saskavid

So I looked at the link Jim posted about the bing distributor web sight. The carb slides they show are very different from the original items so I am wondering if anyone has a set of these custom fabricated ones and how they work and assemble to the existing carb hardware? They look like fully machined pieces from solid aluminum stock to my eye. 

I was just looking and is this slide even compatible with the carbs our planes are running?it lists the slide as being for 54-1 carbs and I have no idea what model of 54 the 582 has....

So what markings are on the heads of those socket head bolts? From what I've read online they are supposed to be made to a better tensile standard then grade 8.

They are supposed to be on par with ISO metric standard of 12.9 or better which makes them a cut above grade 8. 

Well if your kit is mostly complete, if you have .083 spars then you should have lift struts that are 7/8 inch in diameter, and this is what is on my heavy hauler plane. The heavy hauler wing and aerobatic speed had more ribs in them then the "lighter" models.

As Jim had said start looking over the fuel and electrical. That it sputters with dual ignition on rough ground would imply its not ignition.... but you obviously had the plugs out and the caps off if it has been sitting that long. 

Next thing to check is the thickness of the aluminum wing spars. This will point you in the direction of what your gross weight will be with the stol rib configuration. 

The "kit" that went on to become the plane I now have was invoiced and delivered in late january to mid febuary of 1991 with a serial number a bit over 800 and is referenced in all documentation as a "c" model. 

The earliest record of mention I have reference to for the mk4 is the july 1991 avid comm news letter. All they show at that point is a covered and painted airframe on saw horses. The august news letter shows a finished plane. John Larsen did a series of articles for kitplanes magazine in which he cronicled the building of an avid flyer. First article was in may 1991.The plane he built at the avid factory for these articles was a "C". The first issue of kitplanes to have an avid flyer advertisement featuring the mark 4 was December 1991. 

I just glanced at the article and the D model was called a mark 4 simply as a marketing condition. earlier mark 4's will have the same engine mount as you will have for the 582 rotax. Later on they developed a mount they called dyna smooth. They also change the air frame at some point as well in the lower floorboard firewall area to accomadate heavier engines. Avid sold the change as a welded add on for existing airframes as well. the december 1995 issue of the avid news letter shows the install of this add on. the news letters are in the same files section as the article you are referencing.

Compliments of John.

So if you have the serial number of the kit listed somewhere it will be a place to start.Numbers in the 800's are C's. You do have the taller landing gear that was standard with the mark 4. Looks like an unpainted air frame and engine mount so that is just how they came unless it does have a flat black paint that doesn't show up in the pics. there is a tab on the passenger side of the air frame which is used for the side mount radiator, which is typical of a C model. You have the nose gear weldment which is a plus in some peoples books. As a kit my plane was delivered early in 1991 and is a "C".

So what kind of flying machine is that aluminum wing in the back going to become?

Saw this shirt on ebay a number of years ago and thought it was cool and should give it a home. It is a medium and won't fit me but still think it is cool and worth preserving and sharing. I am guessing this was part of the avid team wardrobe back around the late 80's early 90's. I am thinking an avid historian like John would know better then me as to the time line of it to avid history. Any one else have clothing hats or other avid promotional merchandise they have collected over the years? I know they did coffee cups. Denny had a fair bit of stuff promoting the kitfox as well. 

Thanks for the effort! Looks like it would be probably 3 5/8 inch long and the rest of the dimensions could be ratio calculated from a scan I have. 

I have looked at the wicks steel that is $.50 foot. It all has a C on the end of the part number, which designates it as being of chinese manufacture. Have you ever worked with it or handled it? Would be interesting to hear opinions of someone that has worked with it or seen it. I remember hearing a number of years ago some less then flattering opinions on it. 

Just for fun I was thinking I'd take a scan to an embroidery shop and seeing what they would need to do a few. If I remember John had a few left and Steve Winder had gotten them from him. Don't know what happened from there with the remainder or ever where Steve is now...

The 4130 tubing is the one that gets me going. 3/8 inch .035 wall... like seriously?Last I looked it was pushing $10/foot..

Yep! There is one in all its glory! So would that patch be 3 inches tall?

So Back in the mid 90's John Larsen had cloth patches made to promote the avid flyer. Does anyone remember the size of them or by any chance have one in their possession?

So I'm just going to throw this out there... I am wondering how much like the ellipse the structure of the wing is on this plane? The ellipse wing being somewhat complex in that it had to be "skinned" in a full jig if I am remembering this correctly. This is such an aerodynamically neat plane on so many levels...

Interesting airplane for sure. Very interesting airfoil profile from what I see in the pictures. Structure  seems to share a lot of mechanics with the ellipse. How the wings fold and the front wings pins pull...streamlining of the struts and the airframe. A very cool piece of work. The workmanship looks just exceptional. wonder how it performed or does perform?

Jim will eventually respond and in all likely hood say it is a tricycle landing gear. when you first posted pictures of the project someone was pointing this out. 

Well welcome to the group. looking under the plane I see what look like motor mount or mounts, looks like more than one. Do you know off hand what engine they/it are for?

Most if not all of the avids were built on the same washout level using the 2 inch block. Depending on engine some mk4 planes can do 125 mph with that amount of washout.

He fought it off for a long time and he hadn't been on here for a long time as well. He certainly had a love for building and talking aircraft. It would have been fun to see his projects completed by him... Maybe someone else will... 

This does look very nice for sure. Aluminum is fun to work with on a lathe. What kind of bearings do the 1 1/4 inch axle's use? It looks like some sort of sealed tapered roller just at a glance. If it is it will or should be essentially bullet proof. 

That trailing edge wing tip roll they had on the magnum that one of Chris's pics shows is such a classy touch and just added to the sex appeal of the avid flyers in that era...