birddog486

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Everything posted by birddog486



  1. birddog486 added a post in a topic CAUTION ON EBAY - MAY CHANGE TO WARNING!   

    I've never bought anything from him but I've talked with him in the past, He sells low and high dollar stuff and has a legit business.
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  2. birddog486 added a post in a topic Aerobat extended wings   

    My kit was originally purchased as the Aerobatic speedwing. Over the years there were many complaints about landing these small planes so fast with the short wing and I decided to extend mine in hopes of getting it as slow as possible.
     
    My plane is fairly heavy at 667# with a 912ULS hanging on the front and a stall speed at 48 MPH. The kitfox airfoil is superior to the avid speedwing rib with better slow flight characteristics and a higher top speed, I'm guessing with the kitfox rib this plane would fly 10mph slower and 10mph faster
     
    Travis
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  3. birddog486 added a post in a topic Aerobat extended wings   

    Not to split hairs here but,
    the short speedwing or the aerobat wing will have almost the same amount of washout as the STOL or HH wing if they're extended and were built by the manual.
     
    The speedwing and aerobat wing are built (per manual) with 9' spars and have 1.5" of washout. The STOL or HH wing calls for 2" of washout in 12' which is the same 1/2" of washout per 3'
     
    I built the extended Aerobat wing for my Avid and I've been considering building a different set of wings with little or no washout using the kitfox 4-7 rib profile.
     
    Travis
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  4. birddog486 added a post in a topic Fuselage Belly Skin aluminum thickness ?   

    That is the same thickness as the turtle deck sheets. I don't have the exact info here but I believe it is around .018"
     
    Travis
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  5. birddog486 added a post in a topic Bending Polycarbonate   

    Ron,
     
    You probably know this but for others that dont, Polycarbonate is Lexan and Acrylic is Plexiglass. The lexan can be cold bent in a brake where the Plexi requires heat to bend in a tight radius or it would just snap. I used the Makrolon Lexan with a little heat on it to make the tight windshield bend at the edges. It's a real trick getting consistent heat at about 250 on the whole area for a smooth large radius bend that will hold it's shape.
     
    Travis
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  6. birddog486 added a post in a topic Finishing Tapes, any ironing other than shaping?   

     
    If your using the Stewarts primer you'll iron the pinked edges of the tapes after the primer coats and, before you put on a topcoat. Besides that there's no need to iron the tapes unless you see small air bubbles or wrinkles in the tape.
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  7. birddog486 added a post in a topic Crimping new drag tubes ????   

    Any chance you can post your info here?
     
     
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  8. birddog486 added a post in a topic Phase I flight testing   

    Congrats Robert,
     
    I assume you have the same wing I built which can be considered an extended aerobat speedwing. I'm curious on your stall speed and how much washout you built into the wing also whats your empty weight on that beauty
     
    Travis
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  9. birddog486 added a post in a topic How many planes?   

    I see there have been 827 Avid's and 1641 Kitfox's registered
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  10. birddog486 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    How many planes?
    I've been curious lately how many Avid's were sent from the factory before they shut down and how many Kitfox 1-4's were sold before they changed the design
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  11. birddog486 added a post in a topic John Larsen's article found in October 2003 Kitplanes mag.   

    I'll look back in my box of mags and see if I have that issue and the next
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  12. birddog486 added a post in a topic Lexan turtledeck   

    Here's an example of aluminum sides and a piece of .090 lexan.
     
    Travis
     

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  13. birddog486 added a post in a topic Tri gear to tail dragger   

    Yes Ed, there's TWO bungee attach points one in front and one behing the seat.
     
    Mark I just looked at a pic of your plane and I think I'm seeing a difference in the gear leg. I took a pic of mine and it looks like the axle is centered on the leg. The gear leg on yours looks to have the front tube at a 90 moving the axle farther forward. I'm not sure if that would make a whole lot of difference but I'm sure theres a reason for it.
     
    Travis
     

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  14. birddog486 added a post in a topic Tri gear to tail dragger   

    Ed, here's another pic showing the bungee attach point for the tri gear. The front bungee attach point for the tail dragger is at the front of the fabric
     

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  15. birddog486 added a post in a topic Tri gear to tail dragger   

    The attach point for the tri gear bungees is behing the seat.
     

