The Cozy Mark IV construction Project.
Don't expect well-edited writing, spelling, or web design on this page. The basic point of this web site is to document my Cozy Mark IV airplane project, share composite fiberglass techniques and homebuilt airplane techniques with others, and grow the site into a logbook of my building process. The author of this site has no training in web design- Constructive comments, criticism, and suggestions are welcome.
Getting started on building an airplane:
Building an airplane is something that I wanted to do this since I was in college, and over the years I had read everything about the process that I could get my hands on. For years, I considered it a project that I could not get started on until I had a large workshop area. I wish someone would have told me that I could buy the plans, get started on the smaller pieces, and eventually make the big pieces when I had a workshop. You need a 2-car garage sized space to finish building an airplane of this size, but you do not need that much space to get started.
Why make a web site?
I wanted to keep a builders log as I go about construction of the airplane. Not only did I want to keep a log, but I believe that it is a requirement. My hand-written would require a thousand words for every picture that I can put on a computer screen. So, my builder's log is electronic. Since it is available to other builders, hopefully others will decide to build a Cozy when they see how easy it is, and possibly other builders can make suggestions that I may find helpful.
Choosing the right airplane:
Some of the aircraft that really appealed to me in the past were
the Long EZ, the Berkut, the Lancair,
the Velocity RG, and a few others. Each had their advantages
and disadvantages. I own the plans for the Long EZ already, but it is only
two seats, and I would enjoy travels with my wife a lot more if she is up
front rather than in the back. The Cozy Mark IV offers two seats and room
for two small people or a ton of luggage! The Berkut is one hot plane, but
the kit manufacturer went out of business. (For a Berkut, we would deal with
the tandem seating.) The Lancair and Velocity are also kit planes, but I
discovered that kits are very very expensive and you have no guarantee that
the manufacturer will stay in business.
Not a Kit Aircraft, no reliance on a company:
Plans-built... That is the answer for me! The Cozy Mark IV, a 4-seat
derivative of its cousin, the two-seat Long EZ. There is no kit
to buy, and you can get stared with by simply buying the plans (two very
large books, and a pile of drawings and diagrams.) No need to put thousands
of dollars onto that credit card- read the plans, and buy the materials when
you have the time and money. "That's it, no kit, no manufacturer,
no complications, no giant prefabricated expense.... this is for me!" Once
you have the plans, you can buy the raw materials (foam, glass cloth, epoxy
resin, wood, wheels, tires, etc) from whomever supplies it and on a timeline
that meets your budget. The Cozy Mark IV sounded perfect... it is made of
composites, so I could build in my quiet residential area without disturbing
anyone with air-tools and rivets. There is no kit manufacturer to rely on.
The safety record is excellent. The group of other builders are very friendly,
helpful, and incredibly supportive of one another. There may not be a manufacturer
to get support from, but there are many experienced builders
always willing to answer questions. Most of all... for a 4-seat airplane,
these are really cool, fast, and fun flying machines.
No more reading about it I want to see a real Cozy Mark IV:
At
another fly-in about a year later, Doug Pitzer took me up for a very short
ride in the Cozy he built with his wife Patti. It took a week for the grin
to go away. He took a photo of me sitting in his plane before the ride,
and that photo sits in my shop as motivation to keep building.
Is there a lot of paperwork? Is this all legal?
Yes, the FAA recognizes amateur-built or home built aircraft within
its rules and will issue an airworthiness certificate to an airplane that
passes inspection by an authorized person. An experimental aircraft will
have a tail number (commonly called an N-number in the US) just like certified
aircraft. Other than that, as long as you have a pilot license, you take
your creation into the air. Getting the N-number was easy. Ask me about the
airworthiness certificate in a few years.
N57DD
I wanted to have an N-number with "DD" or "MD" in
it and I finally put in my request to the FAA. There was just
one N-number available with the format N##DD and that was only due to the
de-registration of the 30 passenger Shorts-330 aircraft #N57DD flown
by Command Airways. Command Airways was a regional carrier later
absorbed into American Eagle and then later Flagship Air. Command Airways
had several aircraft with the double-D tail numbers. N57DD was reported de-registered
and destroyed and therefore available. In March 2007, a letter
arrived from the FAA telling me that my requested tail number has been granted.
I hope that destroyed really means dismantled- I don't want a tail number
with any bad juju associated with it. :)
Building the airplane
As far as building this aircraft is concerned, It took me a long time to get started with even organizing and arranging a workspace, tooling up with a table, cloth box, and epoxy hot-box to house my epoxy pump. Like many other builders, I had some idea in my head that I needed some fancy table to get started. I got over it, moved on, started building and finally, completed the first section- aircraft bulkheads. Later, I lost my enthusiasm for weekends with the airplane project as far more important things like work, business travel, and the most important thing- family occupied my time.
What is a Cozy Mark IV and where can I get plans?
The Cozy Mark IV is a rear-engine, composite-construction, four-passenger, high speed sport-cruiser that can fly at speeds over 200 miles/hour with good fuel economy. It has a nonstop flight range of over 1000 miles.
It looks a little different than the typical light aircraft you might see. The engine is in the back and a funny little wing (called a canard) is up front. The first canard-type aircraft ever flown was the one made famous by the Wright brothers. The Cozy, designed by Nat Puffer in Arizona, is a derivative of the Burt Rutan, Long EZ. Nat wrote up the modified plans and went to market selling them in two big books just like Burt Rutan did with the Long EZ. Later, Nat Puffer went into semi-retirement from involvement in the Cozy Mark IV and sold the rights to the plans to Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Corporation, a catalog retailer of aviation goods.
When you get started on a project like this, all you get are two big books and the important drawings. There is no kit. There are no parts that you bolt together. Every part is fabricated from raw materials. In this case, the raw materials are sheets of foam, rolls of glass cloth, and gallons of epoxy resin. Want to buy plans? You can order them online via Aircraft Spruce.
How far along am I on the project?
The major bulkheads are complete, the fuselage sides are done, and I am now slowly working on parts of Chapter 6- Fuselage Assembly. In two months or so, I should be done with the fuselage assembly and will move on to work on the fuselage exterior, engine intake cooling scoop, landing brake system, and other exterior details.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via the link at the top of the page.
Some time after the bulkheads were done, my wife Magda (call sign Magpie) and
I had to set them up and take them for a spin. It was more fun to get inside
a partially completed fuselage and imagine the trips we would take together.
We even donned our aviation caps and headsets for the photo.
At the end of March, 2007, my neighbor (Ed, the Tiki Man) assisted me with the airplane's first roll maneuver and unusual attitude recovery, and Cozy N57DD was right-side-up for the first time. Magda and I just had to climb aboard to take that "first flight."