The Long EZ
(designed by Burt Rutan) is a home-built EXPERIMENTAL aircraft built from
"scratch". With a set of plans, some fiberglass, Styrofoam and epoxy just
about anyone could build their own airplane. Building time can range from
several months to many years.
Long range
efficient flight was the intent of the Long EZ's design. With 52 gallons
of fuel staying in the air for over 10 hours and travel up to 1600 miles
is possible. Equipped with a rear seat fuel tank, a Long EZ was flown 4800
miles. Another Long EZ with a stock non-turbocharged engine was flown to
an altitude of 35,027 feet.
In addition
to civilian use of the Long EZ, the United States Army used the Long EZ
for military research. It was equipped with a forward looking infrared
camera and used as a forward observation test aircraft.
If you can't
afford a military fighter the Long EZ may be the next best thing. It's
cockpit is equipped with a semireclined chair, side stick controller on
the right console making aerobatics and long range flight very
comfortable.
All airplanes
can glide; however, the Long EZ is so efficient that with an altitude of 5
feet over the landing end of a runway, and an airspeed of 120 knots, the
engine can be turned off, then the aircraft can climb back to an altitude
high enough to fly a 360 degree landing pattern and land on the same
runway.
As a result
of the Long EZ's efficiency it has an airbrake on the belly and both wing
tip rudders can be deflected outward to increase drag allowing the
aircraft to descend at a higher rate.
Stalling most
airplanes can be a bad thing. Long EZ's have a small wing (called a
canard) in the front of the plane. Whenever a Long EZ has its airspeed
decreased to a point that the airplane will no longer fly, the front wing
will stall and fall just to the point where the aircraft is again flying
fast enough to sustain flight. This design feature makes the Long EZ one
of the safest airplanes ever built. It will not stall and fall out of the
sky like other airplanes can. Because the airplane will not stall like
most airplanes it will not spin.
When ever you
see a Long EZ parked, the nose is on the ground. All the weight of the
engine is behind the center of gravity; consequently, when the pilot gets
out of the aircraft with the nose landing gear extended the plane can fall
over onto the engine. Before the pilot climbs into the plane the nose
landing gear must be extended.
