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One thing of interest is that the flow sensor on the Marine unit I got is identical to the flow sensor used in the very expensive aviation units except that the wires coming out of the sensor on mine are not tefzel insulation. However, it is great fuel and oil resistant insulation. Not cheap. It is a quality system if you can find it for a good deal.

As a matter of fact the one I got was for a twin engine application. That might be why they were blowing it out at such a low cost. So I ended up with a spare flow sensor and an extra DPDT switch that would have been used to switch between sensors.

Oh I also chose the 10 gallon scale because I wanted to see variations in cruise fuel consumption with good detail. On takeoff and climbout the needle pegs. I called flowscan prior to buying the unit cheap in the internet and they said it was just fine for the meter to peg out at full flow and would not have any negative reprocussions.

Randy, When are ya going out on a run?  Sounds like a great time to me!

Ed,  BCP is www.backcountrypilot.org  The original site was cool and easy to use, but the owner of the site got big ideas and made it a pain in the ass to use.  But there are some cool guys on there that like to fly, drink and shoot guns.. my kinda crowd!  One of these days I will make it down there to hang at one of the fly ins with them.

DO you know what happened 163 years ago this Past summer... September 9, 1850?

California became a state!!!!!
The people had no electricity.
The state had no money.
Almost everyone spoke Spanish.
There were gunfights in the streets.
So basically nothing has changed except then the women had real boobs and the men didn't hold hands.

That, my friends, is the history lesson for today.

Yes, it has everything to do with gear location, and to make sure you can get the tail up, and to keep the nose dragger off of the tail, as well as determining the tendency to groundloop or noseover in both cases.

Everything important......

I think I can calculate it, but it will take some time and effort.

Someone should have it for a standard configuration Avid / Fox.

ED

I guess you could say that there is a flight CG, and a ground-operation CG - both are really the same, and important for designers.

I am not an engineer either - just a scratch builder - don't have the luxury of someone else engineering.

ED

Ed,

Just curious is this point used for calculating where the gear is placed so as to keep it from flipping in a hard breaking three point stance as well? That makes sense to me but I'm not an engineer either.

Has anyone ever seen calculations of the ACTUAL CG and HEIGHT of it in a typical Avid / Fox?

       We all think of the CG as being a spot in the wing for Weight and Balance calculations, but that is not the actual CG for other calculations. 

       Think not only about the fuel and the wings and fuselage, but the weight of the engine, IP, landing gear, and your butt, being located much lower than the top of the wing.  

The weight of those huge tires you added could be an asset in lowering the CG too.

       I am sure that Dean Wilson knew where it would be, and other designers too, but I have never seen it published.  This measurement is used to figure the critical turnover point, but will vary some with each plane.

EDMO

Here is another variation of gear, as used on the Interstate Cadet.

Thanks Leni,

I wish they were still making the Navman too. From what I can gather they were probably the best bang for the buck. Now to find something to take it's place.

Did you put this up over at TeamKitfox?

No offense to Leni, but they have most of the market of these planes checking in there on a daily basis...

I saw a very interesting variation of spring gear in the Pazmany book - If I can get my daughter to help, I will try to post it.

You designers can imagine, without drawing the V-leg portions, making an X out of the gear legs, and putting a compression spring / shock between the upper points on the X and attaching them to the opposite lower leg / to inside of lower longeron.  Got to think about this for a while.....If you try drawing something like this, make the upper part of the X a lot shorter than the lower part.

EDMo 

Hey all, I hate to say it but I think it has to go, my 1994 Model-IV I purchased last February.

I recently had to make a drastic lifestyle change, pack up and move to Charlotte, NC for my job; and I only had 2 weeks notice.  After checking with all the local airports I have come to realize I cannot afford this airplane at the moment, hangar rent in CLT and Rock Hill is triple what it is in TN.  It is in a corporate hangar 4 hours away from CLT in Mountain City, TN.

