skypics

Members
 View profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    144

  • Joined

  • Last visited


Everything posted by skypics



  1. skypics added a post in a topic What oil for rotary valve?   

    Dan:
     
    Use the same oil as used in the fuel and make sure you have no air in the rotary reservoir a nd associated lines.
    It's been a while since I drove a 582, but I seem to remember the Rotax manual describing how to fill the rotry valve reservour to prevent air in the lines.
    John M
     
    • 0


  2. skypics added a topic in Avid Model IV   

    Better aileron response
    Have you ever had a larger person sitting in the passenger seat and during landing or takeoff found you needed to input rapid and large airleron displacement to compensate for wind gusts?
    I have whe I flew a young lady with what we might call "thunder thighs."
    The stick slapped against her and I barely had enough deflection to keep the wing tip from touching the ground.
    This was on my model B. So I found that I could reverse the bell crank at the place where the aileron push rod connects to the mixer.
    So I have finally made this same mod on my MK4. 
    At cruise it takes a bit more force to move the ailerons, but you really don't have to deflect them much at cruise. It's diring low and slow that the augmented deflection came in handy.
    During my testing today I also founf the if I deployed just a bit of flaps two things happened.
    The aileron pressures were greatly reduced and the roll rate was awsome. Secondly the TAS increased about 3 MPH with that little bit of flap deployed. I found after landing that the previous owner had a bit of reflex in the flaps which while it can benefit with extra cruise on aircraft with normal flaps, it actually makes aileron movement harder.
    After landing I adjusted the mixer to add 3 degees down in the clean position.
     
    I took photos showing before and after. You will notice that one arm is longer thn the other so with the short one now connected to the aileron push rod a small movement makes a larger one at the mixer.
    John M
     
     
     


    • 0 replies
    • 611 views


  3. skypics added a topic in Avid Model IV   

    Replacement of Jesus Bolts on Fuselage Wing Strut
    I share a hangar with someone and so I fold my wings backa after every flight. I fly at least three times per week.
    I am starting to wonder how much the flold backs are stressing the strut bolt at the fuselage. 
    Has anyone with MK4s ever removed and inspected these bolts? If so what stress have you seen?
    John M
    • 2 replies
    • 854 views


  4. skypics added a post in a topic Picture of your pedals   

    Double brakes on MK4
     
    John M

    • 0


  5. skypics added a topic in Avid Model IV   

    Brake Bleeding Method
    I recently reconditioned my MATCO brake set up on my MK4. 
    I have double pucks. 
    The right side was blead the way I usually do it. From the bleed valve I attached my oil pumper can. Open the bleed valve and pump like mad till the reservour fills up Then empty the reservour and repeat until all the bubbles are gone.
    Worked just fine on the right brake but we couldn't get the bubbles seen between the two pucks to move out of position. We tried to have someone push on the brake and then we'd open the bleed valve. This didn't work. So I bought the vaccum bleeder from Harbor Freight And tried to suck the fluid up to the reservour with a supply of hyd fluid at the bleed valve. No luck. 
    I had given up for the day when a friend said he'd like to try his method. He has hyd fluid in a small pump up garden sprayer. He hooked it to the bleed valve,piuuiumped up some pressure, pressed the trigger and I stood by at the reservour to catch the overflow. This method moves the fluid through the system that it easily moved the bubbles out of the system. I do NOT like working on brakes.
    Final results: I can run the Jabiru up to 2800 RPM and holding the brakes can lift the tail off the ground. So now I finally have sufficient brakes on my Avid, but not so good to cause a nose-over in a panic.
    John M
     
