Stolspeed Vgs Installed on Long Ez

Time to replace the old vortex generators on the GU canard of my Long Ez; I need 120 clear ones.

I built the airplane and have almost 2,000 hours on it, powered by an O-320 Lycoming. The VGs are used primarily to reduce or eliminate the pitch change associated with moisture. I’ve tried various types and locations and have it pretty much figured out. I took off the old VGs to repaint but damaged some of them, so I thought I would try yours instead.

I’m a former US Navy A6 pilot and graduate of the US Navy Test Pilot School, with about 6,000 flight hours. It took a couple of hours to install the VGs; from prior experience with the GU canard on the Long Ez, I put the VGs just aft of the 50 percent chord, one inch apart, angling in at 15 degrees. I had a significant pitch down in rain that has been eliminated (same results with the old VGs). Went for a spin in the rain and it flies fine.

Straightforward installation. I especially like the adhesive sheet, much less messy than using liquid adhesives. This verifies that your VGs address and solve the pitch change problem with the original Long Ez and Varieze GU canard.

Thanks for a nice product.
Ken, Washington, USA

I just wanted to comment on your VGs that I installed on my Long-EZ. I installed the kit to stop the aircraft’s tendency to pitch down in rain and cloud. I installed the VGs 60 mm apart, aft of the top of the airfoil, about halfway between the thickest part of the airfoil and the elevator slot on the canard. As regards the pitch-down tendency: Job done. No pitching tendency at all.

There were two side effects noted. First, my canard lift-off speed increased by five mph, but my airplane is ballasted somewhat forward, so this is not a problem. A second, very surprising side effect is that my true airspeed at 2,000 ft at 75% power has increased by a full ten knots! This was very unexpected but has been confirmed by a number of flights using the GPS boxing method of determining TAS so that pitot/static inaccuracies are eliminated. To say that I am a satisfied customer would be an incredible understatement.

The kit was, just as advertised, very easy to install and looks great on the Long-EZ. Thanks for a great product.

Regards,
Bob