Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. Av8r3400 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    GPS
    Open question to our membership and guests:

    What kind of GPS do you have or use in your planes and what do you like and dislike about it?



    I'm looking to replace the Magellan SkyNav 5000 in my plane that is no longer supported and doesn't work well, anyway. I'm considering a portable more than a traditional panel mount like the SkyNav or the mega $ 430/530.


    Thanks.


    Waiting for replys...
    • 5 replies
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  2. n757jh added a post in a topic Joannes High EGT's   

    Leni,

    The new spark plug wires are done. Question: what's a good way to keep the coil end of the connection secure? This new wire is stiffer than the old, and slightly smaller in diameter. Just pushing it onto the pin and covering it with the boot doesn't seem like enough. The braided shield over the wire is grounded to the coil mounting bolt, which helps hold it, but not securely. What do you think? Safety wire?

    Joanne
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  3. n757jh added a post in a topic Joannes High EGT's   

    The List:

    You never said if sealant (proper crank case engine sealant) was used between the case halves. The only thing that will make a 2 stroke run hot like that is a lean fuel mixture, be it too little fuel, or too much air due to a leak and timing. No way for me to know, the rebuild shop put it back together.

    Check Carb boots for cracks. Rotax Carb boots suck. JBM Industries makes a much better boot with a better rubber compound that lasts much longer. Click here for JBM Industries Existing already were the newer, thicker type; had spares on hand so replaced them with new just to rule them out. Not sure if they were JBM, they are thick as well and just slightly different than the old ones, so might be.

    Primer lines OK, or if not used the caps are in good shape and sealed well. Had some red line on hand, so replaced to rule them out. Don't like the red, can't see through it, going to replace again with blue.

    Vent lines also replaced, four holes properly drilled in each.

    Fuel lines from pump to carbs replaced, new brass filters.

    Rotary valve timing is correct. The third I did I was looking at the book (engine right side up) and working on an engine that is upside down... I timed it to the wrong cylinder. Didn't run too good! The rebuild shop would have done this... the engine did run ok during the static runup to check prop pitch (6250 rpm) so I think this is ruled out.

    Carb bodies cleaned out. Pull the main jet and make sure there is no blockage, even the tiniest hair. Swapping the carb bodies should have ruled this out. No harm in cleaning them out again.

    Plastic screen that goes over the main jet was not damaged when the float bowl was put back on. Screens are good - always handle them carefully.

    Float level set properly. Yup.

    Did you mess with the in flight mixture on the cylinder that was running hot. Crank that open a turn or two. My plane normally runs one cylinder a turn richer than the other to keep the EGT's the same. Yes, but it didn't come anywhere near overcoming the 200 degree difference - that might be more than even a main jet change could overcome. Yes, I've adjusted one a turn richer than the other in flight as well.

    I did mess with the idle air mixture and idle rpm, got it set and ran it for a little bit. Next time the engine was started it didn't run quite as smoothly, and this temperature difference showed up in flight. I think that's just a coincidence. Especially since swapping the carb bodies didn't move the problem. Those adjustments should only have an effect on idle.

    Bad plug wires should make it pop snort and fart or not run at all, but I can't see it making the cylinder run hot....... We were just thinking, since the wires are 20 yrs old, and two of them are jammed behind the exhaust bracket (coils mounted on inside of firewall, lower center between pedals), it's a good time to reroute those and replace them all, and new caps too. Rules those out as causes.

    Hey, just thought of this.... You changed the stator correct.. did you change the trigger coils are they the slotted type that you can change timing on, or the fixed round hole that you can only adjust gap??? If one of them is off, I can see it hosing up the EGT's, and you will really see it at high RPM as it does advance a small amount with the Ducatti ignition. Actually we found a crossed wire, did the ohms checks after fixing this and it checked ok, so we left the old one in. Old triggers with round hole. Gap checked ok.


    The rotary valve oil level was down about a teaspoon. It never used oil like that before the rebuild. I filled it back up but haven't run it again.

    We are in the midst of setting up a vacuum/pressure test.

    Need to redo the compression test as it was done before this problem started.
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  4. n757jh added a post in a topic Joannes High EGT's   


    Thanks very much for the offer, Joey - I do have one, it is very good.

