Ch 10 Canard

Vortilons and Wing Fences Installed (post paint)

Date:  10-10-2021
Number of Hours:  3
Manual Reference:  no ref

The Vortilons and Wing fences were painted separately and now the plane is white they need to be installed.

I used quality 5 mt epoxy with a little micro to thicken it.

After laying out the positions and checking 3 or four times I got to work.

Given its an awkward spot to clamp, I just held each of the six pieces in place one by one until they cured.

Now it looks like a Long-EZ wing that has a Roncz canard up front.

The fences were a bit easier to glue in place as they stay put.

Lots of checking of angles here as you can’t really tell by eye if they are right. I had to trust the numbers.

I’m sure this will make transport more difficult when I have to truck the build to a remote location for testing.

Another small but necessary job done.

Elevator Balance

Date:  09-11-2021
Number of Hours:  2
Manual Reference:  10

The elevators must be balanced to prevent flutter below VNE and then some. Of course where VNE is will come down to flight testing. The plans have it at 190knots. I’m going to need it higher so I’d better get my ducks in a row before testing.

I had previously build a couple of knife edges for this balance test. There are instructions from Mike Melvill on balancing the elevators for the Roncz canard which is a little different from the GU canard in the plans.

You can see with the pin and hardware installed its all good.

Here’s how it goes. Interestingly the other side was much more positive so its good to see this one still in balance. In short we want the trailing edge up and the leading edge down. It end s up that way meaning the weight is forward of the elevator pivot point.

This is unedited but maybe I should have more videos on this site to reduce your boredom?

 

Vortilons

Date:  08-01-2020
Number of Hours:  32
Manual Reference:  10_1 Roncz Plans

The 737-800 has three Vortilons per wing, so why wouldn’t my Long-EZ?

When the original GU canard was updated with the ‘Roncz’,  this new canard created more lift. My understanding is that this narrowed the gap between when the main wing stalled after the canard stall. To increase this gap and retain a very safe flying quality of the aircraft, the main wing efficiency was improved with these little ‘fences’.

I am making them now so that they can be painted separately and then installed after the main wings are painted. This way if they ever need to be removed, say if one was damaged, its not a repaint of the wing.

You can always tell a Long-EZ owner at the beach, that will be the person with the deep scars in their back from bumping into these things while working on the plane. This is a vortilon on my flying Long-EZ. I’m sure DNA testing on the very worn tips would detail the previous three owners …and myself.

We start with 4 plies of BID at the usual 45 degree bias.

Fortunately my flying plane came with the Roncz canard plans in full size. On that plane it originally had a GU canard and the builder made another one as the upgrade came sometime after 1980. He had #74 plans so it was pretty early on.

I just did a copy on my printer, cut them out and glued them onto the cured glass ready to cut out. Easy.

Here we are cut out. I was a bit disappointed that the center line was not drawn in on the plans. I had a go on my own. This is meant to line up with the longerons. The metal piece is a template that gets you the correct angle for installation. I used some scrape aluminium.

Their position on the wing is fortunately given as a measurement along the leading edge and very easy to set up per plans.

Oh boy, another exercise in herding cats. How are you meant to line everything up, hold it all in place and glass the things on? I got the wing set at zero degrees by realizing the winglets are at 60 degrees and so very easy to rig level.

I had this idea of hot gluing the above little blue level to the centerline I’d made. Good idea but if the line is a fraction out then the bubble is WAY out, and I was really only eyeballing that line.

My process was to get that vortilon hot glued in place on one side and then glass the other. After cure I could carefully remove the glue and then do the opposite side.

Haaaa but where is that jig going? I decided it needed to be right on the center of pressure of the wing (leading edge) and parallel to it as best I could make it. Otherwise the gap you see above would not be consistent and wouldn’t have my 67 degrees.

Each side gets a two ply layup to connect it. We just need .4″ on the sides for attachment.

Once both sides are done its fun and games getting the thing off! Yes I used the usual grey release duct tape. As the nose wraps a little it is not as simple as you’d think.

After a bit I understood that the main thing is the angle to the wing. The angle of the vortilon relative to the longerons is perhaps less critical and maybe thats why it was not drawn in on the plans. It turns out if you have profiled your wings correctly and made the vortilons to plans they tend to sit in the right place anyway.

I got less anal about the waterline and found that if I used a mixing stick I would get the vortilon nice and straight. I’d made one that ended up with a bend so got to do another. <sigh>

Without the bubble level I could do three at once instead on one at a time. Much more efficient.

