Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. akflyerbob added a topic in Jokes   

    Killing time
    > Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their
    > days interesting. Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went
    > into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5
    > minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.
    >
    > We went up to him and said, "Come on man, how about giving a senior
    > citizen a break?"
    >
    > He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi turd.
    > He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires.
    > So my wife called him a butt-head. He finished the second ticket and put
    > it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third
    > ticket.
    >
    > This went on for about 20 minutes.. The more we abused him, the
    > more tickets he wrote...
    >
    > Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by
    > bus and saw the car had an Obama sticker...
    >
    > We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired..
    >
    > It's important at our age.
    >
    • 1 reply
    • 1,465 views


  2. egp8111 added a post in a topic Rotax 582 real TBO   

    Lonnie,

    A lot of guys here have way more experience than I on this engine change and can give you better advise but I'm in the final (I hope!) stages of converting a KFIII from a 582 to a 912 and can share my experience. It's not that hard but it definatly involves a lot of tinkering especially if there are not off the shelf parts you can buy (or willing to pay the $ for) A partial list of the things I've changed out : engine,engine mount, vibration dampners etc. exhaust, oil cooler, cooling system, hoses, thottle and choke cables,throttle and choke handles, regulator, wiring, most insturments,prop, spinner and misc. cowling modifications. I'm sure there is some stuff I've left outbut you get the idea. The best help is to find someone with an instillation like you want copy it. No need to reinvent the wheel. Get plenty of pictures if you can, it's amazing how much time you can spend trying to figure out hose and cable routing etc. Like we said in school "why study use your buddy". Personally I found the old KFIII builder's manual section on the 912 instillation pretty of limited use. In the middle of all trashing about I started casting wistful looks at the old 582 sitting in the corner wondering(hoping) if was going to be worth it.

    EG
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  3. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   


    Can you tell me where you are talking about? The elevator pushrod rod-end?
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  4. Lonnie added a post in a topic Always check for overflow   

    You guys are crazy hell glad your still alive much less messing up your airplane. WOW!!!!
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  5. Lonnie added a post in a topic Rotax 582 real TBO   

    Guys thanks a lot for the input and I understand Joey and don't mean to start a big discussion on peoples opinions. I do understand that the more you run something the better it will be. My avid sat for a long time with not much flying done on it but I have been flying it a lot lately and it has been running very good but it has been getting hard to start but the plugs were in terrible shape. I have not run it yet since the plugs change because of doing some work to the exhaust. I am looking very closely at putting the 912S on it and in fact I have the Rotax dealer keeping his eyes open for one and he says he may have one coming in. My engine is a Blue head and I run 100LL in it due to the ease and availability. The oil I have used is pennzoil and also AV-1 oil I bought from CPS few years back in 5 gallon bucket. It runs great and I also have the oil injection and the automatic fuel/air adjustment bought from Green sky. The EGT's tend to be very stable at 1000 to 1050 all the time at cruise settings. Thanks for the input. What will I have to do besides put diff motor mount on if I were to change to 912S such as cowling and other things to consider. If I do change the engine I will be selling my Blue head and also have a nice 3 blade Prop made by Hot Prop if anyone is interested. Thanks Lonnie
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  6. akflyer added a post in a topic Always check for overflow   

    Holy cripes! Glad you didnt ding that pretty new bird up Randy! Mine if going on Skis tomorrow. That was one thing I loved about the floats.. Overflow and thin ice were a non issue!

    Glad your still able to fly with no major repairs.


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  7. akflyer added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   

    Looking good Larry! One word of caution.. The metal washer on the threaded shaft should be replaced with a teflon washer. The damn thing will rattle on the shaft and bugger up the threads and you wont have full pitch range adjustment.. Been there done that twice, and it is not cheap to replace the shaft. Have not had any issues with the teflon washer in mine.



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  8. akflyer added a post in a topic Rotax 582 real TBO   

    I know of people who have had engine failures at 5 hrs and I know of 5 or 6 others up here who ran them 1500 + hrs on trikes at an old flight school. The guys at the flight school would run compression checks and pressure test the seals, if all was good they ran the piss out of them. If the seals start to leak, you put new seals in them and run the piss out of it. If you fly it or atleast run it once a week and keep the bearings lubed up, there is no good reason for the 300 hr TBO. The engine will most times let you know there is something going on with it be it getting hard to start, not pull full RPM, fuel consumption changes etc. I have no plans what soever to to a rebuild at 300 hrs.


