marksires

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Everything posted by marksires



  1. marksires added a post in a topic Finally starting new hangar!   

    I'll post some pictures soon.  34 loads of dirt for me so far,the hangar is 50ftx50ft and in a flood plain, so it had to be raised above the base flood elevation.  The Hangar part will only be 50x40. Due to a stupid Florida building code rule I have to build a frickin firewall to make the hangar part only 2000 square feet.  A 'residential' hangar can only be 2000 square feet.  If I had done enough research first, I would have called it a 'Storage Building' on the permit, then it could be as big as I want.  I could fill it with leaky old cars and tractors, no problem, but Oh My God, Airplanes are Dangerous!.
    I hate frickin idiots, particularly when they are in charge.
    Plumbing under slab inspection was done Friday - passed.  Plumbers are definitely a pain to find.  I found a company that so far has done what they said they'd do, at the price they said they'd do it, and showed up on time.  That seems to be a hard concept for contractors these days.  One project I called 5 electricians that had paid for ads.  Only 1 called me back.  Why are they paying for ads if they aren't going to respond to them???  The annoying part is I'm sure they are sitting at breakfast with their buddies every morning bitching about the lack of work......
     
    Mark
     
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  2. marksires added a topic in Hangar Talk   

    Finally starting new hangar!
    3.5 months to get the permit, but work has begun!  Concrete guy set up the forms yesterday, plumbers are here doing the underslab rough in today.  When I get this done, maybe I'll have time and space to get back to flying/building airplanes.  In the meantime, I'll get to play with big boy toys putting together my giant erector set!
    Mark
     
     
    • 125 replies
    • 11,002 views


  3. marksires added a post in a topic Passed FAA Inspection   

    Congrats!  I have Cozy IV plans, but haven't progressed past the seat back yet.  Time and money - If I have time, that means I have no money.  If I have money, that means I have no time.....  In the meantime, my Cherokee and my Avid consume what time and money I do have. :-)
    Lots of good information on the Cozy Builders Google group/mailing list if you aren't already on it:
    https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cozy_builders
     
    Mark
     
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  4. marksires added a post in a topic First time on the trailer   

    So, Hicountry, how much is the gear?
    Mark
     
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  5. marksires added a post in a topic Not the way to make the news   

    Ouch, I guess it would take a while to get used to not having enough thrust to get you out of most anything.  When the taxpayers aren't paying the fuel bill, the power specifications change (well, and bad people not shooting at you helps too).
    Mark
     
     
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  6. marksires added a post in a topic Airframe/wing flutter   

    Grounding for suspected flutter is the right thing to do, it is nothing to play with.  Make sure all the control surfaces are properly weighted and balanced, if so then the spar stiffeners may be needed.
    Mark
     
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  7. marksires added a post in a topic Avid, Kitfox clone (Raven) on barnstormers   

    That's a good price on just the engine and prop, if they are 'new in the box' as advertised.
    Mark
     
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  8. marksires added a post in a topic Not the way to make the news   

    Really? I would have expected a Vegan menu from that group...... :-)
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  9. marksires added a post in a topic Just some airplane pics   

    The Zenith with the outside oil cooler - what, he didn't have enough drag already???? :-)
     
    Mark
     
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  10. marksires added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Not the way to make the news
    Asphalt, big tires, and tailwheel are not always a good combination:
    http://fox2now.com/2017/04/24/developing-plane-crash-at-spirit-of-st-louis-airport/
     
    • 15 replies
    • 988 views


  11. marksires added a post in a topic Kitfox 2 on barnstormers   

    Shoot, the Lotus floats are more than half that price by themselves, if they are in new condition.
    Mark
     
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  12. marksires added a post in a topic Grass runway mower   

    Ed,
    Now they steer themselves too.  I guess the 'farmer' can just take a nap while harvesting! :-)
    I remember harvesting soybeans - I usually ran the tractor pulling the wagons (no mules thankfully).  While waiting for it to get full, I'd chase the mice that made it all the way through the combine somehow, and were trapped in the wagon.  Used to see if I could get them going fast enough to stick to the walls while running around the top, like those motorcycle guys at the carnival! 
    When I got older and interested in flying, I decided that harvested soybean fields were the best emergency landing spots, harvested corn probably the worst.  If I had to land in a 'growing' field, corn way my choice.  The tall plants should absorb a lot of energy, without tipping the plane over.  A harvested corn field was full of things to catch the wheels and flip it right over though.
     
