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And here are a couple pics from the Wallowa mountains and Banks Lake with the Fat Avid. Can't carry the bicycle and have to carry some gear on the jury struts, but still not too bad! I have red and blue dry bags that I match the Nav light color with. I think it is a cool touch 

Here's a couple shots taking all that camping gear AND a bicycle WITHOUT any bags attached to the jury struts! This is what I could carry with my Magnum.

Hirth is close to pricing themselves out of the market. They have went up a few thousand dollars in the last couple years.

Not quite as easy as the gold shows would have you believe lol.

Some guys have put 912 Rotax on them.  100 HP will really make them perform I would think.  JImChuk

OK that’s encouraging, thanks. I have sent an email to recpower for pricing.

912 has lots of power for an Avid.  Harder to find an engine mount for it though.  Also, requires about 10 lbs of weight in the tail for CG purposes.  Those that have them like them.   JImChuk

Ive seen a couple of 912's on craigslist for good price

Get to diggin??? U know what it takes to dig 140’ off the side of a mountain to get to bedrock? Hahahahaaaa  Man ive been digging all summer and still have more to go. Mayb b there befor end of this month. 

Flown a Legend Cub on straight floats with a 3300. It would be too much even on a stretched Mk4, IMO.

Get diggin' and start buying!! You'll be snowed in before you know it, hehe.

Hirth engines are pretty good. The big difference is that there is more info out there on Rotax and how to run them, than there is for the Hirth. Call Matt Dandar at recpower.com and talk to him.

I hear u there, I was more on Jims commet i guess on the model 4 and thinkin the price for the one my friend has is CHEAP, id love to have it but thats all i need is another plane project, i just finished the 1947 PA12 build in Nov and only 15hrs on it, a summer of mining kind of takes the time away faster than u realize. Hahahahaaaa

I’ve been looking for a few months and found one I like. Biggest issue for me is the Hirth engine. Research indicates they are not well regarded in the industry. Wondering if there are any others with direct experience with them. The one I’m considering has under 50 hours TT with oil and fuel injection. Is 65 HP enough to get the aircraft safely off the water when loaded to near max payload? 

I enquired about the plane and he said someone is coming to look at it and he thinks they will buy it

I saw 2 Jab engines on Barnstormers one is the 2200A for 4K and the other is the 3300 gen 1 for $3400

7-person tent and wood stove, lol. Of course, the ladies definition of 'all the normal stuff you need to camp' may vary considerably too.

I Love my Fat Avid!

SO much room. I just camped in the Wallowa mountains and took my wife, a 7 person ultralight Tentipi, (12 feet diameter, 10 feet tall in the center) a wood stove for it and camping chairs in addition to all the normal stuff you need to camp. I did have small bags tied to the jury struts. But it all fit and I wasn't over gross. Try that with a kitfox. Highlander yes, but any other KF or Avid no way. Well a Magnum can carry all that, but its a completely different league of plane.

Good price if you're in AK but costly to ship back to the lower states I would imagine? Not sure that is a direct competition though. The A+ is higher gross, cabin is the same 43"w as KF 5-7 and can be built a heck of a lot lighter for less than half the price of the current KF models. It is for sure slotted somewhere between the KF 4-1200/Avid Mk4 and KF7 models as to size and capabilities. It may well represent the best price point bargain Avid (or original Airdale, if you know your history) ever produced, but they are rarer than hen's teeth with only 7 complete kits sold as Airdale was focused on marketing the Fat Avid fuselage retrofit to existing Avid owners.

The very early Jabiru engine had cooling issues.  Rotec in Australia (not Rotax)  makes liquid cooled heads for the Jabiru engine and that seems to be a good remedy.  Not cheap though, about $3000 for the 4 cylinder engine.  Are you sure what is causing the loss of compression?  

That is the one

Are you looking at the one listed on Barnstormers for 15K

It says....

Engine is a Jabiru 2200a Serial number #165 with about 650 hours since new. The engine runs great, but we had a bad leak down test. The engine will at least need one new head. (Very hard to find)

What is the issue with the Jabiru engine?  I put about 600 hrs on a Jabiru engine in my Avid MK IV.  What serial number is your engine?  I've seen these engines used on sale for $4000-5000 occasionally lately.  The Jabiru would be the simplest fix most likely.  912 will give better performance, but hard to find a mount, and it does move the CG forward on an already nose heavy design.

I have a friend he lives about 125 miles from me in BFE, that has a brand new unstarted FWB model 4 kit he bought new in the day had it shipped to Alaska, he is sellin for what he has init, $15,000 last i heard. 

Try and fix the Jabiru?

Go to a 912?

Very nice!