Activity Stream

ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 5 Jan 2013

Hi Ed,
I had three differnt nosewheels on my MKIV. I enjoy tinkering and improving. It came with the original steerable milk stool solid fork. I found an RV castering nosewheel which I really liked, but was always afraid of a landing disaster considering some of the places I like to go. It made me nervous that I might someday drop it into a gopher hole and become a pole vaulter. I ended up being very satisfied with Wade Schmidt's trailing link design. Best of everything from my perspective. I could drive right over a 4x4 and keep on rolling. Better than you could do with the mains! The only problem was cost. He lives near me and used me as a guinnea pig to build the first heavy duty one and I tested it on my Avid. I ende up getting to keep it for basically the cost of parts. If I wanted to buy one now (if he was still makeing them) it would cost around $1000.00. That's why I am interested in seeing if I can make the big Rans fork work. It's $190.00 or so. A low cost fun experiment. FYI, Wade's trailing link nosewheel was steerable too.
Chris

0

ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Hi Ed,
I think this plane has the 'original" nose gear, an RV-6 style affair like I had on my original MKIV for a while. I am planning to see if I can install a Rans nose fork sometime in the near future, but I want to get the plane in the air first. Right now I am focusing on tasks that must be completed to make it airworthy and a solid reliable basic airplane that I can fly. Then I will start on small improvement projects. While I love to tinker, I definitely fall more into the "flyer" category than "builder" category. My main goal with this plane is to have something reliable and fun to fly while I am repairing my Magnum which is the plane I love and really want to be in.
Chris

0

EDMO added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Chris,
the last time I saw a RANs nose gear it was steerable - not castoring. Not sure if you want to go that way.
I would be interested in what you find out about it.
ED in MO

0

ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Hi Doug,
Vince bought the Avid Plus and firewall forward from Airdale. However, it turns out that the firewall forward came off a stretched 912 MKIV that Airdale bought back from the widow of a guy who did a beautiful job building the MKIV but died before it could be flown. So he got the engine already attached to the mount as an assembly with his "kit". I know this because of conversations with Vince and the fact that one of my other friends bought the MKIV sans engine and mount from Airdale just after Vince (who I did not know at the time) had purchased his setup from Airdale. At that time they were robbing Peter to pay Paul and lots of wierd deals were happening. My buddy was forced to buy a subaru engine with the MKIV (they would not sell this beautiful completed plane-FWF to him without the engine. My friend turned around and sold the subaru FWF which had come off yet another rusted out Avid on floats that Airdale had and was rebuilding. My friend bought another engine mount from Airdale(which was terribly made compared to the one that is on the Fat Avid) in that the carbs had to be mounted out instead of in, and there were a ton of interference issues. Turns out this was welded up was during a time when a lot of knowledge was being lost. The engine mount jig placed the engine in the correct position relative to the firewall, but the interconnect tubings were all messed up and didn't contain clearance bends and so forth that were required...but I digress. Now what was it you were asking? I will see if I got invoices and lists from Vince. I got a lot of stuff that I haven't even looked at yet. By the way, my friend who bought the Mark IV that originally had the engine and mount that is now on my plane is jealous and a bit annoyed at what he had to go through to get his bird going with the same engine it originally had on it! He is here in the Tri Cities Wa near me and is a white water kayaker like me. We have both fabricated kayak mounts for our planes and do a lot of flying to boating and camping destinations together.

Oh the nose gear. I don't know. I assume it has the gear Airdale sold with it. It is an RV-6 style nosewheel assembly. I intend to keep this plane tri gear because of the expense to change to TW gear, plus I already have a beautiful tailwheel Magnum that I wrecked and am repairing. The only change I may make to the Fat Avid is seeing if I can install a RANS bush nosewheel assembly because it looks like a fun inexpensive project. I can get the Rans assembly for about $200.00 instead of well over $1000.00 for the tailwheel gear legs or a Grove Spring.
Chris

0

EDMO added a post in a topic Door Vents 4 Jan 2013

Remote triggers are no problem - Just ask any Towel-head!

Permit? No permit needed for "self-defense"! :lol:/>

Very interesting book I read many years ago about our first "Ace": A schoolteacher from Texas by the name of Anderson, I believe, in WW1, who mounted bazookas under the wings of his small fabric-covered "air-observer" plane and "Killed" 5 German tanks with it.

