Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. dynomike added a post in a topic Winter Rivers Tour   

    awesome pictures.the skis really open up some runways
    • 0


  2. EDMO added a post in a topic Those of you with dual wing tanks, lets talk plumbing to the header?   

    Herman,
           Kitfox was the first to put out the letter on adding the fuel vent line after some of the KF drivers had fuel starvation problems.  Without the extra port in the wingtank, you can put a "T" in the upper part of your sight gage on the tank.  I think in your situation, with only one wing tank, you could put a fitting near the top of your header tank and run that to the wing sight gage as a vent line.
          I am guessing that you have a fuel pump, you don't need the ram air vent in your header for flow pressure.  If you seal the header tank cap, then you could run with ram air pressure from the wing tank if you leave it turned on, which evidently, you cannot do now.
          I don't like the idea of an open vent line in my cockpit - looks like a good way to get doused with gas if you have an accident.  Maybe one with a shutoff valve might not be bad - but why not just run it on up to the wing tank and forget it?
          Everyone has their own ideas on this - I will have a vent line from header to wing tank, even tho some say that if you turn both wing tanks on, that the full tank will push the air back to the empty tank - but if you only have one tank on, and bank and get a bubble, well, what then?
    EDMO
    just my 2 cents worth.
    • 0


  3. RDavidson added a post in a topic Superflite revisited   

    Thanks Randy. No worries on being late, you were doing what I want to be doing...flying! Those are great pics you posted!
    • 0


  4. RDavidson added a post in a topic Winter Rivers Tour   

    Great pics!
    • 0


  5. herman pahls added a post in a topic Those of you with dual wing tanks, lets talk plumbing to the header?   

    I am very interested in this discussion regarding whether to vent the header tank or  not because of the serious consequences.
    A few months ago a friends Avid went down (passenger will never walk again) and he felt that he had fuel starvation because his behind the seat header was not vented.
    Both of his  wing tanks fed the header tank with shut off valves and one line drained the header forward to the firewall gasculator.
    A few years ago I had my one and only forced landing in 36 years ( which was fortunately a none event) and was likely due to venting or carb ice.
    I have the 8 gallon cowl tank (header tank) which is fed by one wing tank.
    The only vent at the time was the wing tank filler cap ram air tube.
    My Kitfox gets hangered with the wings folded so possibly the fuel line/vent tube got pinched in the folding/unfolding process.
    The only solution I could come up with was to vent the cowl tank fuel cap and now if I forget and overfill the cowl tank when transferring fuel I get reminded with fuel on the windscreen.
    So here is my question.
    How can venting the behind the seat header tank  be a negative?
    I like the #11 post where DeeJayel uses the vent line as a sight gage.
    It seems like all the highwing airplanes I have owned are gravity fed, do not have header tanks but they do have both fore and aft drains out of the tank.
    So regardless of nose up or down attitude the available fuel will drain.
    Most of our Avids and Foxs only have rear fuel drains.
    So what happens if you are only feeding off one tank and it is getting low enough that air enters the drain line.
    Even it you are feeding off 2 tanks.
    How does that air get out of the header tank without a vent?
    If you have huge fuel lines I can see the air burping back up the fuel line but it would not burp as easily with the 1/4 or 5/16 ID fuel lines that many AvidFoxs use.
    I road race Formula cars that corner at 2-2.5 G's.
    At less than 1/2 fuel the G forces will allow air into the fuel pick up, just like banking the wing on a less than full tank.
    In race cars we all use some sort of internal or external surge/header tank to prevent air from getting to the high pressure fuel pump and to be able to use the last quart of fuel.
    Those surge/header tanks are all vented back to the top of the main tank because that is the only consistent way for air to escape.
    It sure seems like without a header tank vent we are playing "Air Bubble Roulette" when ever air gets between the fuel and header tank.
    Please let me know what you think.
    Herman
    • 0


  6. herman pahls added a post in a topic Hall Vortex generators   

    Thanks Randy for responding.
    I asked the same question in TeamKitfox and was directed to some past threads.
    Seems like the impressions varied from no difference to some difference in stall speed.
    Almost all felt the control authority improved with VG's.
    I feel my Model 2 control authority is fine so I will probably not try VG's.
    I will be interested in your results since my Kitfox cruises quite slow and burns a lot of fuel with it's under cambered wing and 582.
    Herman
    • 0


  7. EDMO added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    As Randy says, these engines are easy to overhaul, and I will add - parts are cheap and available - Nothing like a "Certified" engine for parts costs.
    Reductions produced redrives with the lower support bearing, and some without - mine does not have the lower support, like this one, but I have adjustment screws on top for belt tension and alignment, but did not notice if this one does or not.
    Bottom line - good price - and this could be an RFI, as it looks like Chevy AC cores for cheek radiators.
    EDMO
    • 0


