Kekkuli

Impressive scenery, nice video clips. Not so many emergency landing spots there. A bit intimidating emergency-wise...

Do you have a special trailer to tow you a/c? I've got Avid Mk IV with a trailer made for it. The wingfold is not the biggest job, it's the load/unload and securing the a/c to the trailer. And as Av8r3400 stated, the trailer will be quite large object to tow. Altought I towed the a/c around 1000 km when I initially bought it, I'm not convinced that travelling on top of trailer is good for the plane in long run, e.g. tail weel spring has quite hard job... I second that getting some hangar space at the airport.... That's what I do with my bird.

Keijo

Hello everybody,

I've got my exported Avid Flyer registered and almost ready to fly (just in process to send paperworks forward)...

I succeeded to spill some petrol to the wing surface. I quickly wiped it away but the paint seemed

to be more pale afterwards. Later I realized that the paint was partly removed from the area.

Should Randolph's painted ceconite be so sensitive to spilled petrol or is it only that stuff they sell here in

Finland as a petrol (having ethanol, ethers & stuff like that in it...) that makes it so effective solvent?

Do you have similar experiences about this?

Regards,

Keijo

Does anybody have experience using some other brand paint on the top of Randolph colored buturate? It seems there isn't resale in Finland for those Randolph paint products.

In this problem, I have to paint over old foreign register markings and paint Finnish register markings instead. Unfortunately can of original color paint that came with the planr was not enough for the job.

So if anybody knows what else can be used without worrying consequencies (ie. possible reaction between old and new paint...)

The original surface is heat shrinked fabric (is that dacron or ceconite) painted with Randolph buturate dope...

Kitfox uses sight gauges on their model 5 and up. I would email John and ask him for some details. www.kitfoxaircraft.com My powered parachute used a sight gauge on the fiberglass tank that was the back of the seat. They were some kind of rubber plug in type fitting. Sorry I don't have any details I sold it a few years back.

Spruce sells kind of connector pipe that goes through rubber bushing. No nuts or any other means to secure that in the place. If the thing leaks, fuel flows on your lap.... I kind a

don't like the idea. I'll ask from kitfoxaircraft next... Thanks.

OK

we don't have CAA here for ultralight aiplanes !!

I see. Everything is so controlled here in Finland. I have registered my avid to flied with PPL (cheap way to keep the license). It is possible to register it

later to be ultralight...

Regards,

Keijo

I just have to indicate in the gauge how much gaz I add in each tank

ex : If I've got 15 l in the Left wing and 12 in the right wing

I add 24 in each wing so I will have to indicate 39 in the left and 36 in the other one

I use this on my avid and there is no problem

MicheL

So I did understand you correctly. No doubt it works but I'm pretty sure that Finnish CAA wouldn't accept that kind of system.

I think they (CAA) requires a level or amount indication of each gasoline tank!

Thanks anyhow.

Regards,

Keijo

Hi

sorry for my bad english

you'll have to get a FF-1 or FF-3 from MGL (http://www.stratomaster.eu/desktopdefault.aspx?panelid=69&tabindex=0&tabid=0#FF-1)

2 Fuel Flow Sender (one for each wing) http://www.stratomaster.eu/lignes/mgl/pdf/en/ffdoc.pdf

and 2 'andair check valves" from spruce

MicheL

Hello Michel,

I didn't quite get it. Do I understand this correctly if I say that you are suggesting of counting fuel consumption thus getting fuel level in tanks by calculating how much is used in certain time?

If so, I think this wouldn't work in real life where you don't necessarily start every time with full tanks!

I propably missed something in here.

If I decide to go with the sight gauge option, how to connect a line to the gasoline tank made of fiberglass?

Regards,

Keijo

I have the fabric cut off the inboard edge of my wing so I can see the fuel level right in the fiberglass tanks. I calibrated it using a gallon milk jug. I jacked up the tail to what I thought was real close to level flight and marked a line for each gallon. Sometimes you have to shake it a little bit to see the level but it's a nice piece of mind to be able to see the actual level in the tank.

That's exactly how it has been originally done in my plane. The problem is that fiberglass has become wery dirty & dark and is quite impossible to see fuel level through it. I also thought whether sanding do the trick but I don't know if the surface turns in to be "scratched" (and make the wall of tank thinner)!

Finnish CAA has quite strict about this. Anybody installed sight gauge to fiberglass inboard edge of the wing?

Also if I have understood correctly some Piper Cubs etc. have used mechanical fuel gauge (Spruce id 05-16700) but I have no idea if they have had a tank made of metal (aluminum etc.).

I wonder if sealing of the thing can be done properly with fiberglass wall...

Keijo

Hello guys,

What kind of solutions you've got for fuel metering in your Avids?

Here in Finland it is required to have fuel indication of both (wing) tanks if they have a separate feed...

I have a Avid Flyer with tanks made from fiberglas (one in each wing root).

I tought first to add a sight gauge but how to build tank fitting (and be sure that it won't leak ).

From Spruce I found something called fuel flow elbow and a rubber fitting for it (so that having a hole and that rubber fitting placed in it

and that fuel flow elbow to it?)? I think I'm missing something here... Sounds a little err... not too secure...