    Joanne
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  5. n757jh added a post in a topic Joannes High EGT's   


    Well, that explains why squirting it directly down the throat of the carb didn't have much effect. Thanks, didn't know that.



    Arctic Sparrow mixture control = no clips.



    Good advice. This is all happening within the first three hours after a rebuild. There's a lot that gets done to remove/reinstall... and then there's the other problems we were chasing down prior to this one... the mind boggles.

    Joanne
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  6. akflyerbob added a post in a topic Parts Suppliers for Avid and Kitfox   

    I got this email from Brett at Airdale, guess he is doing business,
    anyone with orders should be getting filled soon.


    Hi Robert,
    Your package went out today. The tracking number is 9146875 10603.
    Your invoice will follow in the mail. Thanks for your order.
    Brett
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  7. Bandit added a post in a topic Engine Swap   

    Yup, I made Mr. January. Glad to see you getting close to flying. Got mine flying again. Now I am fighting less daylight hours after work and bad weather. Hope for nice weekends now.
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  8. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Engine Swap   

    I called them and also got a return email from them finally. They said the same thing... it's not reading the excess spark. I guess with the Ducati every other spark is a low spark. He said to just wrap more wraps or put it on both wires from a single coil. I guess it's no biggie to splice the red wire so I'm going to just solder the piece I cut off back on and try more wraps.
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  9. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Engine Swap   


    I figured that might be the fix.. I already cut off the extra wire like the instructions said when I installed it.
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  10. SkySteve added a post in a topic Engine Swap   

    When I installed my Tiny Tach I had a similar problem. I called the factory(?) importer(?) and was told to an additional length of wire where it was wound around the spark plug wire and wind the extra length around an additional spark plug wire. That solved the problem.

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  11. akflyer added a post in a topic I've Been Honored   


    Congrats! Mine would win the hangar rat of the month award Damn covering job is a little over a year old and it already has a couple of tape repair patches on it


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  12. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic I've Been Honored   


    Jim (who is a CFI) did my transition training to a Kitfox, the first couple of hours in his pretty red plane. He's a heck of a good guy.
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  13. horsepower added a post in a topic I've Been Honored   


    Congratulations,Nice job on that award. People in Wisconsin take their Kitfoxes seriously.I actually bought my 582 from Jim Schnowske whom also won that award and he is also from Wisconsin.Good job. Randy
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  14. skysailor added a post in a topic my mod C   

    Thanks for the info. Wondering if spar varnish is compatible with the PolyFiber chemicals? I think I will need to use an epoxy on the wood so as to hold up to the PolyTak? The previous covering was the old dope system and I will be using PolyFiber-Stitts process to recover.

    Some flying club friends helped me replace the ribs. Had to replace two of the tail ribs. Did so by cutting the cap strip forward of the rear spar and removing the rear part of the damaged ribs & cap strips. Using the short ribs intended for installation at the rear of the fuel tank we trimmed the cap strips so as to butt to the point where the old ones were cut. Then epoxied the tail ribs to the spar and cap strips to the ribs forward of the spar. We used my flaperon to line up the hanger points for accuracy.



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  15. Av8r3400 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    I've Been Honored
    We have made it a trifecta of Central Wisconsin Kitfoxes with my Kitfox of the Month.
    • 3 replies
    • 679 views


  16. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Engine Swap   

    I did some full power runs today. I had to add a couple of degrees of pitch to the prop. I am having issues with my tiny tach. Up to about 3500 rpm it almost matches the tach in my plane. When I am turning 6400 or so on the tach in the plane the Tiny Tach is only reading 5600 rpm. There is no way the engine is only turning 5600..that's not even on the pipe hardly yet and the engine is way past that. I'm believing the tach in panel at this point. I installed the Tiny Tach per the instructions. I tried both mags and they were identical. The only thing I can think of is the ground is not quite right. Any other ideas??

    I finally got everything dialed in and was finshing up the last three fasteners on the bottom of the cowl when I realized that the bypass hose is going to interfere with the cowling. I'm going to have to get out the dremel and do some creative clearancing. I was pissed.. was a perfect evening to fly this evening. Almost just went without the cowl..lol
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  17. akflyer added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Happy B day
    Hey Mark, Happy Bday Buddy!

