pssst....wanna buy a plane?

[Simon]

eBay.co.uk: Rutan Long Ez unfinished project (item 280108046078 end time 30-Apr-07 21:59:29 BST)

[I LOVE GT40- Paolo]

that little needs really brave pilots...

[FRPGUY]

I have one of those sitting in my back yard!

[Chris Melia]

Hi Guys

Looking at this web site it looks like a good way to kill yourself.

EZ Squadron

I think I would rather go on the ground?

Chris.

[RussellBjerklie]

Not really a plane, looks more like a glider, You tow it behing a plane then let it go once you reach elevation, In a way much more dangerous than a plane, if something goes wrong, No way to pull up!!!!

[Jac Mac]

Nice little A/C, pusher prop, only disadvantage is it needs fairly long smooth runways, they dont tend to stall like 'normal' aircraft, just develop a high rate of sink.

Jac Mac

[David Morton]

Quite good speeds but need a bit of thought when slowing on approach. Flare attitude needs either a continuous curved approach or Kaysan manouver. IMHO. Jac sums it up - definitely not for a grass strip.

[FRPGUY]

That's exactly what happened to the Long-EZ I have. The previous owner ran out of fuel landing in a field of tall grass resulting in tearing the landing gear off, tearing up the bottom and breaking the prop. It's all back together, but I think I would like to donate it to a museum. It has some interesting history, too long to go into here.
I flown one, and it was like flying a jet fighter. The visibility out of the canopy was amazing. It's a fast plane! No stall, just sink! It's like sitting in a formula car that flys.

[Scott Calabro]

Hey All,

As a professional A&P - IA, I always watch in amazment of people who build composite A/C, then actually get in them and go flying. Not for me its aluminum or nothing. Leave the plastic to the professionals ! I helped build a Swearingen SX 300 in the 80's. Now that was some homebuilt !!!
Make sure your wills are up to date !!!

Regards,
Scott

[Jim c]

Looks like something John Denver would fly.

[Mark Worthington]

Sheesh, you guys are making it sound like Long-EZs are angels of death. THere are lots of EZs out there, and I've read some cool articles in Sport Aviation about EZ owners who have taken trips around the world and to distant locations, like the geomagnetic north pole. They're a great little airplane, if built, maintained and operated as they should be.

The real deathtraps are the experimental aircraft that cruise at 300+ knots. I was at Pompano a number of years ago where my Dad kept his Mooney. I met and chatted with a couple real nice guys who were building an airplane that I used to drool over, a Stewart #-51 Mustang, which is an all-aluminum approx. 3/4 scale replica of a P-51 Mustang. It was powered by a geared BBC. Anyway, I heard later that those guys finished that airplane and that it had less than 100 hours on it when it crashed and killed its pilot. I've also heard of a couple other S-51 Mustangs that have gone down, as well as a lot of low-hour pilots who step into a 300-knot Glassair or Lancair and promptly kill themselves.

[David Morton]

Pilots don't usually kill themselves. It's invariably /usually the ground that does it. Its a matter of how you arrange your arrival.
500 - 1000 hours seems to be the danger period for many pilots. I think EZ ownership is something to be taken quite seriously as there are
a few things to consider but if I was into light aeroplanes I would probably
have had one. My only aeroplane ownership was the C 177RG which was reasonably OK - within it's limitations !

[wanni]

Hi Dave,
check MODENA AVIO ENGINES . My friend Paolo is developping this engine 3 cyl V of 120°.
2.3 L and 170 HP twin spark and twin inition.
If you want to build a sper light with some power, it is probably the right choice.
Ciao
Wanni

[Ross Nicol]

Originally Posted by David Morton

Pilots don't usually kill themselves. It's invariably /usually the ground that does it. Its a matter of how you arrange your arrival.

Dave I got a belly laugh over the latter part of this statement. I have to admit I know nothing about planes but have learnt a bit from this thread about risky home built units. I'll stick to cars where I'm already on the ground and don't have to arrange my arrival.
Ross

[FRPGUY]

Hey Mark W, I could be wrong, but I think one of the owners of Factory Five Racing ( Mark Smith ) is building a S-P51 and he's a new pilot.
I like the Low and slow flying!
Dave, I've heard that all my life!
Scott, I'm with you! As an ex USAF sheet metal mech. I'll stick with aluminum airplanes!

[Mark Worthington]

I hope Mr. Smith has a good life insurance policy, Bill! I love the S-51 and there can even be some good deals had on partially built kits, owing to the high level of fabrication required to complete one (Stewart is long gone as are all the spares and missing parts).

I can appreciate the thrill and lure of a fast composite aircraft. My first trip to Oshkosh about 12 years ago I remember driving on a Wisconsin state highway, maybe 40 miles from the airport, when I saw something coming up low and fast in my rear view mirror. It was a Glassair about 200 feet off the deck right over the median strip and it was absolutely hauling ass. When it passed me it disappeared over the horizon in just a few seconds. Extremely impressive. Unfortunately, it takes a LOT of money and time to complete an aircraft that is that capable and they can be a handfull even in the hands of experienced pilots.

Me? Some day I'm going to buy an old Aeronca 7AC Champ like the one my Dad owned and I learned how to fly in. Fabric covering, no electrical or vacuum systems, a handful of operable instruments, hand-crank 65-hp engine, 4.6 gph burn rate, and a stately 86 mph cruise speed. Some of the best memories of my life were in that airplane. Lifting off into the misty dawn of a lazy summer morning, or flying around puffy cumulus clouds, or chasing geese in the fall, or landing on a sod field to grab a hamburger with some fellow low-and-slow types. That is what flying is all about to me.

[Scott Calabro]

Hey Gents,

Good points all !!

The Stallion 51 is bitchin' especially when powered by a Ryan Falconer V12, and most people I come in contact with end up getting in over their capabilities as a pilot, on fast homebuilts. In General aviation the equivilent money spent on a complete & finished '40 kit can get you 300mph.

Mark I always wanted an Aeronca Champ, like FRPGUY says low & slow !!

When I worked on light A/C early in my career I had the most fun, but made a lousy 8 bucks an hour.

Anybody who lives near BDL is welcome to come to my Hangar and see some beautiful Falcon 900's & 2000's. I have to wrench these to make a decent living, but if it were up to me I'd turn wrenches on round or liquid cooled V types in a heartbeat.

Best,
Scott

[David Morton]

Mark,
How evocative.
Unfortunately for me, I didn't enjoy any of those sort of wonderful moments. It was all wham, bamm, your posted, this is what your working on, this is what you have to do, welcome to the cold war. Light aeroplanes came much later on though they were really a means to an end as I used the c177 for commuting and occasional weekends away. It could achieve 5 hours on airways with 4 people and luggage, but no reserves so it was quite a useful machine.
In answer to the 'aluminium protagonists', lots of parts on the B777 and even quite a few on the B747-400 are composites and I guess Airbus is much the same.
But, when all said and done, yes I would buy a plane but it would be a carbon Cap10 or an Extra. I don't want to go anywhere in it - I just to want to clear the cobwebs.








p.s. Low and slow means being bold. Instead, I'm old.

[Pete.]

Mark,
I spent a lot of dawn hours waiting for the sun to burn the mist away so I could take off. Most of my flying was done in Piper Cherokee's but,
My very favourite aircraft I had a rating on....The Tiger Moth.