Construction of a Long-EZ Aircraft

Congratulations! You executed a perfect landing on my build pages.

Select the subject/chapter that you are interested in and I'll tell you what I did when I built mine.

My aircraft is not a pure plans built Long-EZ. There have been many new features that have been added or improved upon when it comes to the evolution of the design.

After the Long-EZ plans were withdrawn from the market, other evolutionary aircraft surfaced which leveraged off of the original design. As a result, many new features found their way into the aircraft.

The original Long-EZ was a designed as a viable and efficient cross country aircraft. The common remark is 'every time you see a Long-EZ, it seems as though they are 1000 miles from home.' They were very Spartan, light and handled great.

Next in line was the Berkut, a slightly longer (by 12 inches) version of the Long-EZ but hosting a lot of new features. More exotic materials were used (such as carbon fiber) and the 540 version was exceeding 250 kts. The most distinctive feature of the Berkut was the signature F-4 style split canopy. There is no mistaking it as it taxies down the ramp.

Many of the features that made the Berkut stand out:

Carbon fiber spar caps on the canard and main wing.
Carbon fiber center section spar.
Carbon fiber wing skins.
Thigh support sump tank.
Retractable main landing gear.
Heated pitot tube.
Actuator deployment of the nose gear.
Actuator deployment of the landing brake.

The list goes on. One of the most impressive features of the Berkut was the 99 pages of pristine drawings that visually walked you through each step of the construction. The downside was the hefty price tag of roughly $44,000 for the kit ..... before engine and avionics.

Another follow on is the eRacer, Cozy, AeroCanard and Velocity offerings. The Velocity is offered as a kit while the other three are plans built which have some prefabricated parts available.

As it stands right now, I am incorporating many of the advanced features offered by designers, into my project. Many of these will never be visible to the observer but will greatly enhance the structural integrity of the design.

Some of the changes will be fairly obvious.

Longer nose (an additional 12 inches.)
Berkut style split canopy.
Blended Winglets (these added 10-12 knots on Jack Morrison's eRacer.)
Infinity retractable landing gear (great ground handling plus another 10 kts.)
Mazda Rotary power plant (you'll know it when you hear it.)

Some of the less obvious features include:

Custom Glass Cockpit.
Carbon Fiber wings and spars.
Thigh support Fuel Sump tank.
Auxillary reserve tank. Engine coolant source cabin heat.

Well ....... bottom line, I need to get back to my airplane if I'm going to get this bird off the ground.


Build Pages	Congratulations! You executed a perfect landing on my build pages. Select the subject/chapter that you are interested in and I'll tell you what I did when I built mine. My aircraft is not a pure plans built Long-EZ. There have been many new features that have been added or improved upon when it comes to the evolution of the design. After the Long-EZ plans were withdrawn from the market, other evolutionary aircraft surfaced which leveraged off of the original design. As a result, many new features found their way into the aircraft. The original Long-EZ was a designed as a viable and efficient cross country aircraft. The common remark is 'every time you see a Long-EZ, it seems as though they are 1000 miles from home.' They were very Spartan, light and handled great. Next in line was the Berkut, a slightly longer (by 12 inches) version of the Long-EZ but hosting a lot of new features. More exotic materials were used (such as carbon fiber) and the 540 version was exceeding 250 kts. The most distinctive feature of the Berkut was the signature F-4 style split canopy. There is no mistaking it as it taxies down the ramp. Many of the features that made the Berkut stand out: Carbon fiber spar caps on the canard and main wing. Carbon fiber center section spar. Carbon fiber wing skins. Thigh support sump tank. Retractable main landing gear. Heated pitot tube. Actuator deployment of the nose gear. Actuator deployment of the landing brake. The list goes on. One of the most impressive features of the Berkut was the 99 pages of pristine drawings that visually walked you through each step of the construction. The downside was the hefty price tag of roughly $44,000 for the kit ..... before engine and avionics. Another follow on is the eRacer, Cozy, AeroCanard and Velocity offerings. The Velocity is offered as a kit while the other three are plans built which have some prefabricated parts available. As it stands right now, I am incorporating many of the advanced features offered by designers, into my project. Many of these will never be visible to the observer but will greatly enhance the structural integrity of the design. Some of the changes will be fairly obvious. Longer nose (an additional 12 inches.) Berkut style split canopy. Blended Winglets (these added 10-12 knots on Jack Morrison's eRacer.) Infinity retractable landing gear (great ground handling plus another 10 kts.) Mazda Rotary power plant (you'll know it when you hear it.) Some of the less obvious features include: Custom Glass Cockpit. Carbon Fiber wings and spars. Thigh support Fuel Sump tank. Auxillary reserve tank. Engine coolant source cabin heat. Well ....... bottom line, I need to get back to my airplane if I'm going to get this bird off the ground.