    • 1 reply
    • 627 views


  6. skypics added a post in a topic Avid MK4 braking effect   

    After rebuilding the right caliper that was leaking and rebuilding the right master cylinder I just could not get all the bubbles out of my left double puck system. 
    I filling fron the lower nipple using and oil can with a feed trigger that would then fill the reservour. I tried bleeding it like we do autos by having someone presson the pedal while I open the bleed nipple.
    Nothing would move the bubbles pout of the tube that connects the top caliper to the lower caliper.
    Finally, my friend brought over the system he uses to bleed his brakes on his Kitfox and RV. It is a small garden sprayer. 
    I set it up so any excess on the reservour would go into a recovery bottle. He opened the nipple and pushed the trigger on the sprayer and the fluid moved so fast that the bubbles were moved up and out of the system. This ended several hours of trying to get rid of the bubbles.
    The brakes are now solid.
    I HATE bleeding brakes. 
    John M
    • 1


  7. skypics added a post in a topic Avid MK4 braking effect   

    I found that fluid was leaking from my MATCO brake pucks. Two on each wheel.
    So I ordered new O rings, stainless puck slider spacers and new fill nipples.
    I purged the system, but couldn't get the left brake master cylinder to get the solid feel that the right one had. We didn't see any bubbles.
    So I took the left master cylinder (short one with remote reservour) apart and found some sore of dirt in there. There is a part that slides along a shaft that I believe works as a check valve. It was sticking so I replaced the outer O rings and the inner O ring. 
    They are a bitch to reassemble. It took two of us to push in the unit far enough to reset the snap ring. This rework has corrected the issues.
    For those who mentioned it, I have excellent geometry on my pedals. A friend has a Kitfox and there is plenty of room to get the ball of your feet up high on the pedal. The Avis is restricted so that only the tip of my toe is on the top of the pedal. Any higher and you contct the crossbar on the firewall. Poor design.
    I had mentioned that my friend with the nose-dragger had excellent braking. That said, that breaking could be an issue in a panick stop and have you on your nose in a tail-dragger.
    So there is a fine ballance between too much and too little braking.
    While working on the brakes we noticed that the bolt on the forward left landing gear leg attachment had a broken. The head of the bolt was GONE. 
    So I replaced that bolt and will replace all of the others. and since I fold my wings every time I put it in the hangar I am going to replace the Jesus bolts where the strut pivots at the fuselage.
    John M
    Avid MK4 with Jabiru 2200. Built in 1996. 
    Commercial Pilot, 8000 hours, 1200 in Cessanas, 2400 in Ultralights, 2800 in Avid model B  1600 hours in MK4.
     
    • 0


  8. skypics added a topic in Avid Model IV   

    Avid MK4 braking effect
    My 1st Avid was a model B. I flew it for over 2,000 hours until I totaled it on a challenging back country Sierra strip. It had single MATCO pucks on each wheel that were never very good braking. I even modified to standard poor geometry brake pedals so to give the proper leverage on the brake cylinder. 
    On my MK 4 I actually made the MATCO modification to add 2 pucks on each wheel. The brake pedals have good geometry. Still the braking is not great. I have 1700 hours on this Avid.
    A friend bough a MK 4 nose-dragger and when I flew it I was surprised at how well the brakes worked. His set up was like mine using the remote reservour. And he only had single pucks.
    Recently I found the brake pucks starting to leak so I bought new O rings, new filler nipples and the newer slide spacers that are stainless and so should not corrode restrictingh the ablility of the pads to slide on the spacer/slides. 
    I'll check them out on today's flight, but I don't hold out much hope that they are adequate.
    I should mention that I had a damaging accident 2 monthes ago when I landed in my tail-dragger MK4. I put on the brakes to slow down and then let off. One of the right brakes stuck in the on position causing a ground loop that put me up on the nose and left wing tip. This damaged the outboard flaperon hangar and busted on of the blades on the Whirlwind composite prop. Fortunately no damage to the crank from prop strike.
    Make sure the brake pad slides are clean. 
     
    John M
    • 34 replies
    • 4,993 views


  9. skypics added a post in a topic Speed fairings   

    Here is a shot of my bush gear fairings. The domes on the center of the gear are two prop spinners back to back to cover the 20 square inch flat plate on the gear.
    Opps! Loaded the shot twice.


