Introduction

This journey started around 10 years back when I purchased the practice kit to see if the Cozy build process was doable for me. After visiting the Cozy booth at Oshkosh, I bought a set of plans and started fixing up my garage as a workshop. My enthusiasm petered out after awhile and after sheetrocking the garage walls and building the workbench, I let the project languish for a few years. Now I'm ready to get back in the saddle and I'm starting up again. Seeing the progress of other builders and knowing there is a community out there that I can turn to is a big help when motivation winds down.

Why a Cozy?

After earning my pilot's license, I was frustrated with the expense of renting an aircraft, as well as the hassles that go along with scheduling an aircraft.  I was only flying about once a month, and each time I spent most of it learning how to land again.

I was intrigued with the idea of owning my own airplane that I could fly whenever I wanted.  After looking at aircraft prices, I was appalled by both the cost and with what you got for your money. A kit appealed to me, but again the idea of laying out so much cash up front put me off. 

I liked the idea of a plans-built aircraft, because I could pace my building progress by what I could afford at the time.  The costs are still pretty high, but spreading the costs out over several years was much more palatable. I enjoy working with my hands, so the time involved in building the plane wouldn't be wasted.  It beats wasting your time out on the golf course or in front of the TV, anyway.

An aircraft with long range appealed to me - I liked the idea of my wife and I being able to travel all over the country whenever I wanted.  Of course, getting there ay high speed makes it a lot more fun.  Shortly after I received my license, I ran into a couple at the airport that had just flown in with their Glastar.  They had only left El Paso only 3 hours earlier - it could have been a day trip for them.

Side-by-side seating was a must, since I planned to take my wife Bev with me on most trips.  A little extra luggage space in the back would be needed as well.

I also checked on the Cozy safety record.  After researching the NTSB database, I decided that as long as I took off with gas in the tank, an engine that wasn't sputtering and dying out on me before takeoff, and I didn't do any low-level buzzing followed by a sharp pull up and turn, I was pretty safe.

And let's face it - a Cozy is a VERY cool looking airplane... you don't get much closer to a Rebel Alliance X-wing fighter than this!

Checking it Out

I was able to check out a couple of Cozy builders in my area and inspect their projects.  Terry Pierce let me inspect his work, and we got to try out Dennis Butler's Cozy that had been modified to be a little larger than the standard size. 

I also visited one in Alabama while on a trip to Huntsville. I really wish I could remember these guys names now!

 Of course, any decision like this needs the approval of one's significant other. There will be a lot of time and expense involved.  I lucked out when I took Bev up for a ride at night over Galveston Bay.  With the scattered clouds and full moon out, it was absolutely gorgeous. She started bugging me about building the plane after that flight.  We later visited a small airfield west of Houston and caught a Vari-EZ doing low fast passes over the runway.  I was afraid Bev would get nervous watching that plane and thinking that we would be buzzing around like that as well, but when I looked over at her, she had a big grin on her face and said "That looks like fun!".  Funny when you consider it looked pretty scary to ME.

The final decision on the Cozy didn't happen until Bev and I visited Oshkosh and climbed into Nat Puffer's plane.  It was, well, cozy.  But a whole lot more comfortable than the Cessna 150 I was used to, So I plunked down the $500 and went home to await delivery of the plans.