Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. TJay added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    spar question
    Hey guys I have 4 spars here 2.5" 2024-t3 .083  and I see the book says 6061-t6 .065 for my kitfox 1 would you use the heavy ones or order new ones from spruce. also I have the stiffeners shaped like a Z, 48" long would you use those or get the updated I beam. thanks
    • 12 replies
    • 1,120 views


  2. EZFlap added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    I'm a Little Twisted, But...
    ... the fuselage of Avid B s/n 234 is not !
     
    Today, a friend showed up with a truck at my house, and we loaded the fuselage into the pickup bed with the tail sticking up oh about four feet above the cab. With me standing in the bed of the truck, arms wrapped around the rear fuselage, we drove a couple of miles to his car repair shop.
     
    Along the way, we passed quite a few people who for some strange reason were totally shocked to see an airplane in a pickup truck, driving through the streets of Los Angeles with some idiot standing there in the back holding it down. I could see them thinking to themselves, "must be one of those twisted Hollywood types doing some sort of a publicity stunt."
     
    Well... sort of.
     
    So for my part, I acted like it was totally normal, that I knew exactly what I was doing, and we Hollywood types do this sort of thing all the time. I smiled and waved at them because after all... I was the Grand Marshal of the bent airplane parade.
     
    We got to Rudy's shop, walked the fuselage in, and I smiled. Because there, just as promised, were six or eight big ass anchors embedded in the concrete floor. We set up the fuselage on wooden blocks at three locations: The port side wing strut fitting, the port side forward landing gear fitting, and the starboard side wing strut fitting. We had positioned the fuselage catty-corner at an angle between two of the ground anchors. One of the anchors was under the port side rear wing spar fitting cluster, and the other anchor was below the starboard side forward wing spar fitting cluster.
     
    We tied the port rear spar cluster down to the anchor with a ratchet strap. We ran the cable from a come-along from another floor anchor, up through an eye bolt attached to the anchor under the starboard side forward spar cluster. A loop of nylon strap went around the cluster and hooked in to the come-along.
     
    After two solid hours of pulling the starboard cluster down a little, letting it spring back up, measuring, re-measuring, and pulling it again a little... we finally straightened out the twist in the old girl's body. Wooden blocks and steel bars were arranged on the door frame and upper fuselage tubes, and the pressure from a large C-clamp made the slight bows in the tube disappear. A small bubble level (ripped out of a string line level) with help from a 6 foot bar level, verified that our efforts had succeeded.
     
    The forward and rear spar carry through tubes at the top of the cabin are now parallel.
     
    So while I may be twisted more than just a little, my Avid's upper fuselage wing mounting is not.
    • 3 replies
    • 697 views


  3. EDMO added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    Probably nothing bad about that, except loss of about 20 hp if the dual carb is a Stratus.
    Variables, such as cam grind, head milling, hydraulic lifters, points or e-pickup, timing advance and reduction ratio differences can really amount to a lot.   Matching prop and engine power can make or break a combo too.
    EDMO
    • 1


  4. fusionfab added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    I've pondered the idea of using the new engine I have with the single carb and intake. Any thoughts?
    • 0


  5. fusionfab added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    Oh the New Mexico thing was for some reason what was in my head. I'm not sure where it was but that rings a bell. I remember for sure that he said he paid $8000 for it a few years back and never got it running correctly since day one. Which I'm convinced after the carb work and correct throttle connection that it's running at full potential now. Someone I know has a portable engine dyno so I may bother him to do his magic.
    Still lots of little things to do to make her pretty again and everythjng mechanically and structurally checked over. Additionally the modifications everyone is suggesting which I appreciate 100%
    Going to look for that exhaust also
    • 0


  6. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Funny Pics   



  7. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic LIKE WINNING THE LOTTERY! - WELL, ALMOST....   

    Just on the news recently that this years flu shot is nearly useless for the strains going around.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/04/flu-strain-different/19885537/

    I don't bother getting one any more. A waste of time and money.
    • 0


  8. EDMO added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    I am guessing that there must be a way to check on it with Stratus - I am thinking that Stratus marks their cams in some way too, but that would be a teardown item, and they will grind the cam and replace lifters for anyone's engine. I need to look at the redrive housing again - it could be early Stratus - I will check my photos, and I know that SuberAvid has posted photos of his somewhere on here.
    Why don't you call Stratus2000. That is the new name - check internet?
    BTW: Stratus makes a stainless exhaust that supposedly gives a few more horses and is quiet.
    Just threw me when you said New Mexico - thought maybe it was built there and not on West Coast?
    Mine is a Dave Johnson (now deceased) of Canada.
    EDMO
    I found the photos of Suberavid's Stratus engine posted in "Subaru Carb Heat" - you can put that in the search box to go there in AvidFoxFlyers General Hanger - real neat post about how he connected his carb head and air filters to dual carbs with 2 photos.
    EDMO
    • 0


  9. EDMO added a topic in Hangar Talk   

    LIKE WINNING THE LOTTERY! - WELL, ALMOST....
    I get a flu and pneumonia shot, open doors with my elbows, wash my hands each time I come back home, and take all the precautions to stay out of the shopping crowds - And, I still end up with the one strain of flu that mutated! Feel like throwing in the towel, and just trading off the plane & stuff for a tombstone - I told the wife to just wrap the fuselage with my body inside it with 1.7 cloth and finish it with her choice of colors before burial!
    Happy Holidays to All,
    EDMO
    • 2 replies
    • 733 views


