Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. akflyer added a post in a topic First time on the Ice today   


    Chris

    The guy that has that beautiful 180, Kevin, is the "ring leader" and operates a heli ski business up here in the winter. He will be heading to AK in 2 weeks to get the season kicked off. The snow boarder in the picture flys the 170. Kevin and his wife fly up to the areas pictured and hike up a ways and ski, Rob was doing the same with the snowboarding. It is a kick to fly out to an area and ski just as you did with the kayak. The biggest thing you would probably need is a set of wheel skis and you would be ready to start playing in some kick as back country areas!


    • 0


  2. Guest added a post in a topic First time on the Ice today   

    Wow Joey you inspire me!

    That looks like so much fun! The closest I've come to doing that is landing on our local runways after its snowed, so that doesn't even begin to count. (Although it is a lot of fun!)

    So what's with the photo of the snowboarder? One of you guys? That looks a whole lot more fun than Ice fishing to me. Done a fair amount of back country skiing hiking for my turns and a TON of inbounds skiing. That would be almost as fun as flying to kayak!

    You've just given me new possibilities. However, I can see there are many more things to consider and experience I would need to gain before heading off to the Idaho or Cascade mountains in the winter to land on a lake and hike for turns!

    Chris B
    • 0


  3. Guest added a post in a topic Ivo prop constant speed   


    Hi!
    I did a lot of stuff with the IVO IFA with polyswitches and the like, but not a drill motor mod. That is someone else. I'm interested it it when you find out though, because I would love to put an IVO IFA or a GSC IFA on this 912s, and the motor reliability was always a problem!
    ChrisB
    • 0


  4. akflyer added a post in a topic First time on the Ice today   



    unless your using full lotus floats for your ski's

    That is one HUGE safety factor that has given me an edge many times in the past. Where others are stuck in overflow, or super light fluffy snow and sunk in to the windows, I stay right on top nice and dry! The down side to it is the decreased climb performance.


    • 0


  5. C5Engineer added a post in a topic First time on the Ice today   


    Larry if you've been following the thread on BCP you know the Kevin was nervous about bringing us up there. He was out there every day last week and also the evening before we came up. He was intimately familiar with the conditions. I would NEVER try to land one of these places on wheels without someone standing on the ground with first hand knowledge of the conditions. It's nearly impossible to read the surface of snow with my limited experience flying off it. The lake where the video was shot had about 1/2" on top of the smooth as glass ice. It was just like landing on a dry lake bed....perfect conditions. Sounds like none of them are even useable now due to warm temps all week.
    • 0


  6. akflyer added a post in a topic Ivo prop constant speed   


    In the 3 that have been replaced on mine it is due to the windings breaking at a solder joint. This last one I have been fixing it myself about every 40 hrs or so. I have no idea where they get the pricing from as I can order this motor (Johnson motor part number) for less than 5 bucks each... if I buy 150 of them at a time I am sure IVO gets them bulk them rapes the heck out of us on the charges.

    I will dig up ChrisB's post on the drill motor mod. and check it out.

    I love my IVO and never want to be without it due to the performance increases I have seen, especially on floats so I will keep fighting the issues as they come up, I just wish they could find a better motor to use that will take the constant vibration better.


    • 0


  7. JustNorm added a post in a topic First time on the Ice today   

    Thanks for taking us flying today. I am amazed that you can fly to Ice fish and then home to the beach.


    • 0


  8. napierm added a post in a topic Ivo prop constant speed   

    What is it in the motors that is breaking? The duty cycle of them is low enough that they should last if well built and matched to the load. The actuator motor in an autopilot will easily last 2000 hours of constant motion and that is the old brushed versions. The new stepper motor versions - I have no idea how long; basically limited by the life of the bearings.

    Sounds like IVO needs to do some re-engineering.
    • 0


  9. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic First time on the Ice today   

    Cool video and photos, Joey. Looks like fun.

    A bit of warning, though. I watched a guy flip a very nice Avid IV last winter landing in 3-4" of snow on a lake. He was on the same Douglass wheel and "King Fox" tire combination you have. The snow was just a little slushy on the bottom so when he touched down he stuck like glue and over he went.

    Snowy lakes and tires on airplanes don't mix well...
    • 0


  10. BryceKat added a post in a topic Ivo prop constant speed   

    Leni and Randy,
    Chris Bolkan posted a mod on the yahoo site about adopting an electric drill motor b/c of the problems y'all arre having
    It's posted in the files section. Bryce
    • 0


  11. C5Engineer added a post in a topic First time on the Ice today   

    Weather here has warmed up all week. Heard the lakes we landed are all soggy. I feel fortunate we got the opportunity to do this. Be sure to check out the video in the above post.
    • 0


  12. daphne53932 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Wanted
    Wanted:
    Kitfox 6 or 7 Grove Gear
    Prefer undamaged and gun drilled for brakes
    Also need radius blocks for mounting gear
    Joe Boyle
    301-797-1875
    joeboyle1@verizon.net
    • 0 replies
    • 609 views


  13. daphne53932 added a topic in For Sale and wanted, you got it, I want it   

    Wanted
    Wanted:
    Kitfox 6 or 7 gear for 1550 gross.
    Preferred undamaged and gun drilled for brakes.
    Also need radius blocks for mounting gear.
    Joe Boyle
    301-797-1875
    joeboyle1@verizon.net
    • 0 replies
    • 1,047 views


  14. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Ivo prop constant speed   

    I'm still having fun tweaking with mine manually while I fly. Can you turn the CS function on and off so you can take off and land with the prop on manual?