  8. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    From my limited experience and from what I have heard and read, the Subaru engines are pretty bulletproof as long as you make sure you have an adequate cooling system.  The make or break area is with the redrives.  My first motor/redrive (first 3 pictures) looked great and I thought it would be a good one and it is very strong and well built.  I mounted it on a test stand to run it before I put it back on the plane for final bolt up to fly it.  What I found is that the only adjustment was for the belt tension and there was no way to adjust the cog pulleys for parallel alignment and belt tracking.  It was just slightly out of parallel and the belt wanted to run up tight against the limit spacer on the flywheel.  If I loosened the belt it would start to vibrate while running at certain RPM's.  I think a person could develop some very thin shims for the bolt plate on the prop shaft to get the alignment corrected but I decided I wanted a known long term and trouble free solution so I decided to get the Stratus, (last 4 pics).  The advantage of the Stratus is it has the ability to align the prop shaft pully to the crank shaft pully with offset cams on the prop shaft.  It also allows separate tensioning adjustment on the belt and the additional advantage of the Stratus unit is that it has an additional bearing on the end of the crank to take the side load from the belt tension.  I have read that some without this have caused the crank to break but I have no way to validate that claim.  With over 300 hours on it now I have not had to adjust the belt tension or tracking once and the belt still looks like new with no scrubbed rubber dust.  I know there are other good redrives out there but strength, adjustability and crank support are some things that are good to consider. 
     
     







    • 0


  9. EDMO added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    I cant tell much about the engine, except that the redrive is not a Stratus, and not a Dave Johnson Reductions..
    2K is too much for shipping - a trucking company with regular trips to Canada should be able to do it for $500 or less. 
    I paid $150 to get mine from Canada, but that was an inside job.
    For Canadian customs, list it as a used auto engine - aircraft parts customs are a lot higher.
    It would be good to know how many hours are on it, and if any mods were made.
    Looks like a nose-gear attachment on the mount?
    EDMO
    • 0


  10. EDMO added a post in a topic Those of you with dual wing tanks, lets talk plumbing to the header?   

    OK - Thanks - Looks lighter than the one I have.
    EDMO
    • 0


  11. SuberAvid added a topic in Avid fox flyers pics and vids   

    Winter Rivers Tour
    I know I should be working on taxes but you just don't get weekends like this one very often.  I have been wanting to do this circuit for a long time but have not found the time, conditions, fuel, or something, so have never done the entire loop.  The trip started at Wolf lake, up the Matenuska River, up Ccaribou Creek, through the pass, west to the Little Nelchina, across to Tyone Creek, down Tyone creek to the confluence of the McClaren River and the Big Susitna River, down the Big Su past the Black river, west from the Big Su to Big Lake in the Talkeetnas, south back to the Big Su, down the Big Su and then east to Fog Lakes, south to Stephan Lake, out that drainage to the Talkeetna River, down the Talkeetna river to the Sheep River, east across the Sheep River and continuing east along theTalkeetna Mts and across all of the Montana, Kashwitna, Willow, Deception, Little Su, etc. creeks and rivers to home.
     
    Ended up with 5 hours on the Hobbs and had just a great time looking at the moose and caribou (could not find a wolf though).  Fortunately with skis on, every lake is a potential break area.  I want to do the loop in the summer too but will have to plan out where I can land because it seems my bladder likes to take a break about every hour.
     
    I got a chance to test out some buckshot loads with 18" cyl. bore and 28" full choke to see if there was a difference at 50 to 60 yards for airial gunning.  (It seems the long barrel/full choke has a slight advantage.) 
     
    Picture as I came over the pass from Caribou Creek had me worried everything was going to be fog covered and at the first lake I am sitting right on the edge of the fog bank but from there west it was clear.  The second lake (with deeper snow) is out near the end of Tyone Creek.  I tested out my InReachSE by sending Leni a message from there.  The third lake is big Lake, (out of sequence last picture) up on a bench in the Talkeetnas with almost no vegetation (above tree line).  It was pretty windy there and the lake looked pretty rough so I didn't land.  The next pictures on the ground are at Fog Lakes (still was hard and wind blown).  This is where the guy I am wolf hunting with had an adopted old squatter cabin that the State decided they had to get rid of so they burned it.  It is a real shame since these cabins are usually left unlocked and with some minimal supplies for anyone who gets stranded to use.  We still can use the one up on Big Lake but as mentioned, it is a lot more exposed location and a further point to base out of. 
     
    The flight was just awsome as I said before, the hardest landing was back at Wolf Lake on the glare ice.  A guy in a PA12 came in in front of me (unusual because I am about the only one who uses the lake for flying off of straight skis) but he had built a similar trailer as mine to winch his plane up onto the trailer for transporting to his hangar.  Another cool thing is he had the ice brakes on his skis that Leni was telling me about which are a lever arm with sno machine studs on the end which deploy through a little hole in the ski bottom.  They worked really well and he was able to stop without the required 180 like I have to do on the ice.  Leaves a nice highly visible set of sctratch tracks in the ice.
     
    This was the first flight I made since adding VG's to the underside tips of my wings at mid chord.  I can't say I could tell any difference in the flight characteristics or cruise performance.  The only thing I seemed to notice was that it seemed to give a more pronounced buffet at the point of stall when I was doing a hard slip.  I may be just my perception though.  Plan to add them to the underside of my wings next.


































    • 17 replies
    • 1,286 views


  12. banjoplayer added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    Hey Guys
    I talked to the owner of the Subaru that is for sale on Barnstormers (thanks agin Jim C for the heads up)
    He knows almost nothing about it except that it came out of a KR2, and that it ran when it came out.
    He was going to install it in a Karatoo but found a Continental 65 with a mount that allowed him to bolt it right into his plane, which ended a lot of fitting and fabricating.
    I told him the sale is likely a go and that I would call a trucking firm to see what it's going to cost to get it up here.
    I figure for 2K (Canadian) it is worth the risk.
    Here is a picture of the beast.
    He says the Reduction Drive looks manufactured as opposed to homemade, and has numbers stamped on it.
    Here are a couple of pictures (I hope)
    If the pictures come through, my thanks to C5Engineer's tutorial
    Comes on a motor mount bolted to a pallet ... ready to ship
    What do you guys think? 




    • 0


  13. akflyer added a post in a topic Snowmobiles   

    In moose pass. Good thing you didn't fly out to the other lake but it was a gorgeous day to be out flying. Just got home, my phone died so I didn't get any new pictures today.


    • 0


  14. Deejayel added a post in a topic Those of you with dual wing tanks, lets talk plumbing to the header?   

    Yes. These are for 3/8id lines. I think i got them off ebay. Lemme look.

    Inline Fuel Valve • 3/8" • Vintage Honda Motorcycle Petco... (171035023192)
    4into1motorcycleparts | 4437 | 99.9%
    Quantity: 2
    Sale date: 05/13/13

    $13ea.
    • 0


  15. EDMO added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    Just hope you don't catch anything! 
    ED
    • 0


  16. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Snowmobiles   

    Hey Leni,
     
    Sounds like you had a fun time.  From the pictures it must be a different Trail Lake than the one I am thinking of out by Alexander lake.  No road to that one.  Where is the one you guys had the RC flyin at?
    • 0


  17. 1avidflyer added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    Be careful if you google Karlos Kunner redrives like I did.  It gave me nothing that way but an option of a different spelling,  (Kuner.)  Ended up finding out I could meet beautiful blonde Russian girls.  Got out of there quick, hope I (my computer) didn't catch anything  Jim Chuk
    • 0


  18. EDMO added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    I remember reading about Kunner's redrives - and saw some photos, but no drawings or internal parts.
    EDMO
    • 0


  19. EDMO added a post in a topic Those of you with dual wing tanks, lets talk plumbing to the header?   

    Where did you get that neat little shutoff valve?  How much?  Can you get it for 3/8 ID lines?
    Thanks,
    EDMO
    • 0


  20. marshawk added a post in a topic Jabiru 3300 in Fat Avid   

    The redrive is a 2.58 gear reduction built by Karlo Kunner, he used to do the soob conversions but is retired out in Quebec now, I would throw in a picture but my computer died that has those pictures on it
    • 0


  21. Deejayel added a post in a topic Those of you with dual wing tanks, lets talk plumbing to the header?   

    Picture of my right install

    • 0


  22. Deejayel added a post in a topic Murphy Rebel Elite   

    Soob any good? Itll be another learning curve for me. I got a good grasp of these 2-strokes and I'm liking them. Of course the lyco is easy stuff too
    • 0


  23. EDMO added a post in a topic Murphy Rebel Elite   

    Just guessing - the injected Soob is probably a 2.5 engine - 165 hp? - also guessing Eggenfeldner?   although the alphabet engine (WRX?) or something like that could be 200 hp.  Would doubt that it would be a 3.3 engine.
    EDMO
    • 0


  24. Deejayel added a post in a topic Murphy Rebel Elite   

    Ok. Let me know. Thanks.
    • 0


  25. cowlove added a post in a topic Installing finger strainers on Catalina fiberglass tank? Options?   

    As expected, the tractor fuel pickup/valve (like these http://tinyurl.com/p3ncddr ) was crappy enough that I wouldn't want it anywhere near the plane's fuel system.  If it was just a finger strainer and 1/8" fitting, I would have considered working it over a little bit, but the needle valve seems barely adequate quality for lawn equipment.  
     
    I've gone with soldering my own.  I'll post pictures and my process in a bit (I settled on hot air soldering after a few nasty attempts at other methods)
     
    My Catalina has only the center tank, and the tank bungs are unreinforced and too small to drill out to anything larger than 1/8", so I'm definitely stuck with this approach.  
    • 0