Activity Stream

Activity Stream



  1. akflyer added a post in a topic Flight testing   


    RV seals are easy to change.. you still have good compression? tear it down, new seals, check the crank and run the crap outa it..


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  2. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Flight testing   

    I realized later that I was on a different computer and not logged in Hoping to finish up my fuel flow gauge and tiny tach install soon. I'm looking for another 582 right now too. Mine is leaking from the Rotary shaft and has 360hours SMOH. It's either time for a rebuild or something different. This engine has been overhauled three times already. According to the logs it came with it's pushing 1200 hours total time. Time to throw some more money into this thing.
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  3. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Flight testing   


    For me, every time I open the browser (Firefox), I need to re-log in. If I leave the browser open, I stay logged in.

    The "view new content" button works fine for me.
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  4. akflyer added a post in a topic Flight testing   


    it has been pretty slow on the board. Not much new content has been posted. I switched over to firefox and am not having issues with the login or the new content. It may have something to do with you internet security settings in your browser.. I dont know, just tossing out something to think about.
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  5. akflyer added a post in a topic WIndy...   


    Don't have to be a story that gets you close to death to help someone learn! No flaps in heavy or gusty winds is the best thing you can do! Great job on getting the sister back in one piece and not letting her see how tense you were.. that would have really freaked her out!


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  6. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Flight testing   


    No log in issues but when using Mozilla it will always say there is no new content. Dont seem to have that issue with IE.
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  7. Av8r3400 added a topic in Close Call's and dumb stunts   

    WIndy...
    Well, not traumatic and all turned out okay in the end, but:

    My sister was in from California for the Packer Game (a different traumatic story... ) this weekend. Monday after the game I was showing off the little plane and after seeing it, she wanted a short ride in the Kitfox.

    Winds were 20 gusting to 35 out of 029. The runway is 25, so not so bad. We departed and were off the ground before we got past the numbers on the runway (maybe 150' ground roll!). The flight was bumpy but not too bad over all. Flew over the house and observed some of the scenery. Nice.

    Landing was a bit of a challenge with the wind not staying from a constant direction or at a constant speed, so I hedged my bet and lined up on the parallel grass runway. I did a straight in, 1-1/2 mile final and chopped an bounced pretty well most of the way in. I went with no flaps and carried a little power over the threshold. The landing turned into a complete non event and I greased it smooth as silk. My sister said it was an awesome ride and had lots of fun. Little did she know I was pretty white knuckled on that landing and a little jittery afterwords...

    Lesson: I think I did well, though it was more extreme than I should have tried. The conditions were on the ragged edge of my capabilities. The plane handled it fine, but I realized that I shouldn't try to match the plane's capabilities, yet. This was a good lesson and I did well, but it didn't need to happen.



    Okay, this isn't a harrowing Alaska story of death, carnage and rabid grizzly bears, but maybe a little more mundane "lower 48" lesson that can serve a point to someone.
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  8. akflyer added a post in a topic Flight testing   


    SWEET! Always nice to get in flight time! Are you having issues logging in still?


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  9. akflyer added a post in a topic Nasty ole no good inflight ajustable pitch   


    Nope not this guy... Bob has a bad ass fixed pitch Brolga on his KF I!


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  10. akflyer added a topic in Avid fox flyers pics and vids   

    Banged Up Kitfox
    Buddy had a few issues yesterday on take off... Yep the same guy that I mentioned in the forum on crashes and dumb stunts... We got it home today after a little "presidential solutions" better known as southern engineering



    Little video from today as I was ferrying supplies, tools, heaters, etc back and forth to my brothers short wing piper death trap at a longer strip about a mile away from the KF we had to work on...













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  11. C5Engineer added a post in a topic Flight testing   

    Well I've got 14.1 on the hobbs so far with mine. I re rigged my flaperons for the third time the other day. I ended up with -4 degrees as a good compromise between up trim and stick force at cruise. I got my fuel flow gauge installed the other day but have not had a chance to test it out yet. Should get some more time to play over the weekend.
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  12. akflyerbob added a post in a topic Nasty ole no good inflight ajustable pitch   

    For all thoes who are thinking, " I know who that was" It wasn't ME.....
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  13. akflyer added a topic in Close Call's and dumb stunts   

    Nasty ole no good inflight ajustable pitch
    Soooo yesterday we take a flight of 2 to our favorite duck hunting grounds.. the initial take off and subsequent landings went as planned. The third round, we found a bunch of ducks holed up on a little slew but the only way to get to them was to land in the saltwater, taxi to shore and put a sneak on the little bastages. Landing went as planned.. the sneak was working as planned till we got off track a little bit and missed the main group of Greenheads by about 60 yards when we popped up over the river bank.. they just laughed at us, showed us their tail feathers and hauled ass out there.. We figure OK enough is enough, time to head home as it was getting late. I let my un named buddy (read my other stories and you can figure out who he is) take off first. I had looked the situation over real well, and we had about 1' chop on the water, but the tide had gone out and we had miles of smooth mud flats to use. I told him to stay on the mud and all would be good.... Here is where things start heading south. He firewalls it and I can hear that engine just wrapping up, but the prop is not making alot of noise.. We are on a super slick surface, and he is not gaining speed very quick. To my horror, he starts trying to horse the poor little kitfox in the air WAY too slow.. he gets it to jump in the air, the right wing drops and hits the mud, pulling him in a right hand turn.. Most would have gotten off the power, let it settle and check their shorts.. but no my good buddy.. he keeps that bitch firewalled, rides it out into the ocean and keeps trying to push this takeoff run. I am now SCREAMING into the radio telling him to get outa the rough stuff, get back to shore so we can figure out what is wrong.. but he has decided that he did not need to turn his radio on.

