NorthIdahoAvidflyer

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Posts posted by NorthIdahoAvidflyer

  1. Posted

    Thank you for the reply. Ed I told the owner he might want to do some homework on installing the wing tip tanks. I personally would not install them but it's his plane. I'm just getting paid to build the wings.

    Thank you

    Vance

  2. Posted

    I am building a set of wings for a guy's Avid Magnum. He has a set of large fiberglass tanks and a set of plastic tanks. The plastic tanks look to be 5 gallons a piece and there are 6 of them. He planned on either running the fiberglass as mains and two of the plastic tanks in each wingtip. He asked me if he should use the fiberglass tanks or use all six of the plastic tanks. I've heard of people having issues with the fiberglass tanks so I wanted to get some input.

    If I were to use the plastic tanks I would need a plumbing diagram.

    The plane with have an 0-320 for a power plant. I'm sure he will be running AV-GAS.

    Thank you for any input you may provide. My name is Vance Simons. I live in Post Falls, Idaho. You can call or text me at (509) 599-9477. I do have photos I can send.

    Thank you

    Vance

  3. Posted

    I am building a set of wings for a guy's Avid Magnum. He has a set of large fiberglass tanks and a set of plastic tanks. The plastic tanks look to be 5 gallons a piece and there are 6 of them. He planned on either running the fiberglass as mains and two of the plastic tanks in each wingtip. He asked me if he should use the fiberglass tanks or use all six of the plastic tanks. I've heard of people having issues with the fiberglass tanks so I wanted to get some input.

    If I were to use the plastic tanks I would need a plumbing diagram.

    The plane with have an 0-320 for a power plant. I'm sure he will be running AV-GAS.

    Thank you for any input you may provide. My name is Vance Simons. I live in Post Falls, Idaho. You can call or text me at (509) 599-9477. I do have photos I can send.

    Thank you

    Vance

  5. Posted

    Thank you for the input. I did reinstall the removed weight from the tail and flew it again. I started with 5 pounds. It helped some and I was able to raise the nose at full power but as soon as I decreased the power at all the nose would drop again. I installed the other 5 pounds and flew it again. This was the magic number. Now I can climb at full power, maintain level flight at cruise, and descend below 5000 rpm.

     

    High Country, I have a Rotax 503 DCDI / 2.58 to 1 gear reduction / rear mounted starter. Good advice on the tailwheel. