PK - My decision process took place in 2016-18. Things stabilized enough that I again had a long term residence with garage space. I still have the PA-12, but I like having a project. My track record was buying and restoring a BD-4, buying and restoring a PA-12, partnering in a RV-6a and EAA BiPlane, and volunteering on the EAA's replica of a Bleriot (steam bending ash!). In each of those I was a shadow and assistant to projects led by experienced builders in Hartford's EAA Chapter #166. I may have confidence greater than my ability, but that risk is balanced by openness to critical review, a willingness to redo bad work and a lot of patience. So long as I 1) listen to experts and 2) recognize when I've made a practice piece, I can do this safely. The decisions that took me to the Cozy were
a) find a fun and different plane that can use the IO-360 I have after selling off the BD-4.
b) flip through the KitPlanes index and narrow it down to a short list - something unlike the PA-12, with a good safety record and fun to fly. I ended up looking at RV's, the T-18, and oh yeah, the Cozy IV.
The final screening was looking for a suitable project. Many or even most kits are never finished, and the completion rate for plans built is said to be less than 50%. Therefore, the optimal move is to find and assume an unfinished project with great workmanship. I ended up networking into the Cozy builders group and its chief guru referred me to a good candidate project. Attached are pictures showing the condition of this project when I did the pre-buy (most parts made, stored uncovered in a dusty hangar) and when delivered to me. There are a lot of pictures, so the files are zipped.
As of 6/09/2023, my progress is as per the attached spreadsheet. Bottom line, some odds and ends, the engine install and then configure the panel. Add 100 hours for final paint and I'll be ready for a move to the airport and inspection.
The original builder had a write up on similar lines...
Why Build a Cozy MKIV? 04-26-2009
My father was a pilot both in the Navy and commercial airlines, and I've had the bug since I was a kid. I had planned on taking lessons and working towards my Private Pilot certificate whenever I had cash to spare.But, as I started planning out this dream, I ended up spending a lot of time thinking about the future and what that certificate would do for me.Rental rates are terrible, (barely) affordable Cessnas are slow and out of date, and there's just something about owning your own plane. I want to be able to go up whenever I like, without answering to another owner, timeshare partner, or invoice.
Buying an aircraft is a lot like buying a car. You have a number of choices, each with different features in terms of safety, comfort, and speed. The problem is that a 1990s Cessna with a decent (but not extravagant) avionics package can run over $100,000, and even a very old, 1960s Cessna can run in excess of $30,000. Mortgages are long enough that these are relatively affordable, but when I did the math between speed, age, features, range, and capacity, I concluded that I wasn't getting enough for my money. It took a while before I came around to the idea of building. I suppose I figured it was a "weird" thing to do - nobody in my neighborhood was building a plane. No, that was something those guys do out on the Salt Flats - you know the ones, the same guys on TV building trebuchets to fling washing machines or "model" rockets bigger than a car. The kind of thing you'd love to do, but you don't know anybody who has actually done it, and all your friends look at you oddly when you talk about it.
As it turned out, once I started asking around, everybody seemed to know somebody who knew somebody who was building, or had built, an airplane. Weird. I live in Connecticut, not Utah. We don't have any salt flats. What's more, I found that there were even more building choices than buying choices - kits, plans, quick builds, aluminum, composite, weird mixes of both, etc. I was overwhelmed by the choices I had to make. I spent literally months researching the options, reading manufacturer sales materials, Web sites maintained by other builders, magazines, and anything else I could get my hands on. In the end, I chose a Cozy MKIV for the following reasons:
1. Composite construction. There's a saying: Composite aircraft are built; aluminum aircraft are assembled. Well, I've never built an aluminum aircraft, but I love working with wood because it's so malleable, and composite construction feels much the same. It's very tolerant of slight variations between builders. Have a bit of a low spot? You can easily fill it. Parts slightly out of alignment? Fill with flox and BID tape over it, and it's just as strong. That's not to say you don't have to make things correctly. But you work the material, you carve the foam, and you shape the finished surface. It feels very much like sculpture. It's also very refreshing to see materials that are so weak by themselves (namely crumbly sheets of foam, cloth you can pull apart with no effort, and liquid glue) come together with such simple techniques into such immensely strong structures that you could quite literally park a car on them.
2. Safety. The Cozy MKIV is a "canard pusher," which uses a positive-feedback front airfoil (the canard) to lift the nose for pitch control, rather than an elevator pushing down the tail. This is not only very efficient, it's also very safe. By setting the canard at a higher incidence angle than the main wing, the aircraft can be made more or less stall-proof. The canard will stall first, dropping the nose back to a safe attitude before the main wing itself stalls. This produces a gentle "nose bob" effect. The clean lines of the aircraft also give it an excellent glide ratio (15:1!), and it climbs to altitude quickly (1500fpm). One can reach 10,000 ft in just a few minutes, and from there glide 30 miles during an engine failure. Name a Cessna or Piper that can do that!
3. Performance. In addition to reaching cruising altitude very quickly, the Cozy is fast. With a turbo rotary engine and a willingness to burn some fuel, one can easily cruise at 200kts+ with a maximum range of up to 1000 miles. That means it is actually possible to use this plane for realistic, cross-country flight operations. I have family and friends all over the U.S. and Canada, and love to travel, so a fast means of transport is a Good Thing (tm).
4. Cost. This has actually risen sharply since I started building. At the time I started building, the plans suggested a budget of $15,000 each for the airframe, engine, and avionics, or $45,000 total. But rising fiberglass, aluminum, and epoxy prices, plus inflation in general, have pushed this number much higher. Today I think it would be safe to double the airframe cost, and add at least a bit to the engine and avionics since few builders install the bare-minimum they can find. Still, for $60k (about the price of a mid-range BMW) you can get yourself a brand-new aircraft capable of 200kts+ at 10,000ft with 1000mi of range. You can even do your own maintenance. Those are good numbers in any book!
5. Support. The Cozy has a big following, and there are a number of good Web sites and mailing lists with other builders answering questions, and sharing information, photos, and experiences. When there's something you don't quite understand in the plans, it can be very helpful knowing that you can ask for clarification on a forum, or visit another builder's site who describes how s/he resolved the issue. Update: I started this project in 2005, and I'm now most of the way through the build. I've had a few "holds" placed on the project due to work, life changes, and moves, but I'm happy to say that the bulk of the airframe is now complete. With luck and hard work, I'll be flying in less than a year. After four years and over a thousand hours of build time, I'm now convinced I made the right choice!