Now here’s a tip. When you make the two sets there is a left and right of course. They are not the same. You need to ensure that the 67 degree jig tool is on the correct side when you are setting them up. They can go either side on both wings!

So you might consider which way the vortilon is pointing when you make them. Otherwise you might have to make an extra set! That is all I’m saying on the matter, I make no admissions.

Here we have one of the six cleaned up and almost ready for paint.

 

Canard Ice Shields Ver2

Date:  07-19-2020
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  10

I’m not even sure where this is in the plans but I do know an ice shield for the canard counterweights is needed. Without it the canard could freeze in position if I ever get stuck in where ice forms and can’t get out. Sure the whole plane will freeze eventually! I understand those counterweights would be first to go so it is prudent to add the shields and delay a possible issue.

As I have a flying Long-EZ with these I went out and took a couple of pics.

It looks like the idea is that you direct all that icy cold air over the counterweights so it can’t get in easily and freeze them in place. The 1″ height allows the counterweights at full elevator deflection to be shielded, but why the stumpy design?

Here we are on my new build canard and I’ve sanded a block of foam to the bottom contour.

Now I’ve sanded to a more aerodynamic shape and a little longer. I bit like half a blue carrot?

I used two ply of BID and held the edges down with taped sticks to get a crisp edge.

Functionally similar to the first example but more streamlined.

Yes I do have my bare sanded canard and wings in thick plastic. Its getting cold here and moisture condenses on the hangar roof interior girders and it then rains a little inside right over my build some mornings!

I’ve sanded them but left the blue foam core inside for now. I’ll remove that when its time to silicone them in place after the canard is painted. I might trim the edges a bit more too.

I’ve got these done now so they can painted easily at the same time as other things rather than a separate job much later..

Rear of the Canard Nose Reinforcement

Date:  12-09-2017
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  18-1

My rear of canard hatch area needed to first be installed from underneath and at the sides. I’d made this piece ages ago and now its finally time for a permanent install. This sets the height of the Instrument panel and gives me a platform for where the canopy will ends up.

Yes its a bit convoluted to talk about. I’m just securing the underside of a cover. I’ll do the outside later. Three days part time work in my usual slow manner.

First job was to make a foam fillet to join the top to the longerons Here’s how it looked to start with the hatch pins locking it all together. All I have at the sides are a couple of plies of glass sitting in mid air at this stage.

First up I closed off the sides with duct tape. Gaffer would have been better as it leaked a little later on.

Here’s the inside treatment where I have hot glued some aluminium angle and have more duct tape with the idea of making a sort of dam for the pour foam.

Yes, pour foam! The trouble is that I wasn’t pouring it out. I needed it to go sideways and upside down. In the end I made very small batches of about 20 grams, mixed like crazy and waited for just the right moment when it was beginning to thicken up. Then I had less than 1 minute to slap it on. I did more than 20 batches a side. You can see the beautiful results below.

I used my cordless vibration cutter to do most of the trimming and about 2 hours per side had it pretty good. This shot is just one side getting close to being done. I really wanted good solid contact here so this method worked rather than trying to make a perfect fitting piece from a block of foam and then glue that in. This pour foam is quite dense too which I like for extra strength here.

There were a few cavities that needed filling which I did with the quick set West epoxy and micro using a really dry batch. I filled in at the front section as well over the top of F28 where I’d previously made a fill piece.

Here we are all cleaned up and ready for glassing after a bit of sanding and the usual prep work.

I used the ‘foil method’ with pieces down both sides overlapping the top 1.2″ and then a piece at the front lapping F28 and the top piece. I also added a 2″ X 2″ to both corners to further tie it all as one. All glass was 2 ply of BID at 45 degree bias.

I peel plied the edges and left it until the next day to cure.

 

 

Canard Hangar Position Fix 2

Date:  06-05-2016
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  Roncz B or C

Pic 1 shows that I now have the hangar in position and I’m floxing it in place. I had to install the elevator pins. Wow are they tight and tricky to install. I’ll be doing that job as infrequently as possible. It was necessary to ensure the hangars were in the right spots and I set them up with full up elevator travel which worked out.

Pic 2 shows after cure that its all tidy again. Those hangars are really overkill in the attachment area. Boy are they strong once floxed in place.

The elevator pins are such a pain that I use long 3/16″ drill bits for temporary install checking as you see in pic 3.

