ChrisBolkan

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Everything posted by ChrisBolkan



  1. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My Kitfox gets 27 Desser's   

    This is the 21 inch pillow soft tire at approx 10 psi. If the 27's are as "pillow soft" as these 21's are they have to be AWESOME!

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  2. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My Kitfox gets 27 Desser's   

    I bet those are awesome at 5 PSI! I was running my pillow soft 21's at 5 and it was amazing how much they sucked up. I ended up spinning one on the rim and shearing off a valve stem and ended up with a flat. I need to screw the beads to the rim. I was wondering how much taller the 27's are than the 21's so I will measure mine at 10psi which is what I am running them at currently and repost back with the difference. Thanks again!
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  3. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My Kitfox gets 27 Desser's   

    That's exactly what I want! Thank you so much!
    Chris
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  4. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My Kitfox gets 27 Desser's   

    Would you mind measuring from the pavement to the center of the axle and report back that dimension and the approximate tire pressure you measured it at?
    I would really appreciate it.
    Thanks!
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  5. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My Kitfox gets 27 Desser's   

    Thanks!
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  6. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My Kitfox gets 27 Desser's   

    Are you using single puck brakes with the 27's? If so is your braking significantly affected?
    When I put 29 inch bush wheels on my Magnum I could not hold it back during even a mild run-up. (With a Single 2 inch Cleveland Pucks).
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  7. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Oratex 6000 on a PA12   

    So nice!
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  8. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic 100hp Cylinders on a 912 UL   

    Yeah, your lathe makes my Old South Bend Heavy10 look like a toy! 
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  9. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic hi there   

    I have a million hours in the tricycle gear Avids. (not really but a LOT) You want the gear exactly where it is! It's perfect. That easy wheelie is EXACTLY what you want for perfect smooth landings! It is so wonderful. Makes the trikes able to land in really rough places without concern for taking out the nose wheel. Takeoff rolls consist of giving it gas, lifting the nosewheel a bit and rolling along with the nosewheel lifted until it flies. Landing do just the opposite. Land nose high and ride on the main wheels with the nose up (just like you taxi it now) until you have rolled over the rough stuff enough to put the nose down and safely apply brakes. I land my little trike in some very rough places. Pretty short too. Can't quite get the hard braking on as quickly as with a TW, so can't get stopped quite as quickly, but super respectable.
    The balance of gear placement Dean did was amazing and genius IMHO . Makes the little Trike do almost as well as TW versions in the rough shit. Plus it's sort of auto calibrated to know if your CG is too far aft when you have it all loaded up for camping. If the tail won't stay up you need to move some weight forward.
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  10. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic 100hp Cylinders on a 912 UL   

    That's an enviable lathe you have there! 
     
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  11. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Flaperon attachment repair   

    I am curious why you would want to reinforce the flapperon hangars?
    They are strong enough to never break under normal flight loads, and if on a ground loop, some break off, wouldn't that actually make them MORE repairable? I believe that if they were reinforced, more damage would be done deeper in the structure requiring even more extensive repair. That's the way I see it anyway.
    I have seen pictures of wood rot failures of the hangars due to trapped moisture at the back of the wing where the hangars exit. Aluminium would help if that were the situation I would think. as long as the rot was not deeper in the structure.
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  12. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My magnum rebuild   

    Chanselor is making great progress on the Magnum!
    It will be back in the air much quicker than I was progressing. I am excited for both the Magnum and Chanselor! 
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  13. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Newcomers with an Avid Amphibian project   

    I will be happy to share. I already started a thread on it when i bought it, but the realization of the actual condition of the plane to what i thought/hoped it was, and other priorities set it on the side. However I am getting ready to begin work in Ernest. In this case i do not plan to tear it completely apart and rebuild as I might have wanted to do at one time. I just want to get it flying safely and have fun with it. So my fixes will be minimalist to make it safe not to make it perfect. It goes against my grain to do that, but I want to fly it much more than build on it so I will live with safe but not perfect to get it up and going. After all the damage (and repair) will be covered by well screwed down floor boards! :-)
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  14. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Newcomers with an Avid Amphibian project   

    Congratulations on your Amphibian!
    I too am bringing a Catalina to life that suffered an engine out which resulted in a hard landing and some bent tubes and a poor repair of the main gear. Unfortunately in my case the people I bought it from did not tell me about the engine out and hid the damage by putting lipstick on the pig. Even with the experience I have with Avids, I was fooled by a combination of the "car salesman" I I bought it from and the beautiful look of the plane (even with a through look over). The damage was hidden under panels that had a lot of screws to remove, and everything else was PERFECT. So..... I am stuck with figuring out what to do. I am currently working on the strategy to make the landing gear OK with a minimum of reconstruction.
    My goal is to have it in the air this summer.
    I look forward to your posts and I too will share as I work on my bird! 
    Chris
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  15. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Finally got the cowl painted   

    Thanks! Makes total sense. I am personally not a fan of boot cowls on these planes, because they make maintenance behind the dash so difficult. I even removed the boot cowl on my Fat Avid and went back to two piece. But faced with what you had to do to adapt to engine length, seems like a great way to accomplish the proper fit...and it shows! 
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  16. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Zipper or Edge big bore kit?   

    That make sense to me. The guy I know who ran the (105) Zipper ran it a proportionately higher RPM and did get what seemed like pretty much identical power to the ULS. I was just curious. Thanks!
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  17. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Zipper or Edge big bore kit?   

    Did you need to increase pitch on the prop with the 100Hp ULS because it develops its power at a lower RPM, or are you thinking that the 105Hp Zipper doesn't seem to have as much power as the 100 Hp ULS? I don't know what to take away from your interesting comment.
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  18. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Finally got the cowl painted   

    Yes it does! Nice looking plane. Curious, why did you go with boot cowl? Or was it started that way and you just went with it?
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  19. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Sutter Buttes Dirt Road   

    That sure looks like a neat place.
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  20. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Sutter Buttes Dirt Road   

    I would love to explore that!
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  21. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Sutter Buttes Dirt Road   

    What state are you in? Are those decommissioned? Looks fascinating to me!
    We have some old Nike? surface to air missile sites here in SE Washington that are pretty cool to look at.
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  22. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Kitfox crash on utube   

    OMG! I thought for sure that was fatal watching that video. So glad it wasn't. Looks like he had the stick in his gut for the whole ride!
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  23. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Easy wire splices   

    Thanks for this info!
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  24. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Easy wire splices   

    Those look interesting. Can you inspect the solder joint through the tubing? It's hard to tell from the picture of the box. I would be leery of any solder joint that I could not verify the quality of. If you can inspect the joint through the tubing sign me up! 
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  25. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic My Wheelbarrow is getting closer   

    That is freakin awesome! You are quite a craftsman/designer!
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