BTW: When I worked for Dominion propeller in Anchorage, there were several props that came in for repair with bullet holes in them - strangely, all bullets entered from the BACKSIDE of the prop! Some owners filled the holes with lead and painted over them - when we blasted the blade, the lead would show up and got the blade condemned, and strangely, no one ever knew that the prop had been shot when they brought it in!
Moral: Shoot behind you, not in front!

Anyone want to buy a big Alaskan Alpha-Wolf headdress? Yes, it is legal - but not legal in Canada.
ED in MO

0

EDMO added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Chris,
Do you have the Original Avid nose gear or the aftermarket attachment on this plane? I would sure like to see some photos either way while you have it apart.
Thanks again for the phone number - I will be talking to him.
2nd time to try to post this today - server has problems????/>?
ED in MO
BTW: With all these "Fat Avids" around, I wonder if I should rename mine "FAT Foxy Flapper", since it is now 6 inches wider than the old KF2 was?

0

ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic AVID Flyer Belly Cargo Pod 4 Jan 2013

Not quite the same as a cargo pod, but couldn't resist since it is similar. My other favorite activity besides flying is whitewater kayaking. Turns out the two hobbies mesh perfectly for me as a lot of airstrips are in the bottom of river valleys. There is nothing better in the world to me than flying somewhere to kayak. It makes the trip there and back awesome, and the activity while there awesome too. Just doesn't get any better than that! Thought I'd throw a few pics of my kayak mounts in case it might spawn any cargo pod ideas. Turns out kayaks make great cargo pods. One of the shots is one someone took at the Arlington Fly-in where I took my kayak just to show the possibility. It ended up in an advertisement the following year!

Chris

0

dholly added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Chris - the only specs I have on the teleflex cables are what you see on the tag. As you probably know, the builders manual supplied with the full Avid+ kits consisted of a Mk-IV builders manual (exactly the same as I had for my Mk-IV) plus a few extra photo series, but minimal additional instruction or other documentation beyond the purchase invoice and pull sheet. Just curious, did Vince's original purchase info list a serial number? Was it a FWB kit or complete with the 912uls FWF from Airdale? Mine was FWB which is why I had interest in the KF5 cowl that eventually ended up with Marshawk. I'd like to compare our two purchase invoices etc. some time, see how much the nose gear and other differences played out cost wise.
-Doug

0

ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Randy,
I forgot to mention I LOVE your flap handle assembly. Ingenious! Vince had an electric linear actuator installed under the passenger seat to accomplish the same thing which I immediately tore out because I wanted a manual system. I ended up re installing it because as you stated ther is no good way to get the required friction in this setup. It works quite well actually, but eventually I would like to implement what you have done. At some later date I would like to get more pictures of exactly how you built your flap detent assembly and copy it. For now though I have bigger fish to fry.
Chris

0

dholly added a post in a topic AVID Flyer Belly Cargo Pod 4 Jan 2013

I'm gonna be real jealous if this pans out, I like the overall size/shape and the openings of this belly pod better than any other that I've seen. I would LOVE to have one belly pod to swap between my three planes if mounting tabs were positioned with both bungee / aluminum spring gear and trigear / taildragger in mind. Ideally, it would also have to work with the standard belly radiator and float rigging. If you can give me all that, I would very strongly consider going in for one even though I suspect the shipping from AK to NY would be a killer.

0

ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Very helpful Randy! I am getting exactly the numbers you are for deflection with and without flaps, and with the travel limit established by the stick hard limits, except with full flap deflection where the down flap travel is the limit, which is how I think it should be. That is encouraging. What I am trying to do now, is make all this happen with just enough cable travel so the cable doesn't end up extended almost to its limit with flaps and aileron applied (at the 40 degree position) that is where I think the assembly is weakest....(cable fully extended in compression up at the flapperon horns). It looks like if Max's 5 inch total travel cable were really 4 inch travel, it would end up about right.

One other thing that I hadn't thought about when I bought this plane. I am becoming more and more concerned about the whole concept of using push pull cables in a flight critical application in the first place. It didn't even cross my mind initally, but the more I tinker with the system it seems fatally flawed, in that you cannot inspect the cables, so how do you know their actual condition or where they are in their flex life? What is everyone's plan to deal with this? I've been thinking about a hard and fast replacement rule, that every 200 or 300 hours I replace them no matter what. The more I think about this control system the more it bothers me. I really like the linkages that were in my other Avids. Everything in plain sight with no hidden potential gotchas.