    I jump out of my plane and start waving my hands like a retard at chucky cheese.. I take my coat off and am waving that around trying to get Mr. tunnel visions attention. I had to stand there and watch him make 6 take off attempts all with the same result.. but now he is in the ocean swells, and just getting the ever loving shit beat outa himself about 1/2 mile off shore.. I knew for certain that on 3 occasions he would be swimming, but those damn full lotus floats took the abuse and kept him afloat. I finally took off in mine and did a strafing run, landed infront of him and waved him to shore. We get in to shore and notice that 2 of the 4 cross brace wires are snapped and the plane is now flopping on the rigging, and the right wing tip is split open and the top cap strip is ripped off... GREAT. We pull it up on shore as best we could, tied her down to some logs, and are formulating a plan to go get it today... This should be fun. 12 degrees outside and I am on floats... hope I don't ice up and plant mine in the trees

    What went wrong.... By some F'd up way of thinking, the said individual thought that by going max RPM and beyond he would get off the ground quicker... The bad part about that is, when you take out enough pitch to over rev the engine, you dont have enough pitch to fly. What went really wrong, was pushing it 5 additional times to try and get it into the air.... I do believe that the definition of insanity is to repeat the same exact test or action and expect a different outcome.

    Guys, if you have in-flight adjustable, DONT go over red line thinking that you are making more thrust.. it does not work.. set the prop to turn 63-65 on take off and bump in more pitch as the speed increases to keep that bugger around 6500 MAX for climbout. Watch the EGT's as they will tell you if you dont have enough load on the engine!

    Today will tell the tale if we can get it back in one piece.


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  14. dholly added a post in a topic Right side Avid speedwing tank available - new   


    Hello Ragwing- The left side tank with cap sold for $250, I'm open to offers if interested. This is a fiberglass tank, sourced from Airdale, LLC (successor to Avid Flyer Co.) with an Avid+ kit in 2006. It was made with vinylester, not polyester, resin. Polyester resin tanks are attacked by alcohol in fuel, vinylester resin fiberglass tanks are considered more resistant. Kitfox currently promotes and sells their fiberglass tanks made with vinylester resin as ethanol compatible, yet still calls then "resistant" rather than impervious or ethanol-proof. I'm not sure exactly what that actually means, but it sounds like double-talk to me?! Personally, I believe the only way to alcohol-PROOF any fiberglass tank is to use a tank sealant slosh. In their earlier kits, Kitfox recommended (and supplied) KREEM sealant with fiberglass wing tanks but I feel there are better formulations today, most notably those based on phenol novolac epoxy resin. Regardless, many folks have been flying for thousands of trouble-free hours with sloshed tanks. The key in fiberglass sloshing appears to be proper preparation and application, as most failures seem to lead there. If you prefer not to slosh then the 5-1/2gal. poly tanks are your only other ready-to-buy option, albeit at a significant reduction of fuel capacity to the oem 18gal., and 2x the price as well. Hope that helps, thanks.
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  15. Ragwing added a post in a topic Right side Avid speedwing tank available - new   

    Is this tank safe with alcohol in your fuel. If it is I might be intrested. How much do you want for it?
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  16. akflyer added a post in a topic Do you need a compass?   


    oh I have alot more war stories about me and my buddy Sid flying... most of them I doubt you guys would believe as there were some real bone head maneuvers we pulled. I guess it is true that god watches out for fools and idiots, as the only way you can explain Sid and I living through some of our "stunts" is divine intervention
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  17. Mark kunz added a post in a topic Plastic Tanks   

    Fixing old tank
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  18. Mark kunz added a post in a topic Plastic Tanks   



  19. Trackwelder added a post in a topic Plastic Tanks   

    Bandit, I see that we are almost neighbors as far as the internet goes, how far along are you on your plane or are you just making improvements?
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  20. C5Engineer added a post in a topic installation manual for F210   

    I got my gauge mounted in my dash and wired up today. I ran out of time before I got the transducer put in the line though. Got in a 0.8 of Halloween flying before I took my cowling off. I used a 2" hole saw to cut the hole in my panel. The only issue I had is the piece that holds the gauge into the hole was designed for a something a bit thicker. Even with the screw in the back of the gauge tight the gauge was not tight in the hole. I wrapped some black tape around the gauge and tightened it back up and it worked great. I'm going to put my tiny tach I've had sitting here for a while in while I have the cowling off also. I have 14.1 on the hobbs now.
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  21. Guest added a post in a topic Do you need a compass?   

    You are both lucky to be alive
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  22. Phil added a post in a topic Do you need a compass?   



  23. akflyer added a post in a topic Avid Catalina   

    test post

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  24. Bandit added a post in a topic Plastic Tanks   

    Stace's tanks are plastic. Not sure of the exact width but, my ribs are 17 3/4" center to center. It looks like the tanks will fit between them ok. They have two cone shaped nipples on bottom back of the tank. Here I will drill and tap each one. Then install a quick drain on one and the fuel outlet on the other. Between the tanks will be a bulk head fitting so each tank can drain into the other. Also each tank has its own filler neck. I will try to get pictures this weekend.
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  25. Trackwelder added a post in a topic Plastic Tanks   

    I have emailed Rocky Mt.Wings about their tanks, at that price I am Interested. Are they fiberglass or plastic? Resistant to alcohol? What is the width? I have seen that Just Aircraft uses the same spar sizes that Avid used and that they use an extrusion to strengthen their spar a few more parts and I will be making my own Avid inspired plane. After I get my A model in the air.
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