    :BC:
    • 0 replies
    • 482 views


  18. C5Engineer added a post in a topic New sub forum   


    Well that's what I kinda thought but 90% of the stuff people post are not specific to Avid or Kitfox but both. There is not very many things that are "specific" to the two aircraft.
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  19. akflyer added a post in a topic New sub forum   


    Me thoughts that was what the general hangar was fer We got's avid and kitfox specific for the real shit... I know, I know, the sub header gives it away

    It's all good


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  20. Trackwelder added a post in a topic Joannes High EGT's   

    WD 40 used to work for that sort of thing, it was even a great starter fluid for diesels . But some years back they switched the propellant from propane to something inert. When trouble shooting anything I always start with the last thing changedbefore the problem started. I have yet to become familiar with the Bing carburetor but on the standard mikunisused on snowmobiles it is not unheard of to have a clip come off the needle makes short work of your cylinder. Good Luck
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  21. C5Engineer added a topic in Hangar Talk   

    Some cool old toys
    Grandpa just passed these cool toys onto our 10 year old son. This is pretty awesome. I have a fishing rod from my Grandpa but I did not get it until after he passed. I'm glad that we have them. Anybody have any idea on the time frame of these? I'm thinking early 80's sometime.





    The yellow one is an old school transformer


    • 1 reply
    • 13,540 views


  22. C5Engineer added a topic in Hangar Talk   

    New sub forum
    I found myself starting a couple of threads that didn't really fit anywhere else so I made a new subforum titled Hangar Talk. It's an "Off Topic" area. Place anything that is non Avid/Fox related and is not a joke in this forum as to not garbage up the airplane areas.
    • 2 replies
    • 1,000 views


  23. jackak added a post in a topic Building wheel skis   

    Leni,
    Are you familiar with the old "treetopflyers" site? It was recently redone because of problems, virus I think, and is now called www.skiplane.org . Lots of info on ski flying and skis. Thought I'd throw it out for anyone not familiar with it and having issues with their skis or installations.
    Jack
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  24. akflyer added a post in a topic Joannes High EGT's   

    I know you are very new to working on 2 strokes, and we will see what we can come up with to help get you back in the air. Nothing is more frustrating than working on an engine to only have problems...

    You never said if sealant (proper crank case engine sealant) was used between the case halves. The only thing that will make a 2 stroke run hot like that is a lean fuel mixture, be it too little fuel, or too much air due to a leak and timing.

    I am sure you have already run through all of this, but just double checking (because I hate the jumbled up mess of the posts on the yahoo groups site that makes it hard to sift through the info).

    Check Carb boots for cracks. Rotax Carb boots suck. JBM Industries makes a much better boot with a better rubber compound that lasts much longer. Click here for JBM Industries

    Primer lines OK, or if not used the caps are in good shape and sealed well.

    Rotary valve timing is correct. The third I did I was looking at the book (engine right side up) and working on an engine that is upside down... I timed it to the wrong cylinder. Didn't run too good!

    Carb bodies cleaned out. Pull the main jet and make sure there is no blockage, even the tiniest hair.

    Plastic screen that goes over the main jet was not damaged when the float bowl was put back on.

    Float level set properly.

    Did you mess with the in flight mixture on the cylinder that was running hot. Crank that open a turn or two. My plane normally runs one cylinder a turn richer than the other to keep the EGT's the same.

    Bad plug wires should make it pop snort and fart or not run at all, but I can't see it making the cylinder run hot.......

    Hey, just thought of this.... You changed the stator correct.. did you change the trigger coils are they the slotted type that you can change timing on, or the fixed round hole that you can only adjust gap??? If one of them is off, I can see it hosing up the EGT's, and you will really see it at high RPM as it does advance a small amount with the Ducatti ignition.

    Let me know what you have done so I can rule out issues in my mind and see if we cant get this bugger back in the air for you!


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  25. akflyer added a post in a topic Joannes High EGT's   


    I would be tempted to send a large burly Italian guy to kick Jack in the ding ding for giving out some bogus advice for free It's all good, and we will see what we can think of with the aide of a toddy or two to help you out!


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