Activity Stream

I wanted to put this up the other day, but got side tracked.

Congratulations, Joey on your newly minted Instrument Ticket!

That is quite an accomplishment which took a ton of hard work!

Thanks Larry - guess I was reading it wrong.  I know which tube you were referring to now.  I have some heavy tubes at the bottom of fuselage in that area.

     Somehow, I think from Ron, I also got the idea that there was another crosstube between the struts on the lower end.  My pictures of the Magnum are not clear enough, or from the right angle, to show this, and I have been trying to get clarification on that.

EDMO

PARDON MY DEMENTIA: John's article is in Sport Aviation mag this month - NOT KITPLANES!

(I don't know how to change the listing of this post - Leni, can you change this for me?)

Just finished reading John Miller's article on dead-stick landing practice in this months SA mag - WOW - 4200 hours flying time with his Avid ! Makes most of us look like student pilots - but then again, I guess we are!

Thanks John, for a good article.

EDMO

I was referring to the tube across the bottom of the cabin which connects the two lower mounts for the lift struts.

Welcome aboard the planes are pretty much kissing cousins so hopefully we can help you out. Pictures are encouraged as well as any flying tales, lies or minor fabrications

Chris,

    Do you have info on the Magnum lower strut cross brace tubes location?  I have tried to ask Ron, but no reply.

    I've got a set of rubber pucks and washers left from my Ercoupe - that's another possibility for the nose gear.

Thanks,

EdMO

Hi Ed,

Wow 20 LB is a lot of damping (resistance)! Pretty sure it will never shimmy if you can get that kind of resistance.

Hello everyone,

I came across this forum after I bought a Ridge Runner mod 2 and since it is descended from the Avid Fox airplanes and there seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people on here, I thought I'd better join.

I'm a long time tail wheel pilot, grew up in England and had four airplanes so far. A Tipsy Nipper, a Belgian single seat VW powered aerobatic airplane, an American Yankee AA1 I owned for 10 years and a 1938 Aeronca Chief which I owned for around 23 years but regrettably sold a couple of years ago. I built the wings for a Steen Skybolt back in England and that airplane is now flying in the Austrian Alps.

I live in Southern Ontario and until recently, had a hangar at a local farm strip. The owner of the strip just died, his kids have sold the place and the new owner has no interest in continuing its use. My RR requires some repairs before it will fly again so I'm kind of stuck at the moment figuring what to do.

These guys are friends of mine at our local airport, http://www.tigerboys.com/

They have a large collection of flying vintage airplanes and are always acquiring and restoring more so it's an interesting place to hang out.

Thanks for the info - I just got some larger, heavier wall tubing for the cross braces.

EdMO

Thanks for the info Chris,

      If I have problems, then a few welds will make it steerable.   My book says, "the nose wheel should need about 20 pounds of force on the edge of the tire tread to turn it without it being on the ground" - will do some testing later.

EdMO

Oil lite bronze is the perfect bushing material I think and should work great.

I am pretty sure that if you intend to have it caster without positive steering control it will need significant damping! )

My original MKIV had springs to "center" the factory milk stool nose wheel. it was a castering affair that worked pretty well but had no suspension except the tire. It did not ever shimmy on me, but there was a fair amount of resistance (damping) due to the bushings in the nose wheel weldment. Steering was not positive in both directions like my new setup. It had a single steering arm from one pedal to the nose wheel axle that compensated for p factor on takeoff and had two centering springs to keep it pointed straight during flight.

On a V-strut high wing airplane, the wing's lift tries to pull the vee closed.  There is usually a compression strut at or very near the strut attach points in the wing to keep that from happening.  It seems that the brace tube between the struts is being used to take that compression load.

3000 rpm

Http://youtube.com/watch?v=gWrg3cFod7Q

Got sucked in by the U tube tonight... for those worried about flying behind an engine turning 6000 rpms

30,000 rpms

13,000 RPM

Impressive little flyers if you ask me. Keep it light and for a less than 50 mile hop around the farm it'll keep you grinning for days.

Larry,

     Was this the kit that was held together by about 1000 bolts and nuts instead of being welded?  Or, am I thinking of another?

EdMO

Buyer beware at Ridge Runner.  All I have to say about that…  

the super is a little bigger than the skyraider2 and has dual controls, the reinforcement I was talking about is in the spar about where the struts attach.

OK, so the Super is pretty much similar to a Ridge Runner Model 3S which also has dual controls. Incidentally, there's a complete new kit for one of those for sale on their site at a substantial discount. Not sure what's happening there.

I'll see if I can ascertain if my airplane has the spar reinforcement next time I'm up at the airstrip.

Bandit, maybe you can give some impressions of the Sky Raider when you've flown it a bit. Turns out My Ridge Runner was nose heavy when I bought it. I only got a few short flights totaling less than 1 hour before the engine quit and I found out (the hard way) what happens when you dead stick a nose heavy airplane.

Since the Skyraider 1 and the Ridge Runner 2 are basically the same airplane, the nose on yours look a lot shorter than mine which could be a reason (Mine has a 503 DCDI, electric start.)

the super is a little bigger than the skyraider2 and has dual controls, the reinforcement I was talking about is in the spar about where the struts attach.

I made the wing supports out of 1/2 conduit. I don't think there are spar supports in the wing. The Sky Raider is facing forward. I have had the Avid on the trailer backwards while on skis. It does take weight off of the hitch

but that little bit is not going to make any difference on my suburban. I just go with it and do not worry about it.

ABF  Do you have spar inserts in your wing? I have the factory super and it does not have any inserts just wondering if I need them.

If you mean the steel reinforcing inside the spar where the pin goes through from the headrack tube, then yes.

What's a "factory super"?

ABF  Do you have spar inserts in your wing? I have the factory super and it does not have any inserts just wondering if I need them.

Seeing this sitting forward on the trailer reminded me of something I had been wanting to ask about:

      When you trailer an Avid / Kitfox with the wheels in the rear of the trailer wheels, as in photos I have seen, then the weight is mostly aft of the trailer axle - especially if you have a heavy engine like the Soob -

       I have always been taught that you need to have some weight on the trailer hitch - wouldn't this be a problem with that setup?

EdMO

Very nice!

Pretty enough to catch a wandering eye, I hope the Avid love affair is still intact! 

....SOLD....SOLD....SOLD....SOLD....SOLD....

This was buried in one of my earlier ads...

I have available (1) complete oem Kitfox elevator push/pull control tube. Removed from a model 3 in good working condition. This includes the following part numbers:

(1) FCT-69 [Elevator Control Tube 1" o.d. x .035" wall x 112-1/2" length aluminum]
(2) FAB-13 [Adapter Bushings]
(2) AN490HT8P [Threaded Rod Ends]
(2) AN316-4 [Threaded Rod End Lock Nuts]
(2) FRE-50 [Rod End Heim Bearings]

Note: in addition to KF3, this may be a direct fit for KF1-2 models (see pics for measures) or very easy to trim to length. Possible replacement for Avid Flyer and other similar elevator control systems.

Offers accepted for pick up at D38, must make your own shipping arrangements. Due to length, it might be cheaper to cut the ends off for reuse with your own locally sourced aluminum tubing. All I know is I don't need it, maybe you do?

Thnx