Activity Stream

Ed,

Do you have any pics, or any links to where we can check these out? Sounds like it may be a need to have item for those ohoh moments we sometimes find ourselves in. Right now, I would be hard pressed to keep the wings level if I was in IFR conditions and I lost the GPS.

:BC:/>

LENI, Thats why you are supposed to impress your sweetie by hanging the necklass she gave you from the rear-view mirror in your plane - you can watch it swing and figure out which way is up - or get the fuzzy dice! nah.....

ED in MO

Now, some of you younger guys, not so puter challenged like me, can get this photo of this cute little lifesaver, and post it here with the info printed with it for everyone to see. ebay item # 271121755591

ED in MO

THESE ARE MADE FOR RV'S NOT VAN'S RV......MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

what is the ebay item #?

OK< Seller relisted it - Item # 271121755591 - If it is bidding - contact him directly and see if he will sell you one at the $14? + 6.60 ? shipping.

Tell him you are on avidfoxflyers.

ED in MO

Ed,

Do you have any pics, or any links to where we can check these out? Sounds like it may be a need to have item for those ohoh moments we sometimes find ourselves in. Right now, I would be hard pressed to keep the wings level if I was in IFR conditions and I lost the GPS.

I tried heavier on the doors and they crack even worse. the .063 seems to last longer than the .092. That just may be something I have to live with to have full lexan doors and flying at -30 :lol:/>/>

:BC:/>/>

I have wondered about using a U-channel or angle aluminum and siliconing the doors in, like they do with the triangle windows in back - my doors should be under positive pressure, so got to make sure they dont cave in on me. I was thinking about .125 Lexan for that.

ED in MO

what is the ebay item #?

The time expired on it - someone had run the bid up to about $50 - too much for that - check on new listings and he might list another one - was from Wayneswings, I think - will try to get his email if you want one.

They are not legal for IFR, but not illegal to have either - just like putting fuzzy dice on your rear-view mirror! No electric - no vacuume - just stick it on top of IP, or anywhere and level it in flight and then you have a reference when you let the weather get so bad you want to be home, or just for measuring those 30 degree climbing turns on your checkride. I bought one for the J3.

Let me know.

ED in MO

I tried heavier on the doors and they crack even worse. the .063 seems to last longer than the .092. That just may be something I have to live with to have full lexan doors and flying at -30 :lol:/>

:BC:/>

Yes, I know how -30 or -80 is. Only thing I have to worry about here is melting off in hot summers!

Well, got to swallow that one - in about 1959 I was driving a truck in Southern Missouri, and got up at a Motel and thought my truck grunted a little more than usual - walked across road to have breakfast while truck warmed up, and the waitress said it was 30 below in West Plains, MO that morning, and 30 above in Alaska - Right then I knew I had to go to Alaska someday - Took me 30 more years, but I made it!

ED

Just a button in the end with the spring and wire inside. You should be able to squeeze it as long as you stay away from the button end. How much do you need to pinch it down :dunno:/>/>/>

1/4 inch would help - 3/8 better - just about 2 or 3 inches of it where it passes between seatbacks.

Even 1/8 would be a lot better than rubbing on my new seats. This is more to the latch end.

Thanks, ED

Have any of you ever seen a Piper flap handle apart? Or maybe a picture of repair parts for it?

I am thinking that there is just a wire running from the button on the end of the handle back thru the 3/4 inch tube to the locking part. I need to squeeze this tube to get clearence and keep it from rubbing on my seats. Dont want to ruin it and have to make another.

ED in MO

Just a button in the end with the spring and wire inside. You should be able to squeeze it as long as you stay away from the button end. How much do you need to pinch it down

I've not had one crack at the wing root yet - But have given some thought about that bend, and will be considering trying to take out that bend, or some of it, when I install the next one - Of course, mine is seperate from the skylight, so there may be a solution to this. Will post photos if I make a major change, but that will be a long time off. Maybe you should just attach the door glass with zippers or velcro? Kidding....

Would heavier glass help in the doors?

ED in MO

I tried heavier on the doors and they crack even worse. the .063 seems to last longer than the .092. That just may be something I have to live with to have full lexan doors and flying at -30

Have any of you ever seen a Piper flap handle apart? Or maybe a picture of repair parts for it?

I am thinking that there is just a wire running from the button on the end of the handle back thru the 3/4 inch tube to the locking part. I need to squeeze this tube to get clearence and keep it from rubbing on my seats. Dont want to ruin it and have to make another.

