The Standard Mods:
- Electric nose gear either by Steve Wright or Jack Wilhelms. There is no way I want to manually crank gear. Plus the plans method does not allow for the aircraft front gear to be extended or retracted while a passenger sits inside.
- Electric speed brake
- Wider canopy either Todd's Canopies regular Cozy canopy which is wider than the old standard or his Texas Cozy canopy which is wider and taller. The Texas Canopy was built for Jerry Schneider's Cozy and is being offered as an alternative to Cozy builders. Also, I'm looking at other canopy manufactures. I really want a Lancair 360 canopy like Buly's but Lancair won't even talk to you about it. Anyway one thing is for sure; I won't be going the standard canopy!
The Non-Standard Mods:
There's the Cozy Girrrls strakes. This provides more elbow room at the pilot positions and more storage or fuel in the rear strakes. Hard to pass this one up. The Cozy Girrrls IP mod. It adds an inch in height to the main part of the panel. The center section stays the same height.
Dennis Passey's IP and front seat mods. This provides easier egree in and out of the cockpit as well as more leg room. I've already cut my IP to reflect this mod as well as the Cozy Girrrls height increase.
We've sat in a Cozy and while I knew it was supposed to live up to it's name in terms of tight comfort I wasn't prepared for just how cozy the Cozy was. Jan and I were able to sit in Lloyd Gimple's beautiful Cozy, poke around, ask questions, etc. After what was probably a very long four hours for Lloyd we were impressed and pumped. The only down side I saw to the stock Cozy was the width of the cockpit, though Lloyd did mention a need to keep your head cocked to the side with headsets on when flying. He had an original canopy.
It wasn't elbow room or hip room that was a problem. My left shoulder was pushed into the canopy latch rod and then into the longeron. Jan was a little scrunched up as well. It wasn't uncomfortable I just thought more room would be more comfortable. Our plan is to do a lot of x-country in this bird so comfort was imperative. You should know that there has been a very intense discussion on the forum about widening the cockpit. This was not an easy decision to make and certainly nothing to take lightly. By making the cockpit wider I truly am a test pilot. I may be affecting the aerodynamics in an untested manner. There have been others that are flying or close to flying with widened cockpits (3 inches to 6 inches) but this is one of those decisions you make on your own and stand alone. I decided to make the seatback 3 inches wider. Another mod I'll be doing may help to offset the widened fuselage effects discussed in the forum. For now however, this is my decision and I'm hanging out there doing it. DO NOT take this to mean this is in any way an approved mod by anyone - but it's what I'm doing. The easiest and safest way to get a Cozy in the air is to follow the plans!
What's the other mod? A Creative Cozy builder by the name of Chris Esslstyn has developed a 'stretched' Cozy that incorporates an O-540. You can see the results and part of his build site on Marc's web site under Oshkosh Forum Presentations. Anyway, living at an airport altitude of ~6,500 ft in the high mountain deserts of northern New Mexico (Santa Fe) means I'll need some omph to get off of the ground in the summer and make it over those 12,000 ft peaks. I've considered a turbo rotary ala John Slade and the Cozy Girrrls as well as subie turbo. However, Chris's approach meets the criteria for me better than auto-engineering a new auto-engine-conversion installation.
I'll be shopping for an IO540. Add to that the mods done by an Eracer builder which include a Ford Mustang super-charger and things just look better and better.
Retracts? Well if they're built by the Cozy Girrrls and I have any money left (NOT) then maybe be right now I'm thinking fixed gear.