Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Engine Teardown?   

    It could go either way. If your going to tear it down it you might as well put a top end in it and call it a fresh motor. It's the same amount of work basically. A seal probably won't cause a failure it will most likely manifest itself as a leak. My grey head leaking is finally made me decide to get rid of it.
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  2. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic cooling issues   


    That would probably cool a Big-Block Chevy! I think you would have a hard time maintaining operating temperature on a Rotax...
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  3. Trackwelder added a post in a topic cooling issues   

    I have been given a heater core from a school bus that is 9"X2"X32" overall it appears that it will just fit the width of my Model A I am sure that I will still need to angle it to cut down on drag , or maybe not, any ideas?
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  4. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Engine Teardown?   

    My 582 grey head had about the same hours and sat about the same amount of time when I plugged it back into my Avid after the failure of my 670. I ran it to about 250 hours without a problem before I had it rebuilt.
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  5. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   

    Now that's what I'm talking about! Nothing better than an Avid with big tires playing in the dirt.

    Thanks for sharing the pics Joey.
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  6. horsepower added a topic in Rotax and other engines   

    Engine Teardown?
    Im getting close to the paint stage on my Skyraider build.I bought a 582 greyhead motor that has 121 hours since a Rotax rebuild.Do you guys think I should tear it down and do a decarbon and reseal it as it has been 5 years since it last ran?I bought it from a guy that had it in a Kitfox and has a very good log book entry of all the maintenace that he did on it.I am more worried about the seals than anything as it has set longer than the Rotax recomendation.Thanks Randy
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  7. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   

    Thanks guys I'm all for new techniques. I flew to the Zenith West Coast Factory Fly in today. There were gobs of 601's and 701's. They do what they were designed to do fairly well but I'm not overally impressed. With a light fuel load an Avid will do the same thing they can and it's not an ugly as sin tin can. I thought I fixed my digi cam but today it would not focus. Something is wrong with the lense. I only got a few pics with my cell phone. On the way home I followed a river and there tons of places that looked landable. I finally said screw it and dropped in on one. NO comparison with these tires and then being able to honk on the brakes to stop short. Couple of shitty pics.






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  8. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   

    Joey,

    Try your takeoffs starting with no flaps, go to full throttle, bring the tail up, and as soon as you hit 30mph pull back on the stick and pull full flaps at the same time. Pull just enough back stick that you don't quite touch your tailwheel. Then bleed off flaps as Leni described. After you do it at 30 a couple of times try to get it off at 25mph. You might have to push the nose forward to stay in ground effect for a little while. Pulling full flaps right when you rotate makes a lot of difference in mine.
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  9. akflyer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   


    I think if you use full flaps on take off, you will get a pretty good surprise. I can get off WAY shorter. Once I have established a good climb, I slowly bleed the flaps and increase speed. On floats it is REALLY noticable on the take off, in fact, I dont know if I could break water on a glassy day with no wind without the use of flaps.


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  10. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   

    Leni I've never used full flaps for take off. With my old set up if I cracked on 5 degrees or so it really helped the tail come up and got me off quicker... Whole new ball game now. I set mine at around 15 degrees or so with the bolt stop. It's an easy adjustment to get more. I have a long bolt with a lock nut on it. It had no stop when I got it. I think one of my bungees was pushing on the flap linkage before. Today during my test flight I could not keep flaps on during normal flight at all and before I could. After landing I cranked the castle nut down and got a lot more friction. I think my bungee was pushing against the linkage before creating more friction. Will have some better numbers after my 150 mile round trip tomorrow.
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  11. akflyer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   


    Are you using full flaps for takeoff ? if so, how far are they dropping down
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  12. akflyer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   


    I agree, Zeniths dont fly... they are so effn ugly the earth repels them!

    But sumbitch, light they are INCREDIBLE!


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  13. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   

    You will be so disappointed by that Zenith 750 slug after flying your Avid... AND they are so cursedly UGLY!!
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  14. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   

    Flew it early this morning. I had to get used to staring at the sky while taxiing. It takes off way different now. It flies right off a lot slower than it used to. Before to get a short takeoff I had to shove the stick all the way forward, get the tail up, build a little speed and then yard back and about bounce my tailwheel off the ground. Now it just lifts off without the tail really coming up.

    Didn't notice any difference while actually flying really. Seemed like the rudder inputs to keep the ball centered in a turn might have been a little different but it's hard telling considering that was my first flight in over a month.

    Landing was simple. It's not nearly as bouncy as I thought it was going be. It was super early and people live on the gravel strip I know so I just stayed at my home strip and did 3 landings. The last two were stop and go's. The last one I really got on the brakes and I dropped the tail as I came to stop. I thought I could land short before..holy crap my landing roll decreased by about 2/3. Really looking forward to doing some rough field work to see what they'll really do. This mod was the best money spent on this airplane so far.