    After sending my electric motor back twice to get fixed then replaced, I would have the same concerns as Leni. The RPM of the Subi is rock solid compared to the 582 in cruise though, no matter how much the wind in banging you around.
    • 0


  15. EDMO added a post in a topic Leading Edge   

    I built mine a lot stronger because I extended 4 inches instead of the normal 2 inches. You can find my photos in the earlier post I made - I used 9460 to solidly glue a bunch of plywood nose ribs to the old ribs and false ribs, using these to hold a 1 1/4 inch diameter aluminum tube for the new LE, and covering with 1mm plywood, 12 inches on top and 6 inches on bottom. I figure I added 10 or 12 lbs total and gained 8 or 9 square feet of area.
    Your foam and fg wont add near that much weight.
    ED in MO
    • 0


  16. 1avidflyer added a post in a topic Leading Edge   

    I'm always reluctant to drill holes in structural parts as well. I can't argue with your point about weaking the spar when the holes are drilled in the bottom. Weather it's enough to hurt, I don't know, but it's another reason I'm liking the idea of a foam block glued on the front of the spar and then shaped to the correct contour. If a guy wanted to, I'm sure one could set up a jig and hotwire pieces of foam to the exact shape you want, maybe 2' long pieces or something like that. More I think about this, the better I like it. I know there is fiberglass resin that wouldn't melt the foam also. T C Jim Chuk


    • 0


  17. EDMO added a post in a topic GROVE SPRING GEAR AND MATCO WHEELS, BRAKES, AXELS   

    That looks like what I have - the lower blocks could be made locally by any machine shop out of aluminum.
    ED in MO
    edit: Joe says he needs a Kitfox 6 or 7 gear for his project, so my KF1-4 gear is still for sale.
    Joe dont have an Avid or Kitfox - He has a Whirlwind experimental.
    ED
    • 0


  18. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic GROVE SPRING GEAR AND MATCO WHEELS, BRAKES, AXELS   

    My flying plane just has a "square" clamping arrangement, but the clamps bolt to the original front gear mount and forward float mount positions allowing them to rotate about the longitudinal axis of the bottom stringer. The lower blocks are "not" radius blocks.

    I don't have a good closeup photo of the mount (I'll get one) but here is what I have...



    I'm doing some reinforcement of this area in my project plane and will take a bunch of photos when I get to that phase of construction. I can only assume that this mount is what Grove quoted me $400 for the pair and hardware. (Fairly complex machining)
    • 0


  19. EDMO added a post in a topic GROVE SPRING GEAR AND MATCO WHEELS, BRAKES, AXELS   

    I dont have any photos of the old mounting - My project has flat fuselage tubes to which the radius blocks bolt to, top and bottom of spring, and the old KF7 had a different style altogether with nylon radius blocks inside of either steel or aluminum mounts - I have all 3 styles of mounts, but only have the upper part of the early mount which attaches to the gear leg tabs on the fuselage - the lower, clamp block is what I dont have.
    Is your lower block a radius block, or just a milled and drilled flat clamp block?
    Ed in MO
    • 0


  20. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic GROVE SPRING GEAR AND MATCO WHEELS, BRAKES, AXELS   


    Do you have a photo of your gear installation? It seems to have been mounted much differently than mine (Hence my questions and confusion).

    I will agree wholeheartedly that Grove gear works far superior to the original bungee gear.
    • 0


  21. EDMO added a post in a topic Elt - save life?   

    I think I will stay with the 680 battery and tell the wife to lose 10 or 100 pounds!
    Ed in MO
    • 0


  22. EDMO added a post in a topic Leading Edge   

    Jim,
    The only problem I see with this drawing is the rivets on the very center of the bottom of the spar - There were warnings about not putting any holes/rivets in the top center and bottom center of round spars because this is where the most stress/strength/resistance to bending is. And, on the spars with the web in the center, Kitfox says NEVER drill into the web.
    Offsetting the rivets from center would be better structurally, IMO.
    How about wrapping the LE skin farther underneath and riveting/gluing it to the capstrips?
    ED in MO
    • 0


  23. akflyer added a post in a topic Ivo prop constant speed   


    Let me know how it works out! I was thinking about springing for a CS module, but as much as it will be changing the pitch, I dont see the electric motors lasting very long. I have gone through 4 already and at 95 bucks a pop they are getting spendy.


    • 0


  24. EDMO added a post in a topic GROVE SPRING GEAR AND MATCO WHEELS, BRAKES, AXELS   

    The radius (clamp) blocks are $24 or $29 each in my Grove catalog, depending on size you order.
    This is not the mounting blocks that fit the original gear - just the other half of the set.
    I dont know anything about the Avids - Mine are Kitfox.
    I understand that the original Kitfox gear will fit the Avid - so why wont these mounts fit too?
    I am told that this conversion works better than the original Avid gear.
    ED in MO
    • 0


  25. EDMO added a post in a topic GROVE SPRING GEAR AND MATCO WHEELS, BRAKES, AXELS   

    Joe,
    I just measured the flat on the gear is 32 1/2 inches before the bends start. The bends, center to center, as best I can measure are 34 1/2 to 35 inches. I measured the underside of the gear - forgot you asked about top, but it should be nearly the same.
    If you are interested, call me at 314-753-8587 afternoons or evenings CST.
    ED in MO
    • 0