ED in MO

I have seen them both ways on the Pipers. The pacer has caps with tiny holes drilled in them to vent. The PA 12 I have been flying has solid caps and I am not sure how they vent. You can get the Atlee Dodge caps that have the pitot type tube in them.

I was flying high cover one day for a guy that was picking some hunters up off the side of a mountain by Lake Clark. He had pulled 3 of the 5 people off the mountain and we stopped at Port Alsworth for gas. He left one of the caps sitting on top of the wing and within 5 minutes after take off his left tank was bone dry. I saw the fuel getting sucked out as I passed over the top of him about 2 minutes after take off and it was not just slopping out of the tank, it was coming out like a tornado was sucking on it! As soon as I alerted him he flipped a bitch in record time and headed back for the strip.

I think I will find the unvented auto caps and try again to get the glue to seal the tubes up in them. I just hate not being able to top off for long trips, or know exactly how much gas is left onboard because it went out the cap instead of through the flow meter.

:BC:/>/>

Back in the days of "Full Service", when gas stations washed your windsheild, checked the tires, etc, you always had to check the caps because if the line boy put them on backward, the vent tube would suck your gas out - Now that we are all doing "self-serv", we shouldnt have that problem.

ED in MO

Mark,

hmm.. looks interesting, but I am not too sure I would want that line of bolts or rivets on the windshield. The way it flexes and bends as you approach the higher speeds and wind gusts, I am not too sure how long it is going to last before it turns loose on you. I hope it works out and if so, you may start a new fad on the windshields! That is the beauty of the experimental world, we are free to figure out what works and what doesn't. Somethimes thinking out of the box is what it takes to fix a known problem!

:BC:/>

Ed,

They crack at the corners at the wing root. The tight curve there makes them all crack over time. Some get lucky and get a few years, others a few months. I need to replace mine when I get home if I have time, if not, this will be the last trip to the lodge with it until I get it replaced. I have never had any issues with it cracking around the bolt holes on the windshield... the doors, well that is a different story. I change the doors out once or twice a year. I have drilled over size, chamfer the holes, be bur everything, used screws and rubber washers instead of rivets etc. I ahve tried damn near everything and I cant get them to stop cracking.

:BC:/>

I've not had one crack at the wing root yet - But have given some thought about that bend, and will be considering trying to take out that bend, or some of it, when I install the next one - Of course, mine is seperate from the skylight, so there may be a solution to this. Will post photos if I make a major change, but that will be a long time off. Maybe you should just attach the door glass with zippers or velcro? Kidding....

Would heavier glass help in the doors?

ED in MO

Joey,

Can you post up more pictures of your throttle control system there on top of the engine?? Mine has always been a pain in the ass and does not really work well. I was thinking about going over to a system like the Kitfox uses because the 3 I have flown the throttles were butter smooth. Mine is pretty damn stiff.

Thanks

Mark,

hmm.. looks interesting, but I am not too sure I would want that line of bolts or rivets on the windshield. The way it flexes and bends as you approach the higher speeds and wind gusts, I am not too sure how long it is going to last before it turns loose on you. I hope it works out and if so, you may start a new fad on the windshields! That is the beauty of the experimental world, we are free to figure out what works and what doesn't. Somethimes thinking out of the box is what it takes to fix a known problem!

Ed,

They crack at the corners at the wing root. The tight curve there makes them all crack over time. Some get lucky and get a few years, others a few months. I need to replace mine when I get home if I have time, if not, this will be the last trip to the lodge with it until I get it replaced. I have never had any issues with it cracking around the bolt holes on the windshield... the doors, well that is a different story. I change the doors out once or twice a year. I have drilled over size, chamfer the holes, be bur everything, used screws and rubber washers instead of rivets etc. I ahve tried damn near everything and I cant get them to stop cracking.

I have seen them both ways on the Pipers. The pacer has caps with tiny holes drilled in them to vent. The PA 12 I have been flying has solid caps and I am not sure how they vent. You can get the Atlee Dodge caps that have the pitot type tube in them.

I was flying high cover one day for a guy that was picking some hunters up off the side of a mountain by Lake Clark. He had pulled 3 of the 5 people off the mountain and we stopped at Port Alsworth for gas. He left one of the caps sitting on top of the wing and within 5 minutes after take off his left tank was bone dry. I saw the fuel getting sucked out as I passed over the top of him about 2 minutes after take off and it was not just slopping out of the tank, it was coming out like a tornado was sucking on it! As soon as I alerted him he flipped a bitch in record time and headed back for the strip.

