LongEZ

The LongEZ is a two-seat, single-engine light aircraft designed for homebuilding in a canard layout. Created by Burt Rutan in the early 1980s as an evolution of the VariEze, it features a longer fuselage that provides more cabin space and improved longitudinal stability. The airframe is built from composite materials, primarily fiberglass with epoxy, and the configuration includes a forward canard, a main wing set behind the cabin, and a pusher propeller at the rear.

The LongEZ uses tandem seating under a bubble canopy and relies on a lightweight, efficient propulsion system. Powerplants are typically small piston engines in the 100–180 horsepower range, supplied by manufacturers such as Lycoming or Continental. Performance varies with configuration, but cruise speeds generally fall in the 160–190 knots range, with ranges spanning several hundred to about 800–1,000 miles depending on fuel and load.

As an amateur-built aircraft, the LongEZ is constructed by pilots at home rather than in a factory. Builders usually complete the airframe from epoxy-fiberglass composite skins and foam cores, a process that can take many hundreds to over a thousand hours. The design is flown in the Experimental Amateur-Built category under FAA rules, with the builder responsible for flight testing and certification.

The LongEZ helped popularize canard homebuilts and remains influential within the kit-built and experimental aviation communities. It influenced later designs in the EZ family, and many examples remain actively flown worldwide, valued for efficiency, handling, and the approachable build process.