Long EZ N28EZ...The Engine Cowlings

Fitting the cowling to the plane.

The Fuselage, wings, canopy and the engine (with the flywheel and prop extension attached) were all assembled in my back yard in order to fit the cowling to the parts. Note the temporary cowling support blocks mounted on the firewall with bondo. At this point, the airplane could probably fly...If we could find someone big enough to throw it, that is! :-)

The pre-formed cowling was fitted to the assembled aircraft, with proper spacers to keep the prescribed distance from the engine, then cut, fit and assembled. Here is the result.

And, here is my friend, Don, keeping the NEXT engine for the Long Ez warmed up and ready to mount. Yes, It's a 1987 RX-7, and I do intend to install this engine in my Long Ez after I've flown a hundred hours or so on the Lycoming O-235 that is now being installed.

For more information on the Mazda Rotary engine in aircraft, go to Paul Lamar's, ACRE (Air Craft Rotary Engine) Website where you can subscribe to a free online newsletter or Tracy Crook's excellent, informative web site, Real World Solutions, complete with a great animated cutaway of a working Mazda Rotary engine. The site also has audio of this engine's unique sound as it does a low flyby, and video from inside the cockpit while Tracy does a roll. He is flying the current high time Rotary Engine (over 1000 hours ).

And now, on to the Engine...a Lycoming O-235

But, meanwhile, the RX-7 was donated to charity, minus the engine. The Mazda engine now resides on an engine stand in the back of my garage. I've rebuilt the Lycoming O-235 you can see in the first photo above to get the plane flying. Installed new pistons and rings, and generally cleaned it up and replaced all the gaskets, screws, bolts, etc., to make it look purty!

Here's a view of the back, showing the P-Mags I'll be using instead of the Slick magnetos. Note also, the auto spark plugs. Of course, there is a lot left to do to it before turning it over for the first time...the wiring and harnesses, carburetor, exhaust pipes, starter, alternator, fuel pump, vacuum pump, baffles and a bunch of little things I can't recall at the moment, but I'm well on the way to firing it up!

This is a picture of myself and a friend's son, Matt, who appears to be quite interested. Despite his age, I liked his work so much, I hired young Matt as the shop manager, and you can see him giving orders in another section of this website (the Wings page).

I converted the engine baffle plans to CAD drawings so I could easily copy them in case I made a mistake...or two or three mistakes as I usually do. Spent the day fitting the rough cut out plans to the sheets of 6061 aluminum that I have for them.

Next step is to drill the holes for the strain relief, mounting bolts and rivets, then sit down in front of the TV with a good pair of shears and cut them all out!

Long EZ N28EZ...The Engine Cowlings

Fitting the cowling to the plane.

And now, on to the Engine...a Lycoming O-235

Comments are welcome, please contact me at: Ageless Wings, Harley Dixon