Any help much appreciated,

Regards,

Keijo

I use about 6 wraps of 1/2" in my Kitfox. Similar system...

Ok. I'll try that. Thanks.

http://avidflyer.wikia.com/wiki/Shock_Cord_Fabrication_and_Replacement

Took a little bit but I found it.

Thank you, very much.

I just noticed that I ordered 1/2" bungee from Spruce instead of that 3/8"... I wonder if it fits and if so, would 6 loops per side be enough?

Regards,

Kekkuli

You can also make the loops using .041 Safety wire to tie them. I have seen several different places before that showed how to do it. I will see if I can find some links for you to go to. If I cant find some, I will write up a how to later this evening when I bail outta the office.

That would be great.

Hello All,

I've got my Avid Flyer maintenance finally started. Now I wonder about how people actually set the bungee cord to the plane?

I bought 1/2" bungee cord. It seems to be quite sturdy thing.....

I read a thread from this site telling about required number of loops to get appropriate suspension to the landing gear. That was good thread but how do you

fasten bungees to the landing gear? In my plane (original setting?) some kind of clamps (looks aluminium?) has been used to squeeze cords together to form a loop in the ends of the cord.

Where to get those clamps or any suggestion to do the job by using other technique?

Any suggestion?

Regards,

Keijo

It seems that the shock cord used for her landing gear shows signs of age. Just looking it, tt seems to be just

long cord of bungee wrapped around.

Do you use ready made shock rings (e.g. from Spruce) or just buy bungee cord somewhere?

If ready made rings, what size would fit best?

Kekkuli

Well...

Do you have the full length 144" long spars, or the short speed wing/aerobat spars with spliced-in wing extensions?

What is the spar material thickness, .083 or .065?

What is the rib spacing, 12" or 18" O.C.?

Do you have wing tanks that replaced certain internal drag support tubes?

Lots of factors come into play with 'custom' wings. For G loads, I would [think] that wing construction matters more than the rib profile and, personally, I would use that as my guide. BIG caveat though, I'm not an aeronautical engineer so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately I don't believe Avid ever published G-loads for wing configurations other than their four 'official' wings, differences detailed HERE.

Maybe that helps some, good luck.

P.S. - Nice looking Avid! Be sure to support the tail when trailering with wings folded to prevent broken tail spring.

Thanks, I also like how she looks )

Not knowing what that spliced in wing extension looks like... Based what I read from the papers, I assume that it has been built using full lenght 144" spars.

Thickness of the spar walls is 2mm => 0.083".

Rib spacing is that 12".

So at least those seem to be built closer to Heavy Hauler specs.

Wing tanks on both sides. Total capasity 130 liters => 36 gal. Thank is 24" long in each side (replaces at least one rib),

but I don't know what the structure is inside the wing...

About the tail spring... That advice came a tad too late. I towed the thing around 1500 km => 940 miles to get it

here (Finland). The spring seems to be ok, but thanks for the hint. I hope that I don't have to tow it too much any more )

Kekkuli

According to Avid Aircraft Brochure:

AVID FLYER MK-IV HEAVY HAULER SPECIFICATIONS

...

Thanks for the Heavy Hauler specs & perf.info.

Does th Speedwing have different load factors?

Anybody knowing Speedwing numbers?

Kekkuli

Hello All,

Because importing already built Avid Flyer to Finland I have to state load factors to Finnish CAA.

I haven't succeeded to find those from the documents delivered with the plane.

She has Speedwing ribs and Heavy Hauler span. What are load factors for Speedwing and Heavy Hauler?

+3.8?

-1,5?

Picture attached. Still old markings painted...

Regards,

Kekkuli

The speed wing does not have the undercamber in the wing. If they built it to HH specs (more ribs and heavier spars) then you really have the best of both worlds. The full length speed wing will fly almost as slow as my HH wing. I could get my buddies MK IV with the extended speed wing in and out just as short as my C HH.

Wow, I just placed the question and there is a reply right a way. Impressive )

Thanks for the drawings.

Sorry, my poor skill in english fails me. What is undercamber? Do you mean that if you look wing's undersurface from the base towards the wing end,

the surface twists or is that proper word for that??? So the wing angle of attack changes when walking towards the end of the wing?

What kind of engines do you have in your planes?

About speeds, my plane has Hirth F30 engine that should give around 95 hp...

I had just a very short test flight before buying the plane so I don't have first hand knowledge about stall and slow flight speeds.

The speed on my test ride seemed to settle well over 100 mph IAS at 2000 ft but we were still climbing at that moment. Vne has been set to be 115 mph.

The test pilot who initially flew the plane year 1995 wrote that she was fully control at 36 mph with 10 degree flaps.

What are typical stall and cruise speeds (and Vne) for the plane with HH wing? How about Speedwing?

Kekkuli

Hello everybody,

The reason for starting this topic is that I just purchased Avid Flyer MkIV. It is supposed to be with Heavy Hauler wing but

the seller said it to have Heavy Hauler's wing length and speedwing wing profile.

Does anybody have any idea where to get e.g. speedwing profile to make comparation since papers that came with the plane don't have such drawings? Suggestions?

Cheers,

Kekkuli