Johnson County Airport, Mountain City, TN    6A4

I purchased the airplane for $23,000 in February, since then I have installed a new 72"  IVO UL IFA prop with less then 3 hours on it.  I also installed a new AirTek Clutch and inspected the gearbox with the help of our local IA.  The panel was removed and I built a new one with an iPad mount and better instrument package.  Pedal modifications, fuel system modifications, ect..were all done under the supervision of my local IA.  The IA also completed a very thorough conditional inspection in August or September, I don't remember which.

So here is a description of the airplane, I'll look around for pictures a little later when I have time.

1994 Model IV - 1200 (All logs present and current)

Rotax 582 Grey Head with ~130 hours since factory overhaul

3:1 Gearbox with Airtec Clutch Kit (prop does not turn on startup, idle around 1,600 RPM's)

New Ultralight In-Flight Adjustable Carbon prop w/ Spinner

New Instrument Panel with iPad hardmount

Grove Landing Gear w/ Dual Grove Brakes and Good Tires

Updated 3-Leaf Tailspring currently running just 2 springs

Fabric and Paint is OK, not new by any means but it is original and shows well.

She flies well, but I have only put about 7 hours on her since I bought her, I have not had any time to fly with the crazy weather we had in NC last year, along with a turbulent moment in my career.  I'm sure the bing carbs need new mains for this time of year, also, the rotary shaft leaks a little oil, but it goes into the lower crankcase, its not a head problem.  I try to think of it as extra lubrication.  I started the engine the other day but did not run it up all the way, just taxied around for a minute.

Please feel free to email me at Mendlerr@yahoo.com with any questions, I can also except TXT but NOT phone calls during the day at 828-260-3985.

I spoke at length with the builder of this gear today to see if it's possible to retrofit a similar spring system into my Airdale gear.

I totally agree on the CO detector - a cheap one is better than nothing - a trip to the hospital or worse is certainly more costly than the most expensive detector.  And, I have seen several cracked mufflers.  The worst I have seen was a cracked heat exchanger of a gas heater on a C-47 - nearly killed the whole crew!

EDMO

While I can respect your position on that one... I have a different story.. I was flying back from the lodge and started feeling a bit goofy.. It seemed the engine has a slightly different sound to it but all systems were in the green and normal so I didn't pay it much attention.  As I felt myself getting goofier I happened to catch my CO indicator out of the corner of my eye and it was blacker than the ace of spades.  It was -30 outside but I had no choice as I was over the inlet so I opened the door and let the fresh air in and shut off the exhaust supplied cabin heat.  It was a rather chilly flight home for the next 45 minutes or so, but I didn't have much better options.  Turns out, there was nothing wrong with the muffler heat, but two of the exhaust springs had broken and it allowed the elbow joint to open up and it was leaking around the boot cowl to firewall seal right into the cockpit.  so far I have never had a CO leak in the heat muff in any of the planes I have flown (knock on wood).  I am anal about having a CO detector in the cockpit of any plane I fly now and I keep a spare in the flight bag in case a borrowed plane does not have one in it already.

on an analog or dial gauge, it will be most accurate in the 25-75% range.  With that said, the 10 GPH gauge would be right at 50-55% gauge range on a 582 and the 16 GPH gauge would be at the 25-30% range so either of those would work well.  I wish they were still selling the navman as I should have bought a few extra for my other boats etc.  They have worked flawless for me and are on my primary gauge sweep.  as long as I have EGT and the fuel burn I know all systems are well and I am not plugging off a filter or running out of gas.  When I fill up I am anal about putting only 5 gallons in each fuel jug so I can accurately set my fuel total on board.  After dozens of fill ups and resets, the three times I have drained my tanks I was within a half gallon of fuel in the tanks that the gauge said I had on board.  I wouldn't be going some of the places I go, without the fuel flow gauge so I could operate safely without having to top the tanks off every time.  Some strips I have gone to it would not be prudent to have more than 5-8 gallons on board during the heat of the summer.

ChrisB,

I like that set up, looks simple and clean. I haven't been able to find one that only goes from 1-10 gallons yet. The ones I'm seeing are from 1-16 GPH. I suppose they would work, but with these planes/engines I'd only use 1/2 the gauge.