    • 0


  10. skypics added a post in a topic Hatrack Avid Flyer   

    On my Model B (prior to being totaled in a High Sierra crash) I had both the hanging cargo bag under the turtle deck and the hanging bag just behind my head. Plenty of cargo space.
    Now, with my MK4 I have the cargo compartment accessable through the door on the pilot side and the hanging bag from Fischer  Upolstery. This is enough to provide space for tent, sleeping pad, stove, tool bag, folding aluminum camp table, food, clothing, etc.
    I also wear a fishing jacket with the pockets loaded with first aid and survival equipment. Pocket #1 has a list of what is in the other pockets.
    John M
    • 3


  11. skypics added a post in a topic Rotax 912 ULS Tuned Intake   

    Regarding an increase of horsepower....
    A friend with a 100 HP Rotax on his Kitfox had the "Zipper" kit installed by Hal who is located at Elco Nevada and does these mods.
    The claim is that the HP is increased to 114 HP.
    We didn't change the prop pitch after the mod and when he took it up for a test he was getting 2000 FPM and the engine would over rev straight and level. 
    We repitched the prop and now he gets better cruise along with great climb. 
    The Kitfox owner really likes the new performance specs.
     
    John M
     
    • 0


  12. skypics added a post in a topic F7 part for differential ailerons on Avids   

    Do these bell-cranks provide differential flaperon deployment?
    • 0


  13. skypics added a post in a topic Compression numbers ?   

    Make sure the throttle is wide open when you do the auto type compression test.
    John M
    • 0


  14. skypics added a post in a topic Mountain Avid finally Flys   

    C5 engineer:
    The cigarette lighter can be noisy itself. I use a panel mount ICOM 210, but when I flew my Model B I used only the hand held hooked up to an outside antenna.
    If you have a clean signal on batteries only and noise with the adapter it's most likely the lighter adapter. Is it an ICOM adapter? They are usually pretty good noise wise.
    John M
     
    • 0


  15. skypics added a topic in Avid and Kitfox parts Suppliers   

    F7 part for differential ailerons on Avids
    Anyone knw where to get the F7 bell crank to provide differential ailerons for the Avids?
     
    John M
    • 18 replies
    • 3,164 views


  16. skypics added a post in a topic Grove gear pics   

    Wow! 32 pounds for the tail-dragger gear.
    Equal to about 5 gallons of gas.
    I'll stick with the much lighter bush gear.
    John M
    • 2


  17. skypics added a post in a topic Hanging Luggage Bag for Avids   

    C%5engineer:
     
    R U referring to the red hanging bad I provided to Joey?
    I had great use of that bag on my B model. When I totaled the B I pulled all the useful parts and sold the B to a guy at Whitman field here in SoCal. He was goinf to fix it and sell it. Don't know if that happened.
    The red hanging bag gave more room than the standard baggage compartment on my MK4.
    John M
     
    • 0


  18. skypics added a post in a topic Strut Cuffs for MK4   

    Randy:
    The Jabiru engine, like others, have evolved over the years. The new generation 4 engines have many improvements over the gen three that I have. Namely, the gen four uses hollow push rids to feed oil from the hydraulic lifters to the rockers which is better than the  the solid ones I have with tubes to feed oil into the rocker box. They also have roller lifters.
    Also, buying any replacement parts is much cheaper than the Rotax engines. In fact I had a top overhaul done on my Jabiru for $7,000 including shipping.
    I  think a new Jabiru is $14,900 for the 85 HP 2200.  They also offer firewall forward kits. They also offer used engines taken on trade in. The 130 HP 3300 costs $18,500 which is cheaper than the Rotax 100 HP engine.
    Finally, I am told by observers that my engine with the Whairlwind prop is one of the quietest on the field.
    John M
     
