Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. dholly added a post in a topic Fuselage question   

    Well, anyone who has had to pick up the ass end or wrestle a taildragger around with the wings folded knows it's quite a chore for one. Some time ago I saw a wheeled tail stand meant to pin to those rear fuse attach points. I welded one up from scrap and highly recommend it (pic attached). Makes moving the plane around a simple one-man, one-handed job. Plus, with the fuse level, you can walk under the wing tips rather than around and it's much easier to work on underside of fuse or tail feathers without stooping, etc. You can see in the pic I also have a tow bar for the KF but figure the plane is safer strapped on the trailer so I've never actually used it for towing. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable towing fast or far with it. A little piece of triva between the Avid/KF designs... the ventral fin for my KF III attaches at the forward fuselage cross tube but the rear attaches via the tail spring clamp bolts, something my Avid doesn't have. Ie., in this case, the parts are not interchangeable.

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  2. akflyerbob added a post in a topic Airventure!   

    I have a question. When I used to race snowmachines for skidoo, we had our own team sponsered by skidoo.
    All we supplied was the entry fee, they gave us machines, parts, etc.
    Then they entered their own teams, still supporting us tho, and litterly putting us out of compitition.
    In short, You can't compete with the factory.
    At AirV, is their a separate class for "factory kit built" planes???
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  3. dholly added a post in a topic Avid / Kitfox Accident Causes and Rates   


    I guess they figure if they send the issues out a month or two early they can justify sending their subscription renewals 6 months early too.

    BTW, the same issue has a good run down of current EFIS offerings that might be helpful for anyone interested.
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  4. akflyer added a post in a topic Avid / Kitfox Accident Causes and Rates   

    Hey Doug, just caught your subject line... how the hell did you get a sneak peak at the September 2010 issue


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  5. jackak added a post in a topic Fuselage question   

    Ben,
    That's where the original Avid tow-bar attaches and if you're on floats, you can attach a belly fin.
    Jackak
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  6. Benbell4140 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Fuselage question
    Looking at a mk4 to buy, do you guys know what the two holes that are built in to the bottom of the fuse are for? They are located under the horizontal stab at the very bottom longerons. Looks like some sleeves welded to the fuse so you can bolt somthing to them. Also serial # is 985 I was reading that mk4's start at 1000?
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  7. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Airventure!   

    Too bad you missed this time, Doug. We had a great week. Lots of flying in the UL field. A few lessons learned too. That field is a BITCH in a faster airplane... I may have a video of the ride along if it turns out.

    I attended the "Avid Lunch" too. Met lots of new people and some old friends too. I have some pics of this coming...

    Kitfox won the Lindy for their 7SS with the Rotec installation. Very pretty plane.
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  8. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Avid / Kitfox Accident Causes and Rates   

    Just logged on after reading that article. A very good read.

    I think you are probably partially correct, Leni, in your evaluation of 2-stroke operations and operators. That may be a huge factor.



    The gist I took from the article is still that the basic design, Avid or Kitfox is still one of the safer designs flying.
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  9. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Hacman Kit install   

    I will keep updating this thread and show how I routed everything for an Avid/Kitfox install. I'm also going to draw up a schematic because their instructions are not very clear.
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  10. akflyer added a post in a topic Hacman Kit install   


    You gonna post up some of the answers to help others with the install? Maybe whip up one of your tutorial threads on it


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  11. akflyer added a post in a topic Roush Racing can do racecars but not airplanes   

    That is what I would be doing if I had his money... well, as long as i was in a jet anyway.. if I was in a cub her ass would be in the back and the playing would have to wait til we landed


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  12. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Hacman Kit install   

    I was going to do my install today but I forgot the instructions with the plumbing schematic at home so I shot some touch and go's and changed my gearbox oil since I just rolled over 100 hours. I swapped it with some Royal Purple 85W-140. That junk was $17 for a quart but it's good stuff and it's full synthetic. Less drag and better heat dissapation. Here's the Hac controller installed in my panel.




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  13. akflyer added a post in a topic Avid / Kitfox Accident Causes and Rates   

    well I would take a shot in the dark on this one.. When Avids were first introduces, they used the 430 Cayuna.. a better boat anchor than an engine. That would probably account for a huge percentage of the failures. Kitfoxes came later after the 582 was the engine of choice. I would like to see it broken down to rotax versus other engines. I would also take a stab at it and say that probably 70% of the engine failures are caused by pilots who do not understand how to operate a 2 stroke... But that is just my biased opinion


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  14. dholly added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Avid / Kitfox Accident Causes and Rates
    Very interesting article if you get a chance to read it. Although, because of registration methodology, the author admits there really is no way of breaking down each manufacturer's planes into specific model groups (ie., impossible to know how many "Kitfox" accidents are Model II, II whatever).

    A few of takeaways...

