Today we crossed the 5,000 hit mark for the blog. We only have 15 official “followers” who have let me know they are here by subscribing, but obviously we have a few more who frequent the blog. Hope those of you who stop by the Garaggio find some entertainment or value from it. I certainly find motivation from people clicking in to check up on progress. Thanks for stopping by!
Jon and my schedules finally synced up and so we got to work together today. It was just in time too, as most of the day was Jon’s favorite task, sanding.
We spent some time contouring the micro that was added last night. We also took the cowl off and contoured the trailing edge as well as the inside first 8 inches or so. The whole inside of the cowl will not get finished, only the part you will see when assembled.
In addition we also removed the conduit from the left gear leg in preparation to install the new one.
We also did our brake calculations to determine which new brakes to go with. Since my Long Ez will be a ‘plus sized gurl’ it will have faster take off and landing speeds. Faster speeds and heavier weight require more braking ability.
There are FAA regulations which govern this in certified airplanes. As an experimental, we don’t have to comply with part 23, but compliance with physics is not optional. To read a great explanation, see this Infinity Aerospace document. Basically to sum it up, I needed to calculate my brake kinetic energy capacity and braking torque required and match a brake model to those specifications. I went with Grove 58-238 magnesium wheels and brakes which gave a good margin over my calculated specs. They are on order and will be here next week.
the Garaggio 
You mean the plane has to do more than just look pretty? You actually have to use science and physics and engineering? Yuck.