  10. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic rudder and elevator bushings   

    Ace hardware, aircraft department. They have a varied assortment.
    • 1


  11. fusionfab added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    Ed you don't think the one on the plane is a stratus? I'm not certain but after the carbs were done and the new throttle it runs really nicely. So far...I'm happy with it. Just going to look into changing rad setup as previous suggested and also something different with a stainless exhaust.
    • 0


  12. EDMO added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    Well, at least we know that it is not a Stratus engine. When it comes to Bing carbs, I have to sit and listen to the ones who know something about them.
    EDMO
    • 0


  13. TJay added a post in a topic kitfox 1 update   

    well I flew most of the morning but did manage to set the incidence on the horizontal today and add a strap to the lower carry thru man I really gotta start my build log, love to build but hate to write on paper.
     
    • 0


  14. fusionfab added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    Should I wait and see after the cowling is on for an induction purpose regarding the carbs? I've seen a few setup like this and this is the first I've heard of the issue. What about a central airbox that leads to the carbs, think that would work? The room available is pretty damn snug.
    The story behind this engine:
    Previous owner bought this completely rebuilt and setup for aircraft from a company in New Mexico?
    Had it installed but could never get running well. Was always gutless and wouldn't rev up
    So he got frustrated dealing with the supplier and it sat for some time.
    I bought it, but before I found this plane I bought a rebuilt ea81 with the single carb. Picture attached
    I did te compression tests, leakdown tests, everything to the engine in the plane and all was perfect. Figured out carbs were a disaster, worst I'd ever seen in any engine. So cleaned them up and rebuilt them.
    Then ran much much better. Was putting out much more power, running kinda smooth, but otherwise running as it should.
    Was popping a bit and vibrating, followed throttle back and the connections were setup vertically and pulling at different amounts, so carbs not synced..pictured
    I changed the throttle from a dual cable to a splitter and a single cable to the control and is all synced up now


    • 0


  15. EDMO added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    I would be a little concerned about the "Looks like Plastic" fuel filter in the engine compartment -
    If that is a Stratus Soob, I may have some photos of another engine in an Airdale and maybe carb filter locations....My soob is single Holly carb. 
    SuberAvid has the dual-carb Stratus Soob too.
    EDMO
    • 0


  16. EDMO added a post in a topic rudder and elevator bushings   

    Kitfox started out using some kind of Poly-tubing for the bushings, but found that Nylon tubing is a better material. Same goes for the cable bushings.
    Use pins.
    EDMO
    • 0


  17. High Country added a post in a topic rudder and elevator bushings   

    the build manual says bolts but I used pins, easier to get a cotter pin in to hold it rather than a nut. just my .02
    • 0


  18. C5Engineer added a post in a topic rudder and elevator bushings   

    Buy some of the plastic line used to plumb the ice maker on a refrigerator. I forget what the OD/ID is.
    • 0


  19. TJay added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    rudder and elevator bushings
    Hey guys where is a good place to buy the plastic bushings for my rudder and elevator on my model 1. also are you guys using bolts of pins for the hinges thanks.
    • 4 replies
    • 732 views


  20. wypaul added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    The Bing carbs are very fussy about the air entry to the carbs and it appears that yours will have problems.  I had to go with filters mounted directly to the back of the Bings to get even burn between the front and rear cylinders on my 912, I had nice smooth ells going into the carb with vanes to try to get a smooth air flow into the carbs but just could not get an even burn.  When you get it running check the plugs for even burn between the cylinders.  It does not appear that you have room to get the filters on the rear of your carbs but  my guess is that you will need to do something different than what you now have.
    • 0


  21. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    Tailwheel: There are several discussions on this subject. I'd suggest you do a search and read through them, here and over at TeamKitfox.

    The main lesson to take away, when you are learning your plane, say the first 100 hours of PIC, if you have a Maul tailwheel (which it looks like you do), remove the unlocking cam so that the tailwheel can not swivel. This cam is held on to the outside of the body of the wheel by two straight blade screws, which may be safety wired. You will still have full steering, but the swivel feature is no longer available.

    The wheel going into swivel at the wrong time is the main reason for rookie ground loops.
    • 0


  22. fusionfab added a post in a topic My new and first plane   

    166nflyer, so your mod was changing the mount location on bottom of cylinder to the floor itself. What distance from the pivot tube did you end up at?
    Imft did you remove the tail wheel springs also?
    Thanks for all the help guys
    I've only flown tri gear. My instructor is setting me up with an aerobatics pilot to teach me the tail dragger
    • 0


  23. TJay added a post in a topic kitfox 1 update   

    I haven't got to the gear yet but I did get the vertical raised tonight. would do more but it is gold rush time.

     
    • 0


  24. Bandit added a post in a topic Jabiru has just released some new service bulletins   

    Another good reason to keep my 503.
    • 0


  25. Boat added a topic in Rotax and other engines   

    Jabiru has just released some new service bulletins
    Jabiru has just released a few new service bulletins: http://www.jabiru.net.au/service-bulletins Cylinder head inspections Fuels guidance Service time intervals  
    • 5 replies
    • 1,450 views