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  16. birddog486 added a post in a topic Tri gear to tail dragger   

    Ed, the gear is swapped left to right which moves the bungee attachment to the front
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  17. birddog486 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Tri gear to tail dragger
    Back in the early days of Avid I know they were using the same gear for the Tri gear and tail dragger, just swapping them side to side and I'm wondering how this worked out. I'm going to be changing from the tri gear to tail dragger and with so many different gear out there is it worth it to change to more of a bush style taller/wider gear. I've got the c model legs without the step.
     
    The area I fly is either paved runways or fairly smooth grass
     
    Travis
    • 25 replies
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  18. birddog486 added a post in a topic 912 Avid guys   

    This Is what I've got now. I started with the fiberglass on the exhaust and a piece of firesleve on the hose, that lasted about 10 hrs. I added the extra piece of firesleve on the exhaust and it's been on there for about 20 hrs now but their still wearing more than I'd like. I just put a bead of silicone between the two firesleve's and I'm hoping that wont cause the hose to rub on the ring mount.
     
    I'm tempted to try having a 1" tube bent up to fit through there
     

     

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  19. birddog486 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    912 Avid guys
    Does anyone have a photo that shows how the 1" coolant hose is routed to the water pump around the exhaust and through the engine mount? I'm having a clearance issue on mine in several places.
     
    Travis
    • 4 replies
    • 663 views


  20. birddog486 added a post in a topic Gas tanks again   

    Thanks Guys. This wasn't caused by any gas coming from the cap. I wish I could have been that lucky. The paint is pretty tough and seems to resist any staining from gas, Its the primer that is causing the problem from the inside. The paint is very flexible and its just streching as the primer swells. I've got a small fan blowing through the wing but as of now it's not looking good.
     
    The Avid wing is built without a rib to the inboard side of the tank, The tank itself butts up to the butt rib. How wide are the Kitfox tanks between the ribs?
     
    Ed, I cut the tops out of these tanks and reseald them with vinyl ester resin before I put them in the wings. Obviously these early tanks were not a quality product and just trying to bandaid them bit me. I should have bit the bullet and bought the newer Kitfox tanks at that time so I would have only had to cover and paint the wings once.
     
    The stewarts said that AV gas will not do this to the primer, only car gas and It doesn't matter if its ethanol free. I've been really carefull to test the gas for ethanol and theres been none in these tanks.
     
     
    Travis
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  21. birddog486 added a post in a topic Gas tanks again   

    Ed, the wing was folded and had 7 gallons of gas in it (16+ gallon speedwing tank). It looks like the leak started at the top rear outside corner of the tank because, there is a small area of bubbled paint on the top of the wing there. It ran down along the ribs and down the front spar all the way to the wingtip light lifting the primer as it went.
     
    I talked to Doug Stewart about it and he wanted me to get some air blowing inside the wing to get it dried out as fast as possible. He said to give it a few days because he's seen the paint lay back down once the gas is out but im not holding my breath with this much damage. He said worst case looks like I'll have to peel and sand a bunch and reprime and paint all the damaged areas. Mr. Stewart didn't see a need to pull the fabric but I'm thinking if there are several areas that need repair and I'm going to open the wing to replace the tank I may just pull all the fabric but time will tell.
     
    Travis
     

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  22. birddog486 added a post in a topic Gas tanks again   

    Those measurements would be great Ed.
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  23. birddog486 added a post in a topic Gas tanks again   

    I'm not concerned about the tank shape so much as I'm wondering if the tank will fit between the spars. I raised my turtledeck so the speedwing and the undercambered profile doesn't match anyways. The picture above is what 91 octane ethanol free gas does to the Stewarts systems Primer coats.
     
    Travis
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  24. birddog486 added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Gas tanks again
    Does anyone know if the kitfox 13 gallon model 1 2 and 3 wingtanks will fit in the Avid flyer speedwing?
     
     
    Travis
     

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  25. birddog486 added a post in a topic Highwing Cabane gear for sale   

    Measurements would be great. I've always thought they were interchangable but just saw a kitfox III a couple weeks ago and the gear mounts looked alot different than my Avid.
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