Allen Sutphin

Looks like a Fox/Avid wing only smaller.

Thanks, the reason I was asking is because the SkyRaider wing is about the same. Of course, the rib tails are different and its only 11'10" long. 

Anyone know off the top of their head what the distance is between the inside of the spars on an Avid? Thanks!

Weighed the covered fuselage with gear, tail feathers, seat and engine mount. Total weight was 65.1 lbs. Will remove both wing tanks and recover the wings prior to weighing them. Will be using a 5 gal fuselage tank for Pt 103.

I ordered new ones for my Fox from Aircraft Spruce. Fox pins might be longer or shorter than Avid's pins, but AS&S will have them.

Right now it has more paint on it than a lot full of new cars. But I am going to weigh it prior to recovering just to see. 

Well, the SkyRaider is safe and sound in the barn. It has to be the cutest looking bird I've seen. With the rounded tail feathers, it looks like a baby Avid.

But then, every bird I get, I usually tear it apart and redo it to my spec's anyhow. Who knows what will come out of the skunk works.

Had an HKS that I tried to use in my model 2 Fox. Never could get it to work to suit me. It's also a lot heavier than they say.  Good UL engines are the stumbling block for Pt 103 birds. I'll get it home and weigh it and see what I have to play with weight wise and go from there.

Whether its a good deal or not, who really knows. Engines are the key to making it Pt 103. And if I can get the performance I want, great, if not then convert to E-AB. it can be done with a little shuck and jive on paperwork. Right now I am looking at the Polini engines.

I got dibbs on it. Going after it Wed. He has removed the AD from barnstormers. My intention is to make it Pt 103. Can be done with the right engine. Actually, its like a blank canvas to me.

Plan on going after a SkyRaider kit in the next few days. Found on within a reasonable distance from me at a fair price. I guess you could call it a baby, single place Kitfox. Its complete minus engine, prop and instruments. Those I prefer to do myself, anyway.

And here I am considering buying a TIG and getting rid of my torches.

Just as he just stated, make sure the paperwork is in order. 50% of what you are buying is the paperwork. I have checked on 11 aircraft recently that was supposed to be Pt 103. All 11 were overweight, unregistered E-AB aircraft. Basically lawn ornaments, without a lot of work to possibly get them legal. A few were 2 seaters with 10-15 gal fuel tanks that the seller swore was Pt 103. Try to think with your head instead of the heart. A nice aircraft can sway the best of us.

Had a serious helio crash near here this past week. An old "B" model Huey crashed with 6 on board, all fatal. Evidently the operation was illegal as a 3 dollar bill. A outfit was giving rides in it along with allowing ex helio pilots to fly it. No CFI on board at all. Was flying NOE in a very rugged area that they had not surveyed. As some of you know, NOE is only flown by military to avoid small arms fire and done at treetop level. No civilian use of NOE is explainable or justified. ( NOE, nap of the earth). Which means keeping the skids out of the tree limbs and no higher. Had no FAA approval or LODA to do so. So lawsuits will be forthcoming.  The old UH-1B was a slug when loaded unlike the UH-1H which was a good bird. Bad no matter how you look at it.

I've looked at those pretty hard. Nice ultralight and would do everything one would want in an ultralight. They are pretty pricy and about a year waiting list. I talked to Chris Duel and his lead time currently is about 11-12 months. He wants 30% when ordering, 20% when fuselage is welded, and the balance before shipping. Normal stuff for kit producers. Problem is that when you have a lead time out that far, a lot of things can happen maybe to you or even the kit producer. A lot of people learned this the costly way. Not saying anything bad about the kit producer but thing happen beyond his control or yours and there you are. Money invested with no kit or partial kit. Chris is a good guy with all the right intentions, but we know how life goes sometimes. After my Rotorway Helicopter experience, I am a little gunshy in this current situation.

I don't think they allow people from WVa across the Mississippi River. Can't imagine why?

I live in a log cabin, myself. After staining it for years we decided to paint it with a new paint that came out. Best move we ever done. Now just wash it down with a pressure washer every year or two and good to go.

Where is it located?

Not a lot of business in this state for a DAR. Maybe one or two a year. Not really worth the time and expense around here anymore. I am liking the looks of Pt 103 a lot more lately. But few folding wing ultralights out there. Maybe take an existing one and redesign a folding wing system. I've heard thru the grapevine that " if you want something around here, you have to build it".

Just got informed by the local FSDO office that they will no longer be doing airworthiness inspections. Will have to use a DAR. Since they are none in WVa that adds to the expense of getting one from out of state. Tried to get me to become one, but a little too old and broken down to travel to Okla City for a couple weeks. Things are leaning more to Pt 103 more and more. 

Parts would fall under those famous words "if you want something, you gotta build it". 

I took a pretty good look at them when I was hunting one. Well, still hunting one if its close to me. It would be a RR1, RR2, or RR3. The 1 is single place. The 2 has a jump seat if you can call it that with no controls. the 3 is a tandem with dual controls. Went out of business in 2017 or 2018. Built by Stace Shrader. All can use a 503 engine, folding wings like a Kitfox. He started on a RR4 but haven't heard of one. Kits started at around 11K and went up depending on model. Basically a tandem Kitfox. Performance was decent with a 503 if kept light when building. Ground handling was reported to be a little more touchy than a kitfox but manageable. At a decent price, I'd still be interested. A flyable one going for 15K for the RR2 and RR3. No parts available unless you make them. Kitfox style wings and uses Teleflex cables for controls.

Never have figured out when a company makes a defective part and its discovered, we still end up paying to replace it. 

I am not a lawyer or even want to be. It could be a hard sell depending on the state in which its formed. But this is in the United States so you might succeed in Calif.