This is going to be
my favorite page for recording our Cozy building process. The purpose of this
page is to record people related and unforgettable memories that made our journey so
enjoyable and meaningful. When looking back, they will bring smiles
and warmth to our
hearts.
Visit
By Former Co-Worker (February 2008)
Pete
Atkins and I worked in the same manufacturing organization of a Defense Electronics
company around 30 years ago. Pete retired 10 years later (lucky him
)
and I started my own company 1 year after that. We kept in touch on and off - its
been 19 years since then! Pete wanted to check out my Cozy project a couple years
back but never showed up till this morning. Retirement must have slowed him down
tremendously
... Pete's background was in
Manufacturing Engineering, obviously, a lot of questions on the Cozy building
processes - almost like getting grilled by an QA inspector... Unfortunately, I
was working on the rudder pedals and the canopy. Most of the controls were
either disconnected or covered by the canopy - therefore limited demonstration
was possible. However, Pete has a good imagination and acknowledged gracefully to
my arm waving demo. All in all, we had a great visit and agreed that we should
catch up with each other more often!
Cozy
Builder David West (March 2008)
David
West (Ft. Knox, Kentucky) was visiting Los Angeles for a work related meeting and had
some free time for a visit. David is a few chapters ahead of me in the building
process... that's good because, I can pick his brain on my next chapter. Sure
enough, David had his laptop (but no gold bars from Ft. Knox) with a bunch of
photos on his Chapter 22 - the strakes. We had a great exchange on our building
experiences - I like his strakes, he likes my landing light...Turned out David
is an accomplished instructor in military helicopters - some great
stories and experiences that filled our dinner conversation. We continued our
discussion past 11:30pm. It was a very enjoyable visit!
Visit
By Business Team Members (March 2008)
Occasionally,
my work involves teaming with other companies on complex projects. Two project
managers (Gene Simone & Bill Mudd) from one of my teamed companies visited me for a project strategy and
planning session. After we wrapped up our intense work session (2 1/2 days later), they
decided to take a look at my Cozy project. They were certainly intrigued with
the shape and configuration of the
Cozy..."where's the tail? Doesn't look like you have enough structure to
hang the engine up front!" - but they volunteered to be my test pilots when
the plane is done...
Visit
By Well Respected Cozy Builder & Flyer (April 2008)
Wayne
Hicks (who lives by the DC area) has been working intensely in the west coast in the
past months took a Saturday afternoon off to visit Clark Canedy and me. Clark
is finishing up his Cozy at the Chino Airport, which is about 3 miles from my home
base. After we checked out Clark's plane, Wayne stopped by to assess my
progress. He gave my semi-Cozy looking contraption a positive nod with the
following thoughts:
- add a
bit more curvature to the canard elevators;
- may
have to sand down the upper firewall edges a bit to fit the engine cowling;
- take
down a bit more foam off at the canard / nose cover junction for smoother lines;
- the
center section spar to wing interface is ok;
- canopy
to turtle back junction is ok;
- my
heat shields are ok;
-
offered some great suggestions on the nose gear cover.
Its
always good to see Wayne again, He has been "showing me the way" ever
since I started the project. His ideas and experience have been invaluable.