Avid Bart

Just remember, the guy on the throttle and brakes needs to be blindfolded 

Brooks, let me know if you need to take a look at how mine are set up. They are the larger diameter matco master cylinders on the toe brakes. Sometimes it helps to see it in person before you start fabricating.

I see the original builder left one thread showing. Inside the lock nut. Nice touch.

What is mounted behind the seat truss with the tubing fittings? Fuel pump?

That sucks you can't repair it. Can you get a part number off the pot? I have had luck finding parts like this in online surplus stores.

Reminds me of when my wife's treadmill display quit working. It turned out to be a burned out output pin on the microcontroller. It was some weird brand and was obsolete but I found a replacement online and was able to pull the program off the old micro and load it on to the new one. Looking back, I should have thrown the treadmill out and bought $50 used one but it was a fun project.

You're making progress! I remember you saying someone reinforced the seat truss. Did you have to add the bolts to hold the bungee ends?

I thought about removing the oil injection on mine but from what I have read, they are very reliable. You are probably more likely to forget to mix oil in the gas than the chance of a oil injection pump failure.

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/avo/d/kitfox-model-4/6655672344.html

This is not mine but is 15 minutes from my house. I didn't see it listed on Barnstormers so I thought I'd help get the word out.

What's wrong with the old pot? Usually there are a couple bent tabs holding them together and they can be disassembled to clean. Any chance yours is salvageable?

Thanks Randy. All I would really need are the spars and spar splices. If you are able, I would appreciate if you could get a picture of the splices. I have been thinking about ways to splice the spars and didn't realize there were parts available to do it.

I want to extend the speed wings on my plane. How much were the extensions?

Nice work! I like the paint scheme.

Is this going to fly before we see snow?

I saw this posting a couple weeks ago. I wonder how much it will bring at the sale.

Looking good Jim. You might run out of projects if you keep this pace.

I finally got me Oshkosh schedule figured out. I will be at OSH from the 22 to the 24th driving in this year and camping in the chapter 237 area on 37th street.. Hopefully I will catch up with some of you in the UL area.

Jim, thanks for taking those pictures. I don't believe that is the problem with mine.

I spent some time last night with a water level to get some measurements. Here is what I have so far:

I leveled the fuselage and used the water level with a yard stick with 1/16" precision to get the measurements. I need to re-measure the flaperon bearing plate again, but otherwise the measurements should be fairly accurate.

Part of the problem is the flaperons were not mounted correctly and the left flaperon is mounted higher than the right. You can see it in these pictures.

Right flaperon mounting at wing root

Left flaperon mounting at wing root

I'm thinking I might fill the holes with thickened epoxy and remount both flaperons. I looked through the construction manuals and found the flaperon mounting instructions. The instructions in the C-Model and MK-4 differ.

This is from the C-Model instructions. It specifies 54 degrees from the top surface of the wing.

This is from the Mk-4 manual. It looks like they say to measure the 54 degrees from the extended wing rib. Maybe the measurement is not critical as long as they are the same on all of the ribs?

Anyway, I believe the reason the flaperons do not line up when the wings are folded is a combination of the improper flaperon mounting and the left wing trailing edge is a little higher than the right. I should be able to fix the flaperon mounting but is the difference in the trailing edges on the left and right wings a cause for concern?

Ed, I was thinking the same as I was working on the plane yesterday, but the problem is the wing and flaperon are 1" off at the wing root where everything should be fixed to the fuselage and square. You are correct though what really matters is how everything measures up when the wings are unfolded.

My other worry with this plane is there is corrosion on the fuselage, and poor workmanship throughout and I am not able to fully inspect the wings as they are covered. I will need to find a good A&P to help inspect the plane but I need to see if it is even worth going that far.

If all else, it makes a great lawn ornament. I had three random people stop by as I was working on it. Not one of them had any desire to fly with me

C5, something else I should have mentioned is there is a lot of corrosion on the fuselage tubing. From what I have found so far, it appears to be all surface rust but I will need to go over it with a pick to check for thin spots. The builder did a terrible job painting. I checked the ribs and they felt solid but I will be taking a closer look.

I was really hoping to not have to re-cover the plane but it is probably the best choice so I can do a thorough inspection. 

I'll dig into it more this week and let you guys know what I find.

You guys are great! Thank you for all the ideas.

It does appear to me that the left rear spar is too high but I am assuming the fuselage never would have left the Avid factory this way. Like I said before, the fuselage doesn't appear to be twisted or bent but I have not actually measured anything yet.

The stack of washers in the flaperon control rod are to make up for the flaperon being too high.

Dusty, I have a LOT of work to do and intend to completely go through the plane before I fly it. It was inspected and has an airworthiness cert. and I wouldn't think it would get signed off the way it is. I bought the plane with no logs or and information about the history so it might have a story to tell once I dig into it a little more.

Hopefully I will get a chance to measure the fuselage this week and see what is going on.

The weather was beautiful here yesterday and I was finally able to pull the (new to me) old Avid out of the garage to start working on it. After cleaning the carbs out and checking the coolant an and gear box oil, I got the engine running. I was amazed by how well it starts and runs.

One thing I found is the flaperons are not lined up when the wings are folded and the left flaperon sits higher above the fuselage than the right.

The right flaperon is about 3/8" above the bearing mount tab and the left is over an inch above the tab.

I don't believe the plane has ever flown and I have not found any bent tubes or other signs of damage in the fuselage. Does anyone know what might be going on here?

I'm east of Elk River about 30 minutes north of Minneapolis.

I'm also on the Yamaha conversion Facebook group. The RX1 and Apex motors look like they are perfect for these planes. It would be nice to meet you and see your engine setup. Are you going to the great aviation gathering at KANE next weekend by chance?

I have been lurking here for a while and decided it's time to introduce myself. I stated flying when I was 15 and ended up going to college to be an airline pilot. Two years into that and a lot of money spent flying, my family situation changed and I realized the airline pilot lifestyle was not for me. I went back to college for Electrical Engineering and gave up flying while I finished college and raised kids.

It has been over 12 years since my last flight and I have been itching to get back in the air. I have been looking at Kitfoxes and Avids for a while and found a good barn find project on Craigslist last week. I now have an Avid model C (S/N 495) with aerobatic wings and a crashed Bandit (S/N 1533). The Bandit has seen better days and will probably be a while before I get to it, but I am hoping to have the Model C in the air this summer.

I really appreciate all of the information you guys have on this forum. I have done a lot of reading already and will probably have a million questions as I work on the project.

Thanks,

Brett

I might be interested in the trailer. Where is it located?