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Builder: Ed Masterson 
Email: masterej@juno.com 

Owner's Comments:  First flight was April 27th from Albuquerque's Double Eagle II.  I flew it down here to Crestview in the end of June.  The engine is a O-235-L2C rated at 118 hp (I probably get more the way I have it set up, but have no way of measuring it).  I cruise about 140 KTAS (about 160 miles per hour) at about 2650 rpm sipping 5.5 gallons per hour.  This gives me a range of about 650 miles, although I'm sure I could probably stretch that to about 800 miles if I slowed down some (I just don't like going slow and haven't collected much data there).  Top speed so far is 160 KTAS (about 185 mph) and I still have several things to do to reduce drag to get into the 200 mph club (good wheel pants should get me pretty close). 

The credit for the good photo work goes to my wife, Stacey, although they were taken long before our wedding. 
 

From the July, 1999 newsletter:

30,000 feet and 500 knots! 

This particular Varieze started out as a plans-built project of a builder in California in the early 1980's.  The first builder finished the majority of the fuselage then sold the project to an Air Force sergeant.  This fellow happened to be a KC-10 loadmaster who was soon transferred from Travis AFB, California to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.  After a few well-placed favors, the project was flown on a KC-10 to Louisiana.  (Hence, the amazing altitude and airspeed.)  Very little work was done by the second owner and the project was eventually sold to Ed's brother and a partner at Barksdale.  The partner eventually sold out and Ed's brother was transferred overseas. 

At that point, Ed bought the project and hauled it in a rental truck from Louisiana to his assignment at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.  After completing his Master's degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Ed was transferred to Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico and took the project with him.  While in New Mexico, Ed completed and flew his Varieze.  The photos with this article were taken during the test flights. 

Ed installed a Lycoming O-235-L2C rated at 118 hp that had served 4000 hours in a C-152 and then flew 160 hours in a Cozy.  Cruise is about 140 KTAS at 2650 rpm using 5.5 gph yielding a range of 650 miles.  Ed's favorite toy in the instrument panel is the pitot-static computer by Rocky Mountain Instrument.  It calculates true airspeed and density altitude instantly. 

Ed says the plane took about 1500 hours, much of which was typical doing and undoing.  His biggest "undoing" was having to sand off much of the paint after a bad paint job.  Ed says he's only made a few changes from the plans.  He installed Long Eze gear instead of Varieze gear and he recently installed new elevators to improve handling.  Future modifications include wheel pants, nose gear door, paint stripes, and spinner.  According to Cliff Nunnery, each of these mods will add at least 10 knots! 

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