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Yeah it was a weird winter for sure! We did not get the cold temps that we normally do, and we got more rain than snow this winter. It is going to be an interesting fire season for sure here.
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If you get 2" of gear deflection your doing pretty good. Those bungees are stretched out pretty good when installed. I have hit plenty hard with my 72" prop and never even came close to a strike. At gross I may have a max of .5" sag, but I like to keep the sag out of it as saggin gear looks about as dumb as saggy pants on half the kids these days
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Apparently it all came to the midwest this year. I remember one day in January I was in Chicago for a meeting. It was -18f actual when I left the hotel to walk the 1/2 mile to the meeting. After I thawed out a bit, I thought I'd make myself feel better by looking up the weather in Fairbanks, since it was always cold there. It was +34 degrees at that time - 52 degrees warmer than Chicago!
Mark
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Don´t know if he is bluffing, but his workmanship it´s not so bad and the design he came up with is also looking ok.... not bad for a backyard inventor or eyeballing the plane...
wonder about stress in that fuselage and wings though!
Regards
Dimi3
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Does anyone have an old tail spring laying around for an avid they would let go cheap?
I need to put something on the tail of my Tri gear and I'm thinking this would work the best.
Travis
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Well, I'm still working out the details on my bungee truss and extended landing gear. To do it, I need some information about the gear geometry and movement. I made a simple diagram to figure this out. It looks like the prop could dig into the dirt by a little over an inch if the bungees are fully extended, and the tires deflect a fair amount (this isn't even a flat tire situation).
I may be using some bad numbers though. I can't find my construction manual (must have left it at the shop), and I can't download the one posted here because I get an error when I open it. So, I don't know the measurement for the safety cables. I tested some old aircraft quality bungee cord I have, and got about 57% stretch. That's what I'm using to determine full gear travel (I assume the safety should allow pretty close to full stretch). Anyone have the safety cable dimensions off the top of their head? I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks
Luke D.
Edit: I just realized my dumb mistake. I forgot to factor the amount the bungee is already stretched when installed. This will reduce the travel quite a bit. So, I guess a better question would be what is a normal or acceptable amount of bungee sag (the plane just sitting) at gross weight?
Other assumptions:
- 72" prop
- crank centered 7" below top motor mount bolts
- tires are my stock tires that came with my kit
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Same here, Doug.
IF we get any good weather, I'm so far behind on home chores, I'll never get to the airport to work on the plane(s), anyway.
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One thing I have learned is that mistakes/ accidents happen. If you need to un-bond a junction using Hysol 9460.... here is what I have found. The glass transition temperature of 9460 is near 160 deg. F......so with careful monitoring of temps....you should be able to un-bond a glue joint on most parts. Seeing as T-6061 has a problem with losing some temper near or above 320 deg. F for more than a few minutes.....one should be able to take a wing apart with no problems. Reason being is that I am helping with a spar replacement on a Kitfox . Jason was worried about the drag tubes getting heat through the attach bracket....and then the metallurgical books and Alcoa documents reading began. Man what a job. Just thought I would pass along the info we have gathered in a nutshell.
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Well enjoy when you can, our Wx has been crap so far. Yesterday I went and hooked up the E-1 tach but it was so damn windy I didn't even bother to pull it out of the hanger for a test run. I have never seen so many full sock days here and they always seem to be direct x-wind to the runway. Ugh.
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I did try to jigger something up out of the tool chest but couldn't come up with the right combo. Good tip re: the SkiDoo tool kit, thanks. FWIW, my Yamaha xt600 tool kit has everything but an 11mm. I'm just gonna go have the airport mechanic do it, I hate to go this route because he and the FBO owner ALWAYS give E-AB guys shit and I'm sure payback will be a bitch!
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http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/1153-gear-leg-safety-cable/?p=6853
This shows where the gear legs tend to break right at the toe of the weld where the diagonal comes in and the bungees are wrapped around it. I ground off the tab on the end of the cross tube the bungees wrap around and slid another tube inside a couple inches past that weld zone, then welded the tab back on.
I looked at both the failed gear legs that were on mine, and at the one on my brothers kitfox and they all broke at this same point. I make it part of my pre-flight to look at this area to make sure there are no visible signs of cracking. I also moved the safety cable as shown on the drawing to assure that if / when it does break, the cable will still be useful. The cable at the stock location does nothing for you when the gear breaks at that weld.
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I have it on my plane and have beat the crap out of it. One thing I did do.. My plane was on its back twice before I got it do to the stock gear folding up. I got to take that trip in my brothers kitfox as well (he was flying I was just along for the ride). I will dig up the thread on how I reinforced the gear leg to get away from the cracking issues (I hope). I would not hesitate to go with the wide gear, but I thought it was standard on the MK IV..
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Thoughts on going this route on my Mark 4.
Lighter than the Grove gear?
Doe's it stand up to off runway landings?
Thx Marv
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one step forward 3 steps back..had what looked like some light corrosion on on of the engine mount tubes.. After stripping it turns out its worse than we thought. Found one that has just been overhauled and powder coated for 1000.. and the guy will load it up in his 180 and deliver it to us saving us 6 hours of driving. still not sure what we are going to do with the stab and elevator.
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Doug, we didn't get crap for snow fall this year.. there is virtually no spring run off this year and its has been blue bird days with high temps and no rain so far this spring.
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I would have thought the rivers would be high in Spring with snow melt? Does that mean I'm too ignorant to ever move to Alaska?
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That would be great, hope the weather holds it was 69 here, cooking hot like everywhere else.
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ALL of those "reality" shows are scripted for the "drama" value. I can't watch any of them any more, but, I wouldn't mind seeing Ariel in her bikini again...
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Good eye's fellas and without going into to much detail and sidetracking this thread to much. The vents are in the caps thanks to some 3/16" brake line. There's a doubler in the nose gear tube and the picture is just at the right angle to not show the standard Avid 912 smiley face opening for the radiator. The oil tank is under the baggage compartment and doesn't have a cooler except the two lines running under the fuse in the wind.
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I agree about Wild West Guns, occasionally amusing, but for the most part Ken makes me want to go check my wallet, then wash my hands. I did like the tag line on one of the show - 'There are two kinds of people in Alaska, those that carry guns, and bait'
Mark
The 180.. saving a ramp mummy
in "other aircraft your working on"
akflyer
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The bad part is I have seen the results of QUALITY work coming out of his shop.. did he have a bad day? a bad week? Too old to hold the bucking bars anymore? eye sight going south? Its kinda hard for me to kick an old man who was once a master of his trade... I too will get old one day.
The flip side is, the man took our money and for what it costs, it should be done right. That said, I am not sure how this cookie is gonna end up crumbling.