My Long-EZ build moved under its own power for the first time, November 1st 2024. It has been 12 years and 11 months since this marathon began and over 16,000 hours of logged build time.

We had finally found the cause of the latest engine problem which was the fuel mapping and with a little difficulty the engine started.

Here’s a link on my YouTube channel with slightly better resolution.

Since then I’ve done 4 runs in total of around 18 minutes each. The steering was quite stiff which was a concern but that only needed some lubrication on the nose gear and now it really turns well and feels much better in the taxi. It is extremely sensitive so I need to be on my game on the runway.

I also found that with about 2mm off the nose gear cover and one AN size shorter bolt down there with a washer removed I can now rotate the nose wheel 360 degrees on the ground. This makes pushing it backwards where the nose must rotate 180 degrees much easier.

The cowls are not on yet so that will effect the temperatures in a negative way. We are starting on a cut and shut for the exhaust pipes today. The ends are too near the top cowl for my liking and I have found a gun welder to do the job.

The temperatures hasn’t reach maximum at low RPM after 20 minutes so that’s going in the right direction. However the Delta T is only 6 degrees. I need this higher. That’s the difference between the coolant temp from the engine and then measured after the radiators before it returns to the engine.

The only control I have with the Coolant temperatures in the cockpit is a switch to turn on the second water pump. This is why I will try setting the fans a bit lower for when they cut in. Mind you, we have no airflow over the radiators really at taxi speeds so its just when the fans cut in and I don’t know how effective they are yet.

There is an issue with the rudders not returning to fully closed. This is easily fixed by pulling the pedals forwards in the cockpit with my feet. The problem is that the angle from the pedals to the cable run is too severe to allow the rudder springs to pull back into line. It is likely that the airflow in flight will fix this but I will have a look at dealing with the angle involved. Its a bit of work and would need a new bracket on the pedals a bit higher and perfectly set up so I don’t have to alter the cable length. I wish I’d picked this up earlier, I thought it was paint too thick on the rudders preventing full closure. At least I know exactly what’s going on now.

There is also an issue with the fuel level electronics giving a false indication, so that’s another one. I need to adjust the squelch levels in software too. Its always open which is really annoying! That needs a borrowed laptop unfortunately. My old one is pretty much toast.