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Ed,  I don't understand what you are asking me... Jim Chuk

A guy could get lost on all those taxi ways.

Great Video!

Add to it...

Jim,

      Is that a custom cover on the yellow Avid, or does someone sell them?

EDMO

I didn't realize you were showing a picture of your plane.  Thought it was just a picture of an Avid to illustrate what you were talking about.  Jim Chuk

If I'm not the pilot, I'm flying Soutwest!

I see the photo of a normal-looking Yellow nose-dragger - Why do you need to replace the nose gear if it works fine?  These nose gears are fairly scarce.  Just trying to help.

EdMo

Perhaps the picture didn't come through on the post.  I may need to replace the nose gear on the Avid - the gear worked fine and I would like to replace it with the same gear if either one is available someplace or someone has the original plans to build one from

Looks like fun. Exactly the type of flying I'm looking forward to. Thanks for the motivation!

Boat,

      There has to be more to the story?  Did your plane have one?  What happened?

ChrisB is the one with most experience.  I sent sketches of the spring-loaded attachment to Steve N166???, I think -

Chris had one on his old plane, and now has a custom-built on his new plane.  I have one.  They are no longer made.

For the stock Avid, I donno.  I have parts and plans for two different custom ones for my Foxy, but wont fit yours.

EDMO 

Do you have the mains set for nose gear?

Amienoel put one on her plane.

If you don't have the nose gear tube welded in, you might consider this nose gear.  It is the later Kitfox style nose gear.   It was mounted on an Avid MK IV.  I never flew with it, it came with my last MK IV that was set up as a taildragger when I got it.  Jim Chuk

I need either a new nose gear or plans to build one for my Avid Flyer Mark IV

Which engine does he have?

Rotax 912UL - 80 hp.

Luke,

     200% agreement - Do your own thing - Don't let others distract you - It's your plane and your call.

Keep it FUN!

EdMO

go fly it off the snow, if there is packed snow or ice on the runway you wont even notice if the gear is out of alignment  

  A lot of the guys don't seem to mind the narrow gear.  I run big tires so I hated it.  The wide gear makes it a piece of cake on the ground.

No wide gear - standard out of the kit gear on this one.   I plan to check the wheel alignment if it ever warms up around here.  We got an inch of snow yesterday, which may not be  much for you Alaska folks, but it is too late for that stuff in the middle of Illinois!

Mark

If it is squirrely on those tires, check the wheel alignment.  It should be easy to land with those tires.  I cant tell from the picture, but do you have the wide gear on it?  if not, that is about the single biggest improvement that you can do for it!

The J3 is right at 800, and flies fine with a 1200 gw limit!   It flew with the C-65, but a LOT better with C-90.

EDMO

My buddy's Avid-Kitfox hybrid weighs 670.

Which engine does he have?

Hi Chris,

I actually removed it shortly after taking those pictures. I know some would prefer to leave it. There were several reasons I wanted to remove it though. For one, I wanted to save a little weight. I also want to change the front structure a little to add a seventh motor mount point at the bottom edge of the firewall. Also, I didn't like the way the socket hangs down below the bottom of the plane in front.

In the end, I think it may decrease the value a little, but my plane will never be worth that much anyway. For one, it's going to have a non-standard engine. I'm really building it for my own fun, and cheap flying. I won't have that much into it when I'm done. If I ever sell it, I probably won't even get all of that back, but that's okay as long as it serves it's purpose while I have it.

Luke D.

It's a 1989 kit, mostly a Model C.  The original builders were in their 70's when they started it, and finished it in 1991.  They had always wanted to build a plane, and decided they had better get it done!.  It was generally well built.  They ground looped it at some point, and rebuilt the tail with the round style tail that I think started with the MkIV.  They didn't install any elevator trim, however.  It has 582, original gray head.  It only has about 100 hours total - I did get it overhauled when I bought it 5 years ago since it had been sitting in that hangar for over 10 years.  Runs great.  I installed a com radio and transponder after I bought it.

One of the builders names was Charles Lindbergh, so guess who's name went first as the manufacturer on the web site?

Runs great, flys pretty good, the few times I've been up with an instructor.  It is very much a handful on asphalt landing, so I've not yet had the courage to take it up myself.  I also have a Cherokee 235, so I get to fly even though I'm chicken.

I also rebuilt the brake pedals to have the Matco recommended 2.5 to 1 geometry, installed a master switch, and various other minor updates and fixes.

The fabric is going to get redone this summer.  I'll install some sort of elevator trim while I'm doing that.  If I can find the parts, I'll convert it to trigear, to make it more manageable on the asphalt runways I have available.  The fabric has 24 years of hangar rash, repairs to various penetrations, etc, and is getting a little stretchy.  I haven't decided on a new paint job yet, but just replicating this current one the best plan I have so far.

I might want to talk to you about those floats Jim.  I really would like to find some amphib floats - that would solve my float itch and the nosegear itch at the same time, but the cost is pretty high for those.

Empty weight on the data plate is 450, and they upped the gross to 1050 - they were both big guys, I don't know how they both got into the cockpit to be honest.  I'm an FAA standard passenger, and the instructor I fly with is about the same, so with the two of us and full fuel/oil it is about 900-950 lbs, and it takes off like a scalded cat.  The first take off was quite a surprise.  I was used to 'traditional' Pipers, Cessna's, etc.  Push the power in, check the gauges, then sit back and wait for speed to get high enough to take off.  In this one, it was push the power in, FLY THE DARN PLANE!

Mark

Why did remove that structure? It adds tremendous value to your plane. I see you said "before I removed it" but if that was a typo and you haven't removed it yet I urge you not to. You never know if the guy you may end up selling the plane to might want to convert it to Tricycle gear. Those weldments are a huge bonus if your plane came with one (not all Avids did) and add considerably to the resale value.

Just sayin.....

The only AWB tires I thing you want to consider for the Avid are the light sport 26's or 29's. Any of the other AWB offerings will be way too heavy. Just one guys opinion. I don't think you could go wrong with either of those though.