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  9. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Rotax 582 real TBO   

    Your opening up a can o worms here. The answer is dependent on just too many factors and no one likes to tell because of liability reasons. What kind of oil are you running? How often do you run it? You running Avgas or 91 Octane pump gas? See where this is going? I run 92 Octane Pump gas with Amsoil Saber 100:1 mix oil pre mixed NO INJECTOR. My engine is ran at least once a week most times more. I plan on running it at least 500 hours as long as the compression remains solid and it doesn't develop any leaks. Things that decrease the life is carbon build up,corrosion from sitting, and poor tuning. My last 582 which I bought used had 2200 hours it total time. It had been fully rebuilt twice is all. It had 340 hours on it when I bought it. It sat around only being started once in a while, while I did my rebuild for 4 years. I flew it for 25 hours before trading it in on my Blue Head and it was running just fine. Hope this helps... I'm a believer that 300 hours is pretty overkill....but...you know what they say..2 strokes run awesome right up till when the quit.
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  10. dholly added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   


    Lol, I have to run XP Pro on my biz lappy too. Here's what you can do... Go to Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP, then download and follow the prompts to install the free ImageResizer.exe application. See the quick tutorial at eHow or wikiHow showing how to resize pics. Works great, will just make a smaller size copy without losing original pic or resolution.

    Fuse looks pretty good under the rat fabric!
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  11. horsepower added a post in a topic Rotax 582 real TBO   

    You could tear it down and inspect it and if everything looks good just put new seals and maybe rings.I would be afraid to run it much with the front seal leaking.That could cause a lean condition and then you would be out a whole rebuild.I do think the 300 hours is a major overkill but 2 strokes cant have a pressure leak. Good Luck Randy
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  12. Lonnie added a topic in Rotax and other engines   

    Rotax 582 real TBO
    Hello all I have blue head 582 with about 270 hours and pulled the exhaust all looks good no carb build up. I have a little bit of oil from front seal but just little not a lot. I was wondering how many of you run the 582 past TBO of 300 hours.
    • 5 replies
    • 1,933,208 views


  13. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   


    Okay, Doug. Critique taken to heart. I have reset my camera to take smaller pics, this is the easiest way to do this. You must have one of those new fancy fandangled computers. My ol POS doesn't have that function (XP Pro).

    For the record, I didn't do anything on the plane tonight. Too tired...
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  14. Lonnie added a post in a topic Beautiflul Fall flying days   

    yea it was however I have a real narrow about 5" tail wheel. I feel like I need a wider more bush tail wheel. any advice on that? Also today I was changing the plugs on my plane and I will be honest I have not been fully aware of what needed to be done on the 582. I have about 265 hours on the engine and haven't had it took down or decarbed. I noticed a little bit of oil on the front of the engine but it was not gear oil. I called the local Rotax dealer Ronnie Smith (South MS Aircraft) and he told me that I need to at minimum tear down and inspect and put new seals and gaskets in it. He said generally at 300 that's TBO and would run around $2600 or just tear down inspect and new seals and gaskets around 1K. I am not sure what to do If the new seat gives me the room I need to be comfortable I will plane on putting a 912S in it and fix it up and keep it. However if its still puts my leg asleep I will prob just OH the 582 and put up for sale and fly it till I do and then get something that is more comfortable. So any advice on this.
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  15. dholly added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   

    Larry- I'm looking forward to this! Also, lotsa lotsa pics, but -please- consider downsizing your pics before posting. 800 x 600 makes viewing much quicker/easier without having to scroll around. Thanks!

    P.P.S. - On the outside chance someone does not know how to do that, right-click on the pic file or thumbnail in My Pictures and select Resize-Medium to make a smaller hi-rez copy (that is saved with the original), then attach the resized pic to your post.
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  16. Bandit added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Wing Jack
    Built this wing jack for $12. Now I can change wheels or install ski's by myself.

    • 1 reply
    • 800 views


  17. SuberAvid added a topic in Close Call's and dumb stunts   

    Always check for overflow
    This one got burned into the "stupid things not to do" part of my brain this weekend. Fortunately I was being watched over as well. I was out playing in the Avid+ seeing what she woud do with a courser pitch on the prop and started lake jumping on the ice. Note that I still have my little 21" tires on the plane, but they are 12" wide so they are rolling through the snow cover pretty good and the lakes don't have quite the snow cover on them due to the melting before they froze up good. I had hopped about a half dozen lakes and slowed down pretty slow but not quite stopped. They felt solid and showed no water in the tracks when I flew over my tracks to check them. About that time I was feeling the urge for a break and I had just rolled a lake about 1/4 mile away and thought I would land on the slightly bigger lake below me. I DIDN'T bother to track it; a very big mistake. I landed and was doing a fast taxi to the other end to turn around when I started breaking throught the overflow. I figured I was too close to the end of the lake to get airborne and clar the trees so I attempted to carve a long turn with as much speed as I could maintain. Unfortunately the overflow kept getting deeper as I went and with full up elevator the tail was still coming up as I shut it down. I was several miles from any houses and cabins and a lot of lakes and swamps in between with my pretty new plane standing on its nose. I was in about 4" of overflow with 2" of slushy crust over the water on the ice below. I couldn't reach the tail but I was able to push up on the prop hub and get the tail to come back down. I was amazed to see absolutely no damage to the prop, not even a nick in the nickle leading edge; it just smashed my fancy fiberglass spinner. I unscrewed it and then took my comb and carefully scraped all of the ice that had covered the prop and hub to make sure it was smooth and still balanced. There fortunately was not much ice frozen to the top of the wings, just a spray frozen to the underside above the tires and the gear legs were covered in ice up to the fusalage. I manged to drag the tail around to point the plane at the far side of the lake and knew I either had to fly it out now or it was going to be a lot more difficult to get out later; and a long unpleasant night. When I fired it up, the prop ran smooth. I kept the tail as low as I could busting through a lot of overflow and finally hit a short stretch that was a little more solid that gave me just enough speed to get most of the weight on the wings when I hit the overflow on the other side I could stay on top and get it in the air. I think the extra HP of the Subie really helped in this case. I am not sure my 582 would have been able to drag me through the crud fast enough to get me airborne.

    I feel pretty stupid but I was able to learn my lesson pretty cheap; one spinner, a brused ego and hopefully smart enough not to make the same mistake again. I did get to releive myself though. It is time to put this bird on skis.
    • 6 replies
    • 2,366 views


  18. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Beautiflul Fall flying days   



    Looking good Lonie; an Avid dooing what it is supposed to be doing. That looks like some pretty fine sand from your TW track.
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  19. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   

    Day #4, 11-28-10

    Today I removed the IVO prop, drained and removed the rubber lines in the cooling system and took off some more fabric from the back of the fuselage.

    Here is an "exploded view" of the stack-up of parts on my adjustable IVO prop hub, a couple of detail shots of the heater core valve that was installed, and the progress on the fabric removal.





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  20. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   

    Day #3 11-27-10

    I started removing fabric today. I'm starting on the tail. The hardware attaching the rudder is rust-frozen in place, so that will be an on-going project. I might actually rework the hinge design for the rudder. I really don't like the "rod-end" style hinges that are on the plane. I may go to a more standard "pin" style hinge, like on my 1050 model IV.



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  21. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   

    Day #2, 11-26-10

    With the help of some information from BRS, I removed the recovery parachute from the plane today. I do not plan on reinstalling the parachute. In my opinion, it is unnecessary, excess weight on a very safe designed airplane. Here is the information I got from BRS:
    BRS-5CanReturn.pdf
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  22. Av8r3400 added a topic in Kitfox IV   

    Classic IV Restoration
    This is going to be an ongoing documentation of the restoration of my Kitfox Classic IV. Hopefully by documenting my trials and tribulations this can help someone else who is doing a project like this.

    Day #1, 11-21-2010

    Organized the shop and pulled off the wings of the plane. The h-stab and elevator were already off and hanging on the wall


    • 452 replies
    • 67,044 views


  23. Lonnie added a post in a topic Beautiflul Fall flying days   

    beautiful day on nearby river sandbar hopping
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  24. horsepower added a post in a topic Project is off the ground   

    Hell Yes,The more info the better.Thats what I like about this forum,you learn from your own and everybody elses mistakes and can collect a wealth of information.The builders manuals are not worth much so its all up to what ever we can find out from other builders.Good luck on your project. Randy
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  25. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Project is off the ground   

    Would anyone be interested in following the rebuild process if I post pictures and a narrative here?
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