tx_swordguy

Ok guys I just got my Avid back from the first condition inspection its been through since I bought it last sept. All of the items I was worried about were a non issue and outside of a rad flush and cleaning up some very minor engine compartment items nothing else was in bad shape. YEAH ! Now for the reason of my post. I went to a rather big outfit at the Denton municipal airport in Texas. I should have asked price but didn't after looking on this site and team kitfox I expected somewhere in the realm of 300-400 for the inspection and work would be on top of that. Well my bill was a flat rate $995 for the inspection (evidently a $300 discount) and $600 for the work done. I expected somewhere around $100 shop time actual was 109 but inspection was a flat fee. The actual A&P said he usually bills 1300 on LSA. My question does anyone know a shope within an hour of DFW metroplex area that might be closer $ to what I expected? Lesson learned I will ask $ next year just thought prices I saw here was pretty common. I am guessing look for small shops at airports but the internet is less forthcoming than I had hoped. It is almost as if A&P shops rely on word of mouth.

Guys need some help. Trying to be legal for my upcoming conditional and my ops limits state that for a major change I must notify the cognizant FAA office and get a written response from them prior to flight. In contacting the local fsdo and trying to find out who I must get a written response from all I have gotten so far is "its experimental do what you want just be careful" and "I don't know try such and such" well such and such is never at his phone and doesn't return calls. I finally got a guy today that in his 3 yrs hes never heard of this but at least he says he says he is going to find out. He was talking about having some one having to do all kinds of math to figure out the affect it will have on the plane and he has no idea who to have that done. The DAR I was pointed to said any faa inspector could help me out. Every thing I have seen on line and reading from the sites it doesn't sound like it should be such a big deal. Never having had an airplane go through a condition inspection before, am I overly worried? There is no mention of vgs in any of the books but I assume that an a+p would see that and go hmmm. Thanks for any help I know I have pestered you guys over the months but appreciate any help.
Mark Whiddon
 

Guys,
I am in the process of trying to reinforce the rib tail/ flaperon hanger. I am using .032 aluminum with a 1/4" 90 degree  angle bent on the bottom side. The repair will have the angle on the bottom of the rib tail instead of on the top like the kitfox is done. I am doing it that way because my avid (don't know about others) has a scalloped top side and a straight bottom to the rib tail. Anyway, my question is in doing this mod I have increased the width of the end of the rib by .064" and I currently have 5mm screws with an unthreaded grip length of about .346" and would like to find a 5mm screw with an unthreaded grip length of .400-.450" and cannot find any thing like that at any online suppliers (cant even find my original screws anywhere). Here is my question. My 3 options are 1. use original screws WITHOUT washers. 2. Use standard all thread type screws.. 3 drill a bigger hole and use 8mm screws with the proper grip that I can find. If I do not use washers I will have the steel flaperon hanger on the outside of the aluminum plates so the screw head and nut will be against the steel hanger. ( not fond of the lack of washers but....) If I use the standard all thread screws I can use the washers but I am not fond of the idea of the thread chewing up any material between the screw head and the nut. Option 3 drilling a bigger hole concerns me (maybe overly so) because in trying to reinforce the ribs I would be taking material away. Maybe I am overly cautious since this plane has been flying as is for over 20 yrs.

I am looking for a supplier for the avid engine shock mounts (lord mount) for a rotax 582. I have an avid flyer later model b and the engine shock mounts are starting to show some cracks/ deterioration in the rubber. I ordered the lord mounts aircraft spruce sells (2") but they do not fit. Not only are the mounting holes slightly different but the rubber shock was way to big for the hole in the engine mount on the plane. Any ideas?
Thanks Mark

I recently bought an avid flyer in really good shape. Started as a late B model that was upgraded structurally to meet  C model heavy hauler standards. 1150 lb gross with rotax 582. It is in fantastic shape and has been flown a lot over the years with 1200 hours and its on its 3rd engine. I trailered it back from Wisconsin to Texas on an open boat trailer that worked very well with just a couple of complaints. Not knowing how it would move /vibrate that long distance I had a couple of rub areas so I wanted to pass along some tips for new owners like me that might not know what to look for in packaging the plane. This plane spent most all its life with the wings extended so the 2 owners prior to me ( I am the third) never ran into issues. With the wings folded and the rudder and elevators secured there was still some movement that I was unaware of happening despite all my research. even with a small piece of foam rubber the owner put between the flaperon and tail I got a couple of rub places that I did not notice pulling until I had gone a couple of hours. I ended up with a 1" rub on the front of the vertical stab that need a patch. My suggestion would be to get a long piece of 2" foam rubber maybe  18"x4' on each side of the tail so the tail is sandwiched between each flaperon and the foam takes any vibration. I got some additional foam at walmart and it really solidified the wings movement the rest of the trip (everything moved more as one piece rather than each piece moving individually. Also the builder fabricated air foils on everything which is great except when folded the air foil on the strut close to the bottom pivot is up against the plane and rubbed a bit. When it was folded it looked and felt really solid, but there is a lot of little movement going on that over the course of 1000 miles did just a little bit of damage. Nothing that can't be fixed and now I know better. I think I will cut off the bottom part of the strut air foil so I can trailer it. I thought about extending the wing tie down rod so the wing will actually stick out another 6" each side to miss the side of the plane. That is the easiest fix. Just don't know yet. I have 1000' field I plan on using but will have to trailer it 10 miles to the airport so I can get familiar with it prior to trying my field for the first time. I can do that trip at 30-40 mph so not really worried about it. If I extend the rods there will be gap in the flaperons/tail of about 6-10" that will need to taken into account with some sort of packaging. Anyway thought I would share. Thanks to Joey for answering questions about the earlier avids . I thought I was pretty well prepped for the ride home and had my truck loaded with tools, tarps, 2 spare tires and everything else I could think of I might need.  I didn't realize I needed to foam EVERY possible rub place since it "felt" so solid when it was folded. Hope this might help others.