Mendlerr

I feel like the modifications to the Avid in Wyoming greatly help

The one in Reno looks nice, so you think the 80hp 912 will outfly the 100hp EA81 with the nicer prop?

I mostly intend to do off-airport landings in improved and unimproved fields throughout NC and VA so I like the idea of the bush gear. The citabria does take a beating though and seems to handle it okay and looks very similar to the Avid in Reno

If I were to buy the yellow/white Avid in Wyoming, what could I sell the EA81 for, maybe as a FWF package and install a Rotax 912 or 914UL. I've been told atleast $25,000 to do the Rotax conversion which is definitely out of my budget at this moment but might be food for thought in the future.

From my quick calculations it would increase useful load from around 70-100lbs which would make a substancial increase in performance solo and dual with no decrease in HP and the fuel burn should remain around the same.

I'm also curious what can be done to increase cruise speed. The owner has told me I could turn out some higher RPM's with a prop adjustment and might be able to get to a 90mph cruise but I would take up alot more runway and turn higher RPM's which would in turn reduce engine life. Would Vortex Generators and Gap Seals help in any significant way? Would it be possible to mount the radiatior anywhere else? I've heard of the cowl being modified to mount the radiator up front and reduce alot of drag.

Thoughts, experience?

i like it. I've found some others I intend to look at this week. Not all taildraggers and not all avids/kitfox's. I really want a good stol plane that I can trailer home.

Well i think the kitfox idea is fading fast but I'm still going to take a look at it and see what one looks like up close. It should be similar in dimension to the avid mark iv. If not the same correct?

I was thinking the same thing. What would think is reasonable for it? I may make a counter offer

I'm leaning more towards the avid even though it doesn't have much time since a major repair. I just worry about the avid having mechanical and structural issues even though it doesn't appear too

Here is a copy of our last email (avid owner) after inquiring about the damage history and the repairs that followed.

"I put a new tail wheel on the airplane and it worked great on my turf runway, but on hard pavement it would shimmy. I made an adjustment and took it to our local airport to see if it helped any. When I landed it still had the shimmy and it pulled me to the right of the runway. Any other airport and I would have gone into the grass and it would have been a nonevent. But our local airport had a drainage ditch about 15ft. deep next to it and the plane went down into it. The left Flaperon attach points broke, the gear got torn off and the fuselage was bent. The engine was off but one blade got pushed back and broke as well.



I took the engine and prop off and sent the prop and hub back to the manufacture for inspection. They replaced one blade and had them send me a new prop hub as also as a safety precaution. I them tore the airplane all the way down and took it to Airdale who then put into their jig and cut out all the damage and welded in all new structure. I also purchased their bush gear and had them do the 16†fuselage stretch and raise the vertical, enlarge the rudder and install the dorsal fin. When I got it back I installed the Airdale Flaperon attach ribs (stronger then the Avid ribs), one new wing tip, all new fabric (except the horizontal and elevator), painted it and re-assembled the airplane. I took it on a test flight a few days before my bi-annual expired and flew 1.4 hrs to check the airplane out and did 4 takeoff and landings as well. As I told you, on the way back to my airstrip the engine stuttered so when I got back I inspected the engine and found a bad connection on the coil. I purchased a new coil and replaced it and ran the engine and couldn’t duplicate the problem. I then signed off the discrepancy in the logbook. If you decide to buy the airplane, I would recommend staying in the pattern just to make sure. I can be overly cautious, but I believe it’s just wise. That’s it. Thanks for the questions and don’t feel bad if you have some more. Rather you ask them now. Have great week!"

and some more, sorry if i double posted a few

Here's some better pictures I was sent, it's such a beautiful avid i have a hard time turning it down

Thanks for advice, err, observations. I know the Avid Mark IV with the EA81 has the airdale mods because the current owner landed in Missouri April of 2011 and got a wicked tailwheel shimmy after installing a new tailwheel, it pulled him to the left with full right rudder and he ran into a 15ft deep drainage ditch just off the runway.

Airdale took the aircraft and stripped it bare, they then completely rebuilt the fuesalage including the 16" stretch, enlarged rudder and elevator and upgraded the struts, ect. They also did the Airdale bush gear with the 21" Tundra's. The prop was sent in to Warp Drive and was completely inspected and rebuilt, a blade was replaced along with the spinner and it was rebalanced and returned to the owner. The engine was rebuilt also and has since has 68 hours on it but 2 hours ago had a ingition coil go bad during flight. The coil has been replaced and the engine has been run and they could not duplicate the problem, unfortunately it has not been flown since.

I trust the repairs but I was sent a picture of the empty weight of the aircraft as listed on the Builders Plaque and found the empty weight to be at 665lbs, that seems awfully high. The avid also has a max gross of 1,150 as listed on the certificate.

The aircraft overall only has 1.4 Hours since the latest repairs/upgrades, no flight time since the ignition discrepancy which has been written off and returned to service according to the owner.

That makes me very leary of the avid.

Definitely may take you up on that. I'm not sure what town it is in, but I was planning on heading that way on the 26th or so. It's about a 3 day drive, maybe 4.

The dorsal fin shouldn't be an issue, I have pictures of it loaded on the trailer with the wings folded.

I'm going to look at a kitfox iv - 1200 with a rotax 582 next Monday. The panel is beautiful, best I have seen, but I hate 2 strokes in general. Not sure I feel comfortable flying with one. I can really appreciate the higher gross weight of the kitfox, the avid is definitely lacking in that department.

Link to the kitfox

http://www.barnstormers.com/listing.php?id=705287

Any recommendations for a first time buyer is greatly appreciated. Right now I wish I could just buy both, haha

Boone, NC. The aircraft is in Wyoming. It seems like a solid aircraft, hopefully I will get to drive out there in 2 weeks or so. Any purchasing advice? Any particular things to inspect and look for?