I think I will find the unvented auto caps and try again to get the glue to seal the tubes up in them. I just hate not being able to top off for long trips, or know exactly how much gas is left onboard because it went out the cap instead of through the flow meter.

PA-28s I learned in had the sealed 2-tang metal caps, non-vented. I gotta agree with Larry that omitting the pitot tube on our caps is a poor idea. What I did learn in this thread thanks to Jim's pics is that there was a diff in caps between the Avid C and Mk-IV models. I had never seen the threaded plastic caps before. BTW, my Avid+ oem wing tanks came with 2-tang metal caps and D.I.Y. pitot tubes.

Yep, I think Ron was just adding his thanks to all the Magnum advocate threads!

If your P/P tube is installed, depending on where you need it bent, perhaps unfastening each end will let move it fore/aft enough and maybe even rotate it into a position where you can put in slight bends as needed. If no, can you modify the seat frame or raise it slightly using mounting spacers?

I don't have any knowledge to disagree on the cert planes completely, Ed. Only the Cessnas and pipers that I have flown all were not vented to the cap.

What I do know and what I have seen is that these airplanes will siphon a tank dry if the cap does not seal and vent properly. My friend Jim took off in his Kitfox IV neglecting to reattach his caps properly. Within 10 minutes both caps were gone and all of his fuel was siphoned out causing an off airport dead stick landing.

what is the ebay item #?

Gas Caps. The top of the wing is a low pressure zone. We can all agree on that. That, in part, is why the airplane flies.

A vented cap (without a pitot tube on it) will vent into this low pressure zone making the gravity feed of fuel over come that low pressure to feed to the system. To me, at face value, this is not an optimal situation.

Once a pitot tube is added to the cap, you actually pressurize (very slightly I admit) the top of the tank forcing fuel into the system.

Certified planes, to the best of my knowledge, don't vent to the top of the wing, through the cap. They vent to an alternate location.

IMO, using an unmodified automotive vented cap, on the top of the wing, is an invitation for disaster.

Got to disagree a little here - check out the Spruce catalog - the Piper, Luscombe, and others have the vent tubes on top of the caps - and they sell for over $100 each!

An UNVENTED auto cap - with the tubes added - is what you need to prevent fuel leakage when wings are folded.

I have a set of original Piper J3 caps if you cant find a photo.

Yes, there are other "certified" planes with internal, overflow, vent tubes, but these do not pressurize the tanks like the cap tubes.

ED in MO

.063 I think or close to it. It cracks on those two triangle pieces I am cutting out and replacing.

I thought the standard was .093 - there was one, the Speedster, I think, that came out with .118 thickness, and they issued a service bulletin to replace it with .093 because of cracking.

Does it crack on the bolt holes, or where? The holes should be at least 1/16 or 1/8 inch oversize of the bolts, and I use rubber washers topped with steel washers under the heads. Dont know why you couldnt make the holes bigger and use rubber grommets if you can find them the right size.

Good Luck,

ED in MO

Hello,

Ran into my first question today...I installed the seats in my Avid Magnum to make sure they fit, and I'm glad I did because there are issues!

The seat frame is too close to the elevator tube. The Construction Manual says to bend the elevator push tube out of the way of the seat, how do I do this? the push tube is installed and the fuselage is covered.

Also, I can't figure out where the seat belt goes? Does it go from the low mount in between the rudder cable and the elevator tube? It looks tight.

I'm going to try to post pics.

Thanks, Ron

First thing I would try is to call Brett if you cant get an answer here. I have the manual, but if you have one, then mine wont help any more than yours. I'm Kitfox builder, so know very little except what Magnum manual says.

The Kitfox elevator tube is in the center instead of on the side like Avid. The seat belt tabs are low on the side of the airframe, and there isnt clearence to install the bolt after it is covered - this really is close to the cable, and cause problems with interference. The seatbelt bolt head is out toward the fabric, and should have a fiberglass disk epoxied to the head to prevent rubbing on fabric on mine.

ED in MO

P.S. If you cant install the seat belt bolt, then all you can do is cut a hole in the fabric and install it, and then patch the fabric - at least that is the way it is on my Kitfox.

ED in MO

Hello,

Ran into my first question today...I installed the seats in my Avid Magnum to make sure they fit, and I'm glad I did because there are issues!

The seat frame is too close to the elevator tube. The Construction Manual says to bend the elevator push tube out of the way of the seat, how do I do this? the push tube is installed and the fuselage is covered.

Also, I can't figure out where the seat belt goes? Does it go from the low mount in between the rudder cable and the elevator tube? It looks tight.

I'm going to try to post pics.

Thanks, Ron