Thanks for the comments. Looks like more research might be needed.

There is a Faria brand on fleabay right now but who knows what the auction will go up to with 7 days left. It's at $123.50 right now though and has an attached transducer. Best price I've seen.

It's also a smaller hole so it would fit into more "empty" spaces on a small plane.

Sorry I jumped in before looking closer - After a night in the hospital for CO poisoning, I am a dedicated hot-water heat pilot - Just don't trust the exhaust for breathing fresh air.

EDMO

http://www.floscan.com/html/blue/seriesdetail.php?sid=11

I installed one of these in my Magnum. I got the 10 gallon scale. The gage fits nicely in a 3 inch istrument cutout. I was hoping they made it in a 2 inch but they do not. Turned out to be one of the most useful gages in the plane and I do not mind the larger size after all because I look at it so much! ) I absolutely love it.

Got mine on clearance from some marine store on line for a super great price. Very good build quality and very reliable even with the vibration of an aircraft environment.

Navman/Navistar used to sell the F210 for about $130. It's been discontinued though. I did find a transducer for one recently though and I bought one just have on the shelf as mine quits working from time to time for a flew flights and then it comes back. With a 582 and Hacman it is a very useful tool. At 9500ft fuel burn drops over a gallon an hour when I lean it out with the Hacman.

Hello gang,

I see that a few of you are running fuel totalizers or computers. I'd like to know what you are running, what you like about it, and if possible where you bought them.

I've flown a myriad of planes with them and always love the ability to see what fuel was left, that I'd set the mixture correctly along with all the other information it gave me. Not to mention the ability to set the RPM at a sweet spot for fuel burn.

Looking at possibly adding one to another plane I have as well. Thought it would be a good discussion from you guys running them. I don't want to have to spend $750 or more for a JPI or other certified one if there is a much cheaper and good solution.

From my research it seems that boats run them quite often but it is still in the neighborhood of $400 for the computer and sensor just to get fuel flow.

As always, comments are highly welcome!

I would even be happy to help someone by fixing up the floats. I don't know if he has any hardware or legs for the floats though. This is about all the information I have for right now. If you're interested please PM me and let me know or post up. If someone gets somewhat serious about it, I'll pressure the owner a little.

I need to get back over to his place for some more wood anyway. He has his own sawmill and I'm building some cabinets for the kitchen in my house.

Also don't quote me on the price of this kit, as I really don't know what he's thinking yet. I'll try to find out more information and pass it on.

Kenneth, like we've discussed over the PM, I'd be curious about this for sure.  Would probably sell my paramotor for about the same $!

In my searching for an Avid to purchase I found a local gentleman that has an Avid B or C model that has been hanging in his woodshop for around 15 years. He said he bought it back in the 80's, doesn't even remember which model it it for sure. He started the kit and completed the wings, then hung them up. The kit is on it's gear but that's about where it stopped. He has a brand new engine in a box that was never started as well. He thought it was 65 HP but that's about all he remembers. I'm guessing it's a grey head 582, but there is a slight chance it is a 532 based on my research.

He is looking to see what all he has since he moved once after starting the project.

The good news is, he has floats that might go with it too, but they need a little work. Seems they were left outside and got filled with water, then frozen. It broke up the sides.

I haven't gotten him to nail down a price yet but don't think it will be very high. I think I can get it for $6,000 or less, but he doesn't want to talk numbers until he finds everything he has.

I do remember him saying it has the STOL wings because his intent was to fly it off his own field next to the house. He's 60 now and realizing he won't ever get around to finishing it up.

Is there anyone out there that wants a relatively complete kit? Maybe to do some midification on and customize? I was seriously thinking about buying it just to save it from the rafters. It's in a heated shop and he does have the fabric as well.

If anyone has any interested please let me know and I'll keep bugging him. Any information on what you all think it's worth would be helpful too.

It was the b or c model.. I have the additional pages for the mk iv too that shows the upgraded cooling etc. I used this manual for my c model rebuild.