Note that the offset part of the fitting is right in the fuselage side as it should be. It wasn’t 4 days ago… Also note that the counter weight is clear of the fuselage side. I moved the fitting inboard about 0.2″ from plans. I just wanted more clearance so there is no chance of these weights hitting the sides. Plans position has it VERY close.

Well that hurt, but its done now so we move on. Good.

Floxing the hangar

All cleaned up

Rotation area and weight clear

 

Canard Hangar Position Fix 1

Date:  06-04-2016
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  Roncz B or C

Opps. When I went to cut out the fuselage sides for the elevator tubes I eventually noticed that the rotation part of the tubes was in the wrong place. I had moved the plans position for these Cozy fittings thinking that this way I could hide the bolts where the tube is connected to the elevators.

Wow I got that wrong!! …and it took 4 days full time to fix. I’ve done this in two log entries and under stated the hours at 5 per day HA!

The inboard elevator hangars had to be removed, the elevator tubes shortened and the hangars re installed. Pic 1 shows that I’ve clamped a heavy duty soldering iron to a hangar and once it was pretty hot, I dug out some flox around it and after a while got the hangar out without damaging anything.

Pic two shows I’ve filled up the old slots with micro. The new hard points are microed in per plans. Oh and I alodined the hangars to reduce corrosion and increase adhesion to the flox.

Pic 3 has a couple of plies of BID over the top as this step is usually done before skinning the bottom of the canard.

Removed a hangar

New hard points

Cleaned up and BID covering

 

Canard Clean Up

Date:  11-24-2014
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  10-10 (Roncz)

Today was a clean up. The canard had cured for a few days and I had an aviation safety seminar on the weekend. Nice timing as I was tempted to push on.

I carefully removed all the jigs and spent a long time getting every spec of bondo off the glass. I’ve heard it can cause problems in finishes later so it was grind, chisel and scotbrite to remove it all. I made the TE straight getting the chord from the templates. I think I’ve left it about 0.10″ longer just so I have some play if I need it later. Its very easy to sand with the 2′ long permagrit block.

The last pic shows that I’m close to profile. I’ll certainly need some filler, especially on the bottom but we are within range without too much change. The cove seems a little out to the template which is interesting as this was from the CNC cores and untouched by me. I put all the dings in other places…

Final weigh in was 19lbs. Mike Melvill’s was 17lbs. I put this down to the extra weight or density of the spar cap material I’ve used. A strength increase and I went for the top profile in UNI rather than filler as I said in a previous log entry. Happy with 19lbs… the glass work is good and certainly not wet, no air I can see either. I have a lot of confidence in the canard we have made here. I say we as I had help from Michael in most of the layups and Darren and Jeff for a couple. I guess the drinks are on me for life.

Bondo and jig removal time

Straight TE

Close to profile

 

Canard Top Skin

Date:  11-21-2014
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  10-10 (Roncz)

What a nice layup the top and bottom skins are on the canard. Its a huge amount of preparation as usual yet not too long to get it done on the day. Again working with Michael and it goes well with a real quality builder putting in. So just the top skin today to finish off this part of the canard build.

Its one ply of UNI, one of BID and then another two of UNI. First up is the slurry for the blue foam. Funny stuff as the open cells tend to fill and then pin holes emerge, then you fill again with the squeegee pretty active. We gave it a rest and then on with the first ply.

No problems getting fibers really straight. We rolled it out as you see in the first pic and then pulled from the ends per plans. It works! The glass is cut oversized and then contained with masking tape at the edges. I wrapped the cloth in plastic conduit and this is great for rolling it out on the job. You can see in pic 2 it really looks good wetted out. I still find BID a bit of a challenge to get straight at the 45’s in both directions but UNI, aaahhh thats nice stuff.

The last pic shows us all done and I have some plastic tape covered aluminium strips to keep the trailing edge straight. I’m using cheapo mini clamps and really low force on each as if you were holding them with a couple of fingers. I just want to ensure the layup stays down and doesn’t curl, no more than that.

After a couple of days curing, it will be a big clean up of the leading edge with the canard out of the jigs. Then a tidy up of the trailing edge and next its the elevators Wow! The big off site assembly for next year is getting a little closer.

