Stagger EZ N909EZ 

 by Steve Wright  updated 2/11/07

Origin & History

In the late ‘70s, I built a “to the plans” Varieze which first flew in 1982. I flew the EZE over 1000 hours which included 6 flights into the BAHAMAS and 11 trips to Oshkosh and Sun & Fun, then sold it. I have had the pleasure of flight testing several different Long EZEs, Variezes and Cozys over the past 7 years.  Combining that with my Varieze flying time, I have logged over 1500 hours of “canard” time. Enough time to evaluate what I personally felt were the strong and weak points of the designs.

I wanted to build a canard aircraft having what I felt were the great design features found in the Cozy but with enhanced features that I wanted in the design. These features are as follows:

Extremely comfortable seating arrangement- 

I staggered the seats and made the fuselage 42" wide -  which creates a very open and roomy cabin feel. The custom- blown oversized canopy provides outstanding  visibility. While the aircraft is in a steep turn you can see UP - into the turn or around to the rear to see traffic. The staggered seats allow the pilot to see to the right without visual interference of the right seat passenger as the right seat is 13" behind the left seat. The pilot and right seat passenger do not touch shoulders yet they are seated so that they both can look at each other, point out traffic straight ahead, reach over and "touch each other" and have that “warm and fuzzy” feeling you get sitting beside rather than behind each other. The staggered seats allow easy entry to the back seat as the back seat passenger can step between the seats as he gets in or out. This arrangement also improves CG configuration, as two heavy weights are not on the same forward fuselage station.  The back seat passenger is positioned so that he can see, touch and speak to the right seater as easily as the right seater can the pilot. The cockpit is large enough so that (if the occupants are “normal” sized and can squirm some) the occupants can get up and trade seats in flight with each other.  It is a very comfortable and roomy 3 place aircraft with a large baggage compartment where the right rear seat would be located in a “4-seat” aircraft. The relocated main gear and off-center nose gear allows for more storage area for baggage.

The results of the cabin seating arrangement can be seen in the following weight and balance data. Carefully study the top view drawing before you compare these numbers with a Cozy or Long EZ W&B. Since this W&B I have tested the right seat to 245 pounds and can now safely operate at that seat weight.

Controls

The control system is almost an exact copy of the Long EZ. The control stick is in the center and the right seat passengers stick is 13 inches directly behind the pilot’s stick and is controlled by the right seater’s left hand. The right seater does not have rudder control. All control systems are on ball bearing for smooth operation.

 Canopy

The custom blown canopy was created by the Airplane Plastics Factory in a custom mold. It is 1/4” thick and is 20% higher than a Cozy canopy. It is electrically operated and opens up and back similar to military jets.

EFIS

Probably one of the most revolutionary changes in engine and flight instruments in the history of experimental aircraft development is the creation of the EFIS One by Greg Rictor. This system is a giant leap in enhancing ease and safety of flight. Details of this can be found at http://bluemountainavionics.com/. I have a back up system utilizing the EFIS Lite that is displayed on the EFIS web page. I hope to upgrade to the new EFIS-1 Generation 4 by next spring.

Increased Roll Rate

I had always enjoyed the way the Varieze handled in roll. Very light with a crisp roll rate. I wanted to have that in this design. The Rain canard with Dihedral was developed by John Ronce to improve main wing and aileron performance by keeping the vortex of the canard above the top of the wing. According to flight testing performed by Cozy expert Vance Atkinson of Ft. Worth TX, the dihedral has improved the roll rate by increasing aileron authority. 

EZE entry and exit with Nose Lift and Electric Canopy

This was accomplished by using the electric NOSE-LIFT which is a must for those of us with less than perfect backs who prefers not to or can’t lift that heavy nose prior to flight. When the plane is parked on the nose, the flip of a switch lifts the plane- fully loaded with people and fuel from the nose down position. I began manufacturing the NOSE-LIFT Kit in December of ‘96, and have shipped over 260 kits to EZ owners and  builders all over the world. It installs easily and works great. (details can be see on http://www.wrightaircraft.com). The canopy opens up-and-back similar to most military aircraft. With the canopy open in this manner, the pilot and  passenger can get in out of the plane from both sides at the same time.  A Warner Electrak 1 actuator provides the power to open and close the canopy. When closed the actuator acts as a safety lock holding the  canopy security closed.

Operate from sod runways

Some of the most fun places to fly to are grass strips. The hazard of a pusher aircraft takeoff from any runway other than smooth clean hard surface is the main wheels picking up and throwing small rocks and debris into the prop and the longer and much higher speed takeoff run resulting from the heavy canard & “wing” loading. My solution to this is to move the main gear outboard of the prop arc far enough so that debris picked up by the main  wheels will miss the prop. The aircraft will “sit” at a +1.5 degree angle on the ground which should allow for a “shorter” takeoff roll as the EZ is being pushed down the runway by 190 HP. The main gear is mounted on its own structure in front of the wing spar and is very strong (an x-carrier pilot / Aero engineer helped me design it).

Offset Nose Gear

This feature works in conjunction with the staggered seats. The nose gear is mounted 5 inches to the right of centerline. The nose wheel retracts up rearward into the right side of the nose of the plane. This gets the nose gear out of the way of the pilot. The right seater’s feet rest directly below the instrument panel and behind the large Cozy MK-4  nose wheel. 

Single Point fueling

The main fuel tank on either side of the fuselage will be filled from one single point. The fuel transfers across the fuselage through a central sump as fast as the fuel can be pumped. A spring loaded “trap door” system allows the fuel to transfer to the tank on the opposite side of the filler cap and prevents fuel from sloshing from one tank to the other, or out of the sump area. The single gas cap reduces the chance of flying with a loose or missing cap by 50% and if the cap comes off in flight it is retained by a cable.

Test flight results

The plane was test flow in the fall of 2003. It flew very well but the cooling system design resulted in CHTs of 500 degrees F. I have completely re-designed the engine cooling from down-draft to up- draft using "arm pit" inlets of 7 square inches each. My fuselage has a pronounced curve at its midpoint so with the down draft cooling the inlets were far to deep into the boundary layer to pressurize the plenum over the engine. The up-draft is working very well with CHTs in the 340 to 380 degree range. As of December of 2006 I have 350 hours flying time and am pleased with the overall performance. The high oil temps that plagued me for 3 years was reduced with the relocation of the oil cooler to the back baffle. I have rebuilt my top and bottom cowl for the second time to accommodate the new oil cooler location on the back baffle.