nlappos

republic,

Don't worry about that wind, get back up and keep learning. I suggest getting your instructor to schedule a few dawn flights, when it is calm and also really beautiful. Once you master the aircraft, you will feel exhilarated! 

Great source of gaskets and o rings:   http://jbmindustries.com/GASKETS.html

Mark, I have  90 HP JCB 215, so I hope it does the trick

Thanks guys. I will try just grading the sage away, or using the Ratchet Rake I have to pull them out by the roots. If that doesn't work well, I'll get a Brush Hog (new toys, anyone?) 

. I figure I'll make a 50 foot wide by 1250 long runway to start with. I'm at 5500 ft MSL, and summer temps are easily 95 degrees so I can get 9200 DA.

I am starting a project to build a hangar and clear a strip in Utah, and look for some advice from you folks.

The terrain is flat, sandy and filled with sage. See the photo below. The sage is well rooted and about 1 to 2 feet tall. 

What is the best way to clear the strip, I have a JCB 215 backhoe, so I wonder what method would work best and easiest.

For the hangar, I was thinking a simple 40 foot square steel building with a bifold door and concrete floor.

I have a newer fiberglas tank, installed by the original builder after initial airworthiness, and it is bulletproof to alcohol. 

Beautiful engine, what does it weigh?  I found it on the site, 159 lbs. I wonder what that includes, for apples to apples comparisons.

I've been playing the audio in my hangar, hoping my Rotax will learn how to sing in that key. I'll let you know if it works!

I've been playing the audio in my hangar, hoping my Rotax will learn how to sing in that key. I'll let ou know if it works!

To save anyone else the agony of watching this really bad flick, the Avid Flyer is shown at the run time 49:12 for about a full minute in close up. 

Question: If you are in a weight shift machine, and you crap your pants, do you weigh less? Does that effect your handling?

Mickey,

One of our brothers here is raising the roof, literally, including the structure. He has some videos of it, too. Any help, folks?

Regarding the vertical tail and rudder, please be sure you make generous area for the rudder, that is why the Mk IV has the lollypop tail, more rudder area to ward off ground loops.

Mikeysuds,

I certainly believe you. I am 5' 11" and my headset touches the plexi forward of the aft structure, if I don't hunch over. At the same time, my seat sling touches the control tubes below!

Raising the roof 2" would be great.

Nick

ChuckM, I used Mike Hair's exhaust (I think he is in Utah) . The Y fitting on the motor I bought on Ebay, I can dig up the part number if you want. I drilled it for EGT, which works well.  The photo shows a 90 deg black elbow in the middle, Mike made me a 135 that I put in later which made the bend much better and centered the fittings at both ends. This photo shows only one white support band on the muffler, a second wasn't yet installed when I shot the photo.

Control reversal is when the wing as a whole is pretty close to stall and you put a large aileron input in, which increases the angle of attack of the wing you want to lift up. If you're right on the edge of stall, then instead of lifting that wing, it could stall and drop that wing. The pilot would perceive this as control reversal because you ask for a right roll and the aircraft rolls to the left. The cure for this is to use some washout so the tips of the wings are always slightly lower in angle of attack than the wing root. This means that the ailerons still have some lift left to control the roll axis even during the stall.

Smithereen,

One sure thing to find out is the MGW of the aircraft, and its empty weight. A true Mk IV Heavy Hauler will have a max gross weight of 1150 lbs, and most weigh in at about 500 to 600 lbs equipped empty weight. IMHO this is the most desirable of the Avid Flyers, since you can fill the gas and put 2 adults into that 600 lbs of useful load. Less desirable are the A, B or C models with 950 lbs MGW or less, especially those with car engines what weigh 50 to 100 lbs more than the Rotax family. Many C models with Subaru engines are one passenger planes.

I attach a weight and balance excel file that you can use to see hw any given airplane matches up. Good Luck!

LAPPOS N4052X Weight and Bal 2018.xls

Great! I have been down for about 12 months, finishing our house ("You aren't going to the HANGAR while we have so much work to do on the house, right?") and needing to repair a fuel leak. But the engine was running great, and lots of power. My airplane is at Parowan, BTW so we are close!

My experience with Ron was excellent, he was always there to discuss things and send fixes. Good Luck!

Some thoughts:

It will sell easily, and as a Magnum, for a good price. I'm not the one to suggest a price, however! 

Do not worry about future law suits (a big, big internet myth), do some searching on the EAA site. They list a simple release form that they advocate to use to short circuit any future suits. They say not one experimental airplane suit has ever been won. All the defense attorney has to do is show a picture of the "Experimental" placard, and read the definition to the jury.

Keep the airworthiness or registration up to date, do not drop them! If you pull the airworthiness, the plane is now a big paperweight, and the buyer has to convince the local FSDO that every part is airworthy. The value of the airplane will plummet. With the airworthiness still valid, swapping to a new registered owner is simple and fast. 

List it on Barnstormers.com, Take a bunch of good photos and share them on line, and a list of specs, including empty weight and useful load. There is an ad for a guy looking for a Magnum right now.

I'd not use telephone, just send emails with info until the prospect looks really solid, and is ready to send a check. Talking to every kibbitzer is a big time waster.

You have a great airplane, good luck!

The Rotax 670 is a nice alternative to the 582 - same mount, fits like a glove. Has 91 horsepower, needs more cooling than the 582.

This post saved me a lot of time!

I was wandering through Barnstormers when I saw this ad. Might be a cure for those of us with bad Bing carb floats

https://msacarbs.com/product/rotax-bing-blue-epoxy-float-ms80-430/

jjflyer,

Your plan is a great one, but I also suggest that you also buy an already built Avid so you have one to fly now. If you wait to build your C model, you will miss a few great years of flying. Even a complete one without an engine will get you in the air in just a few months.

In any case, welcome aboard and good luck!

One observation from that crash in the first video is how tough the airframe is. The cockpit area has largely the same dimensions, because the steel frame work is quite strong. 

The FAA departure stall maneuver is designed to help train us in this scenario, to recognize the signs, fix the problem and fly the aircraft out of the danger area. The FAA learned the hard way, after dozens of stall accidents, that the "normal" way to use the controls ("stick back, houses smaller....") is simply wrong.

I have bought a copy of "Stick and Rudder" for each of my students back in the day, the author really describes this all so well.

I used a double design, by having a second shorter spring bent to the same angle, but about 2" shorter than the main spring, and placed on top of the first. I clamped the two with a small sandwich to hold them in place, works fine. see the shot below