    Of course I was closing up the hangar when I remembered I was supposed to take pics. I'm going to the Zenith Factory Fly-in tomorrow.. I'll get some pics...gonna try and get a demo flight in the 750.
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  15. akflyer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   


    Congrats! Just remember on landing that the brakes now work real well... dont want to read a post tomorrow about how shitty it feels to look at dirt through the windshield. Been there done that and it SUCKS


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  16. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Go Kart to Matco Brakes   

    The brakes are DONE!! I spent the last two days plumbing them which was a huge PIA. I finally came up with a system that I was happy with. I bled them today and did some taxiing. After getting the pads good and hot once and letting them cool down I did some real testing. Let me just say this is a whole new airplane!! It's absolutely amazing having brakes... not just brakes but these suckers work awesome! The Michael Schuetz brake pedals and MC-4D's are the ticket. I can easily do a full power static run with NO creep. I didn't fly it but at 20mph on the gps I honked on them and had to let off because the tail came off the ground with the stick in my lap. I played around in some grass by my hangar and I can easily lock a tire now and spin right around on the tailwheel. I could never do that before..not even close. The sight picture is different with the new tires but not too bad. Going to fly in the morning and do some T&G's.

    Of course today had to be the day that my digital camera took a dump. The lense came out when I turned it on and it made a funny noise and locked up and threw an error code. Will get some pics with the wifes camera tomorrow.
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  17. akflyer added a post in a topic Rotax question from a newbie   


    OK I got you now... holy crap, that would have made the midrange WAY rich and allow the needle to move up and down. It is a wonder that you got the darn thing to run at all at anything other than an idle and WOT. I agree, it is nice when all instruments are as they should be and you are getting full TO power and a good midrange burn!


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  18. racegunz added a post in a topic Rotax question from a newbie   

    I have Bing 54 carbs, inside the slide is a white plastic cup it locks the throttle cable inplace with the tension from the return spring, the main needle (not the main jet) has 4 places for an e-clip and small o-ring to set the mid-range leaner or richer, that clip is supposed to be under the cup but it fits nicely inside and if you don't know any better it looks like that's where it goes. The side effect is the midrange will be crazy rich, mine was actually surging at cruise I had to jockey the throttle every couple of minutes to try and keep it where it should be. The moral of the story is even if you are a newbie check the other guys work, all of it. With both issued fixed I now can cruise at 70 + mph at 5500 rpm. and the tach reads steady, it's a real relief to see every guage reading what it should the entire flight.
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  19. akflyer added a post in a topic Rotax question from a newbie   


    Nice that you got it sorted out, and that extra 1000 RPM will make a new bird out of it! Can you elaborate on the main in the plastic cup thing? Are you talking about the plastic screen that slips over it


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  20. racegunz added a post in a topic Rotax question from a newbie   

    Just in case anyone else ever has this problem here's the scoop. I never could get the tachs reading consistantly enough to keep flying it so I took the engine off and took the charging system out to inspect and I found.... nothing
    nothing wrong at all, no bad ohm readings no rubbed wires it all was like new (it practically is). So I started rewiring the entire plane and changed quite a few things mostly running sheilded wire and keeping the charging system wiring clear of the rest of the harness. I even went to the length of sheilding the plug wires. I am not sure which of these worked but both tachs are now steady although as you all figured the needle tach reads about 1k higher than the tiny tach. A very good thing came out of this though, i found while checking the jets on the carbs to make sure they were the right ones that the main jets were inside the plastic cup instead of under it causing the surging I was getting at cruise and the low egt's. Thanks once again for the suggestions and ideas.
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  21. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Waterplay   



    Joey, I'm looking forward to some of your off airport pics when you give your new gear and tires a workout.
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  22. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Waterplay   



    That is so true sometimes I have to pinch myself. You couldn't ask for a better place to live with an airplane!

    Maybe a person really needs two Avids; one on BW's and the other on floats.
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  23. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Waterplay   

    Awesome pictures as always!!
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  24. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic cooling issues   

    Look at the cool scoop/faring on my Kitfox. If you are worried about drag, get one of these...


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  25. akflyer added a post in a topic cooling issues   


    no need for rubber mounts. Atleast, non of the ones I have seen installed had rubber mounts on them. I am not sure what the drag does to slow you down, I dont think I really noticed any speed reduction when I did mine. If I did it may have been 1-2 MPH. Not enough for me to loose sleep over. I did however loose sleep and a bit of nerves when I was trying to climb high enough to cross the inlet but could not go over 5600 RPM or climb at more than 50-70 FPM or I would see temps over 220. That was when I decided that the belly mount would be worth it at any cost


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