     
    • 0


  19. skypics added a post in a topic 912 aftermarket ignition   

    A friend has a 912 on his Remos.
    He has intermittent starting issues. 
    One time we pulled the plugs and they needed to be replaced so he ran over to Spruce and bought a new set. When he installed them the engine started right up. So we thought we had cured the issue. But NO...
    On another day it wouldn't start so we consulted the Rotax guru from CPS who resides on our field. He said the starting circuit on the ignition modules may be bad. He said one could go out and you wouldn't know it because the engine would start on the other one...until IT started to fail.
    He suggested to put a bag of ice over the modules and leave for an hour. Sure enough, one hour later the engine started. We though it may be necessary to buy two new $1000 modules. However, I suspected the ignition switch. They are notorious for failing. He had that switch replaced. It started up OK. We thought we solved the issue. WRONG! It failed to start two days later. He won't fly his airplane away from the airport for fear of being stuck out somewhere.
    All of this made me so glad the ignition system on my Jabiru is so simple.
    He has 2200 hours on the engne and is currently looking for a newer engine with maybe only 500 hours on it so he can fly his Remos for maybe 5 more years before giving up flying. He and I are getting way up there age wise.
     
    John M
     
    • 0


  20. skypics added a post in a topic Another engine out from an oil injection failure   

    When a 582 powered my Avid Flyer I used 100% synthetic oil at 100:1 ratio with the oil pump removed. I used to get 300-500 hours TBO.
    I wouldn't recommend using a leaning device on a two-stroke since less gas also means less oil lubrication.
    John M
    • 0


  21. skypics added a post in a topic Strut Cuffs for MK4   

    Vince:
    The Jabiru is a very simple engine using much of the design of engines developed in the '40s.
    My wingmen all have mostly Rotax 912 engines. Two other with Zenith 750s use the Honda Viking and UL engines. Both of those engines have no magnetos and MUST have battery power to keep running. In fact my friend with a 750 and UL engine had an engine failure while were in the High Sierras and totaled the aircraft. He bought another Zenith with a 912 engine and loves the way it performs.
    I have see the 912 installed in an Avid and it is a VERY tight fit. The engine is very robust. The weak parts seem to be the gear box and the sprauge clutch. The engine runs forever, but they seem to be having the gear box or sprauge clutches worked on quite a bit. And the voltage regulators seem to fail a LOT.
    The Jabiru is a mix of off the shelf parts which keeps the price down. As I recall they use Toyota pistons, A Kabota voltage regulator, Honda magnito coils, etc.
    I am pleased with the performance of my Jabiru in my Avid MK4. Of course it would be nice to have the 100 HP of the Rotax, but the cost of the engine and the complexity, water pipes and water coolers and costly electronic ignition, make my coice of the jabiru the best choice for me.
    John M
     
     
    • 2


  22. skypics added a post in a topic Strut Cuffs for MK4   

    Any time you eliminate turbulence on an aircraft structure you get better performance. The only exception is VG that actually cause controlled turbulence.
    I have always had a fantastic climb. Even more than all but one of my 6 wingmen. So I added 1/2 degree to my Whirlwind prop and the Avid speed increased from a typical 95-96 MPH TAS to 99-100 MPH TAS. Now I can still outclimb most, but can cruise better with them.
    Climb was reduced about 200 FPM which leaves me with 800-900 FPM which is greater than most other aircraft on my field. 
    Engine: Jabru 2200
    Prop: Whirlwind 2 blade 66" prop
    Aircraft: Avid MK4 tail drgger
    • 4


  23. skypics added a post in a topic New legs for the Avid   

    Let's see if I can attach the photo of my bush gear fairings.

    • 2


  24. skypics added a post in a topic Speed fairings   

    The wing cuff I show is 6061 T0 25 thousands aluminum. 
    I used air dry clay to fill in the gap as a temporary measure, but have left it since it works fine.
    After the clay dried I panted it with the same paint that is on the wings.
    John M
    • 0


  25. skypics added a post in a topic Speed fairings   

    I used the aluminum trailing edge from Spruce on my Model B.
    Since I'm only a mile from Spruce I just drive over and pick up a 10 foot section.
    This fits on the jury struts and horizonal supports. I don't think they are an option for the wing struts.
    John M
    • 0