Nat Puffer (designer) and his original Cozy MK IV
Brian Bishop '98-'99 Thunderbird Commander/Leader
Welcome to Denny's Cozy Page
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Nat Puffer (designer) and his original Cozy MK IV |
Brian Bishop '98-'99 Thunderbird Commander/Leader |
Enter Page Credits:
The Picture:
Click on thumbnail for a High Resolution image.
I would love to give credit to the artist of that wonderful picture on my opening page. But unfortunately it was just one of those that I grabbed off the web one night without looking where it came from. If anyone knows who took this please let me know at dennymortensen@cableone.net and I will gladly give them the credit they deserve. Allow me to apologize to those with dial up connections as this picture if fairly large. I attempted to lower the resolution but it just didn't look the same. If you missed it please go back and take a look.
The Mystery is solved:
Thanks to Jeffrey S Flanigan who graciously found the web site where I got this picture I can finally give proper credit. It was taken by Hans Georg Schmid on a project called The Millennium Flight. It involved a double circumnavigation of the World to greet the New Millennium and to honor the memory of those aviators who achieved it the first time in 1924. Please visit his web site at http://www.millenniumflight.com/ it is filled with many wonderful photos taken while on the expedition. He also offers a flight planning service for those interested in pushing the envelope with extended range international flights. You can find this service at http://www.aeroexplorer.biz/ My sincerest thanks to him for giving us this wonderful view of aviation and especially for his permission to use his work here.
The Poem:
(High Flight) John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Pilot Officer Magee joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in October 1940, at age 18. He went to England to fly Spitfires. After qualifying, he was piloting one on a test flight into the stratosphere at 30,000 feet when he got the inspiration for "High Flight." Magee was killed in action during a dogfight December 11, 1941, at age 19.
(Denny)
"I am starting a new hobby, I am going to build an airplane"
(friend)
"That's cool I had an uncle that built a lot of them, he used to fly them in our back yard"
(Denny)
"NO I am going to build a real four passenger airplane"
(friend)
"YOUR KIDDING"
What the heck is a COZY?
A cozy Mark IV is a plans built 4 place airplane, completely constructed from fiberglass. Some home built aircraft are offered in kit form needing only to be put together. The Cozy MK IV is not, it is completely constructed by the builder from a set of plans. The original concept is by Burt Rutan, the man that designed and constructed the Voyager aircraft that flew around the world non stop. The MK IV was designed and built by Nat Puffer of Mesa AZ (see above photo). Working nights and weekends it will probably take at least 6 years to complete. For more information see the Official Cozy Web Page. Or you may also check out the Unofficial Cozy Web Page.
Why?
For many years I have wanted to learn to fly and to build an airplane. I came very close to starting to build a BD 5 many years ago but the company went out of business. I have done a lot of looking around and have decided that the Cozy MK IV is one of the best supported home built aircraft today. There is a very active email news group that is also regularly checked by the designer and a very large number are already flying or in various states of completion. Also because of the Canard construction (the extra wing out front) it is extremely safe and sort of along the same lines as the original Wright Flyer. Not to mention it's the coolest looking airplane flying.
The Biggest Challenge:
An immense challenge I face, that I am sure will be a bigger project then the actual building of the airplane itself, is. As the aircraft gets bigger the future pilot has to get smaller. If I ever get the nerve to post any of my current pictures you will see that I am of shall we say fairly large frame. The way I see it when this thing gets close to completion the motivation to loose some weight should be pretty strong. The only bad part is currently I am to dam big to get a ride in any of the already flying planes. Oh well just more motivation. (Wish me luck)
Just starting chapter 6
Other Humor "Not aircraft related"
Cozy Aviation Links:
The Masters:
"Not to discredit any other builder but these guys I consider to be the masters and I check their web sites as I would check my watch."
Other Links:
For comments please Email me at dennymortensen@cableone.net