    Mark
     
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  13. marksires added a topic in Rotax and other engines   

    Aeromomentum engines - Anybody heard of these?
    Just ran across these, wondered if anyone knew anything about them:
     
    http://www.aeromomentum.com/introduction.html
     
    Mark
     
    • 5 replies
    • 1,457 views


  14. marksires added a post in a topic Avid aircraft serial number location   

    The builder determines the serial number and it should be on the data plate.  The kit serial number is nowhere on the parts. 
    Mark
     
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  15. marksires added a post in a topic T6 Ride   

    My wife bought me a ride in one of those several years ago for Christmas.  It was a lot of fun.  We did some light aerobatics, mostly aileron and barrel rolls as I recall.
    Mark
     
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  16. marksires added a post in a topic PRIVATE FORUM - Think Again!   

    'high end Mac computers' - that's an oxymoron.... :-)
    If you want to solve your angst over advertisers tracking you, go buy your wife/girlfriend something cheap at Victorias Secret.  You won't be nearly as upset at the ads you get anymore! 
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  17. marksires added a post in a topic made a 1000 days and still going strong   

    I guess that is an AMU - Aviation Marriage Unit!
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  18. marksires added a post in a topic Chocks and Tie Down   

    With a 3 point tie down, I don't see any benefit to chocks. Maybe if the wing tie downs are straight down instead of angled out, but properly tied down, I don't see any help.
    Mark
     
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  19. marksires added a post in a topic USB 4A dual smart charger port   

    USB chargers are twitchy little beasts.  I don't have many issues with them not charging, they either do or they don't, and the iPad is happy to tell me when it don't ('Battery not charging' when it is plugged in).  Particularly with the new lightning connection ones, if the lightning connector on the cable doesn't have an apple license chip, no chargy.
    With an iPad 3, regardless of what USB charger you use, it will not charge as fast as the battery discharges if the screen is on full bright, and the CPU is working (like using an aviation app in full sun......)  The best I can get out of mine is about 6 hours.   If it doesn't overheat first.
    They can also be noisy beasts.  If you have radio noise issues, the first debugging step should be to remove any USB (or other) adapters plugged in to any power source.  I've had noisy ones that were expensive, and quiet ones that are cheap.  I've decided I just have to try them to find out.
    Mark
     
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  20. marksires added a post in a topic UK Newbie   

    Here you go Ed, always happy to help the Google Maps challenged :-)
    https://www.google.com/maps/place/Malmesbury,+UK/@51.5869557,-4.340162,7z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48716a2a0dcb10bb:0x385ca6955d214ad5!8m2!3d51.586357!4d-2.102834
    Mark
     
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  21. marksires added a post in a topic UK Newbie   

    I thought that when I first started exploring changing mine to a nose wheel.  The main gear are different for each configuration.  The rake angles aren't the same.
    Mark
     
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  22. marksires added a post in a topic UK Newbie   

    You can look a grove for the main gear:
    http://www.groveaircraft.com/landing_gear.html#avid
    The stock tailwheel setup is a bit twitchy.  The grove gear is wider, which improves that.  There are other threads on different main gear here as well.
     
    Lots of threads here on tail wheel options.
    If you do the conversion, I want first dibs on the gear you take off! :-)
    Mark
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  23. marksires added a post in a topic Quite site   

    Business Ethics, that one always makes me snicker...... :-)
    Mark
     
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  24. marksires added a post in a topic Parting out MK4 Avid   

    Glad it helped!  I have the two I need, but if I lose them I'll let you know (provided I don't lose them in flight....)
    Mark
     
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  25. marksires added a post in a topic Parting out MK4 Avid   

    Aircraft Spruce has the 5/16 clevis pins up to -89, Wicks only has them up to -61.  This site says they have them:
     
    http://www.bandbaircraftsupplies.com/index.php?orderby=product_sku&DescOrderBy=ASC&DescOrderBy=ASC&Itemid=73&option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=229&manufacturer_id=0&keyword=&keyword1=&keyword2=&limit=25&limitstart=130&vmcchk=1&Itemid=73
     
    Mark
     
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