straight edge and needs some more attention to lock it into place. Lets see what happens when I attempt this task. 10/24/2007 6:22:27 PM - TURTLE BACK GLASSED - Here I glassed the Turtle Back to the Todd Canopy. 10/11/2007 9:20:32 AM - TURTLE BACK SHAPED - Last night I cut and sanded turtle back to contour. I lined up the canopy and the top cowling to get proper alignment. I will have to trim the canopy to make the trailing edge flush with the forward face of the turtle back. This will make the fiber glass flat and even when its applied 10/9/2007 8:53:09 AM - TURTLEBACK FOAM BUILDUP - I stacked some foam up and used 2 part liquid foam from Wicks Aircraft to glue them together. This stuff is great. You mix the 2 parts at 50/50 in a cup mix it quickly and within 2 minutes or so the liquid expands 6 times its volume. You can tell by the space between the foam how it expands. It sets up in about 20 minutes. Then you can cut and sand it to contour. Thats where I am now. Using my Todd's canopy and the top engine cowl I will make sure the the top line is symetrical. 10/1/2007 11:28:46 AM - FLEW IN A LONG EZ AT ROUGH RIVER - What a flight in Terry Lamp's beautiful Long EZ. It was a privledge to fly in Terry's plane. We flew around for about 25 minutes going through some cool turns and high speed passes just above the runway. Terry is an excellent pilot and a pleasant person to talk to. Thank you Terry!!!!! 9/11/2007 9:06:53 PM - INCIDENCE DRILLED AND EZ NUTS GLASSED - I glassed in EZ nuts after drilling holes to fit the AN-3 bolts. It was very EZ to install this mod. I made absolutely shore that the "incidence" was zero bubble on both sides using the templates. I used a digital level for accuracy. I picked one up at Harbour Freight for $100.00. I will post all the pictures of this mod on a webpage. 8/27/2007 8:55:18 AM - ENGINE - Yesterday I picked up a 13B-REW 3rd gen from a 1994 RX-7. All last week I have been working on the canard alignment for zero sweep, zero dihedral, and most importantly zero incidence. I am proud to report I have successfully acomplished that task. :) 1/16/2007 7:09:43 PM - INCIDENCE TABS GLASSED - Per plans the tabs were glassed on both sides and trimmed. Next step will be to use my canard templates and make the incidence "zero" then clamp the tabs in place and carefully drill the holes. I will attempt this tomorrow. 1/9/2007 10:40:13 AM - CANARD INCIDENCE TABS - It has been a while since I added content to my website. Found some new mods that I wanted to implement to my project. This is one of them. I decided to not use the "canard incidence pins" installed on the longeron doubler. My friend and fellow builder showed me a mod that is a lot stronger and makes it easier for canard removal. Here how it works...make a pad inward from the outer upper longeron along the forward side of the bulkhead about 5 inches or so. Add plys "per plans" of bid to the face of that pad. Then make to tabs that will fit over the pads. You will be using CN-2 inserts after drilling your holes on the bulkhead for the AN-3 bolts to fit through. This is after you get your incidenc to "0" using a digital level. Purchase EZ nuts for the AN-bolt and glass them to the forward side of the tabs. I will post pictures of this mod a long with the EZ nuts and part numbers. 10/12/2006 9:22:00 AM - CONTOURING NOSE - Stacked a bunch of foam on the front of the NG-31 bulk head. Found the center of the horizontal and the vertical axis using a laser and started to shape the nose like an F-15. This is my third try at getting the shape that I am looking for.