Chris

0

ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Thank you for the pictures! Your cables appear to be like Max's with 5 inch total travel. Do you remember if Boise Rigging rated them at 4 or 5 inch travel?
Chris

0

lv2plyguitar added a post in a topic AVID Flyer Belly Cargo Pod 4 Jan 2013

I would be happy to lend him the cargo pod. Just let me know when you want to coordinate.

0

SuberAvid added a post in a topic AVID Flyer Belly Cargo Pod 4 Jan 2013

Jeff,

A buddy of mine is good friends with Randy Appling of Plaschem in Wasilla. He has been making a lot of experimental carbon fiber Cub parts an is a real nice guy. We should take your belly pod over there and see what he would do a run of say 6 of them for. With yours as a mold plug it would be much easier and faster for him to build the mold and carbon fiber would be much lighter than fiberglass. I think he would give us a price and we could then see who would want them.

Randy

0

SuberAvid added a post in a topic Door Vents 4 Jan 2013

I've thought about adding an opening window just in case I ever get an arial wolf control permit:biggun:src="http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/public/style_emoticons/default/biggun.gif">

but then a shotgun mounted on the wing strut with a remote triger would be even more fun!

0

1avidflyer added a post in a topic bing 54 carb vent lines 4 Jan 2013

I just dug up 3 different Rotax 582 and 532 owner's manuals, and also my 170 page overhaul manual for 462,532,582 rotax engines. They all say that the carb or carburators should be set at a right angle to the crankshaft. That ofcourse would make them level if the engine was level. If you have either of these books, look at page 13 of the owner's manual, or page 155 of the overhaul manual. Is is possible that that is what the guy at Bing meant? Did you get the guy's name that you talked to? One time when I called them I got a young guy that didn't know what he was talking about, wasn't really the tech guy, I think he mostly took orders. The guy to talk to there is named Charlie. He knows those carbs inside and out. Take care, Jim Chuk

PS after I posted this message, I looked at it to see it came out okey, and noticed the pictures on the manuals. Carbs are dead level with the engine there as well....

0

SuberAvid added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Chris,

I attached some pictures of my setup. I had to offset my cable ends at the flaperon end to lower them from the welded on mounting plates to position them for the correct full travel of the flaperon arm. Three of the pics show the offset plate setup which I did with bolts rather than welding since I didn't want to weld on the plane when I discovered the problem at this point in the finish process. Yours may have a similar problem if you cannot get the full flaperon travel. Mine gets full flaperon travel limited only by the stick and I also get full flaps to 26 degrees. With full flaps and full stick deflection my down flaperon is a 40 degrees deflection down.

I also attached some pics of my flap system; I had to shorten the T arm that pulls the flap belcrank arms to 2/3 the original length to get a longer throw on my flap lever and then built a push button detent to get positive lock on my flap positions. There was just no way to do a friction system like the Avid MK IV since the flap lever travel is much less from off to full on so the flaps have too much leverage on the system without a good positive position lock.

Also, the cables have to cross twice to go to the correct flaperon; i.e. the left belcrank cable goes to the left flaperon and right to right (last pic).

Hope that helps,

Randy

0

dholly added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club 4 Jan 2013

Chris - Mine aren't rigged right now either, but here are some pics that show my cable travel and the part number from Boise Rigging. They feel plenty strong and do seem to stay quite straight when at full travel. Doesn't appear to be a terribly high concern of over extension kinking here? In any event, I would think that my cables and rigging should be the same as yours, since these were both full Avid+ kits. Fat Avid upgrades might have differences due to retrofitting the existing wings/flaperons from different Avid Flyer models onto the new fat fuse. I know Randy and Jack had to extend flaperon horns which probably makes their travel throw different.

0

dholly added a post in a topic Floats, Skis, Towing, Wheel Pants. 4 Jan 2013

excellent references, thanks

0

lv2plyguitar added a post in a topic bing 54 carb vent lines 4 Jan 2013

I dont know. I would call bing and ask them the same question I did. I am not sure I am satisfied with their answer. You should just for giggles loosen one of your carb boots and tilt the carb at like 10 degrees tighten it back up and then start your engine with fuel on and see what it does.

Even in the AVID manual it says to set the carb at level flight.