The
Long-EZ is a tiny homebuilt two seater aircraft designed by the famous designer
Burt Rutan.
It is somewhat infamous for being the type of aircraft that killed John Denver; however the accident report says that the vehicle design was not to blame for the accident, it was essentially pilot error.
It is a very sharp looking design, constructed of composite materials, carbon fibers and epoxy.
The design is noteable for its canards- two small winglets that come from just infront of the cockpit. These wings make the design very stable; it is basically impossible to stall the aircraft- the canards stall before the main wings; hence the vehicle's wings are still flying and so the aircraft will not spin.
The main wings are swept backwards, making the aircraft look like a bit like a tiny Concorde, or perhaps Concordski. Well, atleast to a degree, for the aircraft also lacks a tail- instead it has two vertical flat winglets at the tip of the main wings.
The propulsion is from a wooden pusher prop, driven by a car engine. Wooden propellors are often used because the aircraft is classed as an experimental aircraft, and hence full vibration analysis hasn't been done, wooden propellors tend to be more stable in this regard. However wooden propellors tend to delaminate in the rain, this can cause issues.
Overall it's quite a pretty vehicle; with a fairly high top speed, 184 mph. The vehicle is pretty stable, and so not so well suited to aerobatics. It is reasonably efficient and can achieve around 31 miles per gallon. Long-EZ's have a wing span of 26 ft 3½ in / 8.01 m, a length: 16 ft 9 in / 5.11 m, and a height: 7 ft 10 in / 2.39 m.
All in all, quite a cute aeroplane.