>I just learned that Dave Simmons posted (along with some
>precious 2.5 mm Allen screws) a set of the Chizler plans.
>
>Since you, Ted Fancher, are the official "Chizler man"
>around here, and considering the fact that your Chizler has
>been praised by a bunch of cats, including Brett and Bobby
>H., I wonder if you wuold be so kind to tell me what you
>find I should know about this good lookin' (gorgeous, I'd go
>that far) ship.
>
>Some guy said that the best pattern he saw in his life was
>flown by you on your Chiz...
>
>TIA, (Thanks In Advance)
>
>GBY! (God Bless You!)
>
>IC, (In Christ)
Hi Ion,
No secrets. Just build it straight and reasonably right and put in a good engine. Mine was literally a crash course job. Had to build it in less than five weeks and actually glued the flaps and elevators on in a sleazy hotel somewhere in the bowels of Southern California on my way to whatever VSC it first flew at. The clear coat was still wet and the flaps have both Shareen and my finger prints on them as from when we were epoxying and pushing them into place.
The first year was a riot. Billy Werwage probably stills smiles at the image of a former national champion (yours truly) trying to shut down the engine when the tank was vibrating so bad that the foaming fuel would get to the pickup no matter what direction I pointed the thing. Lousy tank mounting job.
Got that fixed and then the wind blew so hard they stopped flying which meant I could take the brand new thing out and try to get it trimmed out... yeah, sure. At least I found out it handled the wind OK.
At any rate,the only changes on mine were for expediency. The controls are simple three inch Sig crank with some sort of modern horns (not the old standard veco half inch jobbies) with a reasonable arm on them. My tail is solid sheet and only 3/16" instead of the builtup 1/2" of the original. Also, the rudder is just half inch sheet instead of formed out of the top block like Dick did with the originals. My gear is a tiny bit longer than stock because I have to fly off grass a lot but it still looks like a ground hugger because the belly is so deep.
It's really a unique (and good, in my opinion) looking ship in the air especially. The round shape doesn't enhance straight lines and hard corners the way a log straight side view does but it probably does help to camouflage minor errors in those same departments. Not a bad idea for an airplane that only gets flown a handful of times a year in competition and pretty much never in practice. Better to hide the errors than accentuate them
Good luck with yours.
Ted
>
>Ion (Chizler...hummmmmmmm) Muniz