BID roll out

Love those straight fibers

Top skin done

 

Canard Top Skin Prep 3

Date:  11-19-2014
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  10-9 (Roncz Plans)

I think this took most of the week. After we did the spar cap very slightly oversized it remained to get it close to the final profile before skinning. My idea is to have as much structural material as fits and to minimize the micro fill later. The top skin also needs to be at or just below the profile shape, under no circumstances above it..

All this meant was a LOT of sanding. I knocked off the edges with the vibrational sander using mylar stripes taped to the edges as a guard. This time I was careful not to crush the soft blue foam with the sander. After that I removed the protection and just went by eye.

….and that was a couple of days work.Then it became even more careful work and I got a bit tired of all the noise and out came the permagrit tools. It was really a bit quicker with them and another 4 hours or so today had me at a pretty good place profile wise.

The glass is already cut and I’ll do final prep tomorrow, write out one of my layup schedules with all the steps and get it locked in my mind. I check I have enough micro and epoxy and clean the work area again, recheck that the canard is straight…last chance.., recheck the plans a couple of times again, lay out the glass, check that the pieces are numbered, empty the bin, get the mixing sticks trimmed, get the rollers out… and so on and on.

Friday we do the top skin!

Ready to sand and profile

Time and care

Profile good to go

 

Canard Top Spar Cap

Date:  11-14-2014
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  10-9 (Roncz Plans)

Big layup. It took a lot longer than expected too. I had Michael again to work with, just impossible to do on my own both time wise, getting fibers straight and its more enjoyable with two of us. Together we work to a pretty high standard.

The fibers are pulled straight one at a time and half the length at a time for the longer pieces. There are 31 and each gets straightened after the cross threads and key thread are removed. Pic one shows the wetting out. The main tool is the squeegee. We didn’t use a brush except for wetting out the shear web before ply 1. I’m very confident we have no air and a minimum of excess epoxy. Despite the 26-28C room temp the little hair dryer got a small amount of use too.

OK. I made the decision to fill the trough per plans…. Thats the Roncz plans BTW even though in this log I put the GU page numbers in as a ref. …Not just to the edges, but to the profile which is rounded on top. If the intention of the designer was the option of skinning while the cap was still wet then it would need to be like this or a lot of filler later if the top was flat. The bottom was certainly less rounded than this side so that viewpoint would not have been an issue!

My approach is the fill to the profile or just proud and then sand back to the exact profile after cure and then skin. More work, sure. It turned out to be a lot more plies too. Final weight will be interesting.

14 plies were 108″ X 3 (full length), 105″, 97″, 90″, 81″, 70″, 60″, 45″, 30″ 16″, 10″, 5″ Too much? I was thinking around 9 would do it, but not with the profiles curve. Perhaps I’ve added a pound doing it this way. We will see. I’m happy with maximum strength in this critical area.

WOW thats it for spar caps. The last of EIGHT in the whole build! A mini milestone. Yeah OK… back to work…

Wetting out straigh fibers

Green is good

The last cap of the build DONE!

 

Canard Hinge Hard Points

Date:  11-10-2014
Number of Hours:  10
Manual Reference:  10-9

Today was just the six 100H Divinycell hardpoints made and installed. I spent a few hours yesterday with the torque tubes checking and rechecking that I had the hardpoint locations 100% correct. Yes they do match with the correct B.L. and line up with the elevator hinge locations.

I started out routing and filing the first of the six slots. These go all the way to the bottom skin. I’d looked at numerous websites and quizzed another builder, Wade Parton, who is making a great EZ and has a website I often visit for help. http://www.longezpush.com/the-build/by-chapter/ As he did, I made a mock-up insert out of blue foam. The real ones are that yellow H100 stuff in the first pic and I made them very accurately, unlike my mock up, and had each of them just a nice fit with a tiny bit of wiggle room for the micro.

When I was happy with them all as in pic 2, I trimmed each piece to just about the surface on my bandsaw and then mixed some slurry. The bandsaw was great for cutting out the shapes too. I coated the insides of the slots where there was no foam with pure epoxy and the rest a thick slurry. Then I coated the insert pieces first with pure epoxy as there are really no cells to fill and then more slurry. I’d marked where they sit dry so I could ensure they would seat correctly with the micro in place.

I’ve left to tops slightly proud and when cured I’ll very carefully trim down to the profile. Yes I could have gone below the surface and just filled with micro, easier, but hey I’m trying to keep up the standard even when no one will see all this later. That’s not the point. …..ahh yes and this took from morning until about 5pm.

Careful slots

Trial fit

All six are microed in place