    ...in the 'Relative Occurrence Rate of Accidents Not Involving Pilot Miscontrol' category, the highest accident cause rates were Engine Mechanical Failure (Avid) and Fuel System Failure (Kitfox).

    ...in the '2-stroke Engine Mechanical Failure' category, the internal engine failure rate for the Avid is almost 3x higher than for the Kitfox. Of course, it has long been speculated this is due to the inverted engine mounting in the Avid. Giving some credence to the theory is that when comparing 4-stroke engine mechanical failure accident rates, the difference disappears.

    ...in the comparisons of both 'Annual Accident Rates' and 'Fatal Accident Rates', Avid and Kitfox are well below the average for both aircraft types.

    ...the FAA database for Jan 2010 shows about 650 Avids and 1300 Kitfoxes registered.

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  15. horsepower added a post in a topic 582 to 912 conversion   

    You can use the same radiator and the Grand Rapids 2000 can be converted to the 4 stroke, I called them awhile back as I have a 582 that is going in my Skyraider.I was contemplating on switching to a 4 stroke but it was alittle out of my price range.I think I will give my 582 a chance as I could do several rebuilds for the price of a 912.I cant remember the price to convert your EIS over but it wasnt much.Good Luck Randy
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  16. C5Engineer added a topic in Close Call's and dumb stunts   

    Roush Racing can do racecars but not airplanes
    Jack Roush stacked up his private jet landing at Osh yesterday... I like how they called it a hard landing...the damn thing is in pieces I'd say HARD!.. And why was he flying into Osh with just him and his secretary? Awaiting confirmation on where she was "riding" in the plane. He almost died in 2002 when he hit a powerline and ended up upside down in 8ft of water. Me is a thinking he needs to hire a pilot so he can sit in the back and enjoy his secretary's company.

    http://www.wfrv.com/news/local/Jet-owned-by-NASCAR-Team-owner-goes-down-99434034.html
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  17. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Hacman Kit install   


    Mark answered my questions offline and I also talked to Olenik on the phone for a few too.. Thanks!!
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  18. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Hacman Kit install   

    The directions that they send with this kit suck. There is one piece that has three barbs on it that goes with the carbs. One barb goes into the air cleaner, one goes to the vent lines and one goes to the hac controller. There is still one open barb on the Hac Controller that the directions make no mention of. I'm assuming that this is the line that goes to just one carb where you have to remove the factory screw out of it???
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  19. Trackwelder added a post in a topic 582 to 912 conversion   

    If it is the same part number your OK, as far as I can tell rotax made only two styles of radiators. As far as the EIS I don't have a clue I have steam gauges
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  20. egp8111 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    582 to 912 conversion
    I'm in the process replacing a 582 head with a 912ul and have a couple of questions hopefully someone can answer. Can I use the old 582 radiator ? The KFIII builders manual list the same part number in the part list for both the 582 and 912 so I'm hoping it's the same.($) Also does anyone know if the Grand Rapids EIS 2000 that was working on the 582 can be converted to work with the 912 ? I'd ask the folks at G R but they are closed this week.

    thanks,
    EG
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  21. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Avid tail differences   

    The round table was the later of the two. It has slightly more area than the square one and was supposed to help with rudder authority during slow speed operation.
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  22. Trackwelder added a post in a topic Avid tail differences   

    The tail is only one of the differences between the markIV and the A B and C models, and the easiest to change if someone wanted to fake a Mark IV. The first thing I would look at would be the spar carry through tubes should be 1 and 1/4 inch and the ends will be welded closed. the size of the fuselage wdth is also different.
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  23. Benbell4140 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Avid tail differences
    I'm looking at buying a an avid mk4, can you tell me wich tail came out first? One that I'm looking at has the rounded rudder. Then I see some others have a more square shaped rudder. Wich is newer? What years did they change this and why? Is there an advantage to one compared to the other besides looks?

    Thanks
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  24. akflyer added a post in a topic the differnece between friends   

    those are so true!


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  25. saskavid added a post in a topic Hacman Kit install   



    Joey:
    You end up swapping out the main jet to a 180 mainly because the static air source to the float bowls, used in conjunction with the hacman is decidedly more negative(more of a vaccumm) than it was originally.With the hac you are static sourcing at the air filter as opposed to originally under the carbs.
    I am running a hac that I built to my own particular plane's needs; a model c with internal rad and the engine intake firewalled off from the rest of the cowling gives me a more posative intake pressure on the carbs than those fully cowled.Was running a 180 main before I ever installed the alt. compensation for that reason.Also that my air filtre is firewalled from the rest of the engine I chose to static source my hac setup from inside the cowling rather than outside thru the air filtre.the net result being I'm still able to run the 180 main.I know a lot of the working theory can sound like a lot of brain twisting gobeldy gook, but once it is on your plane up and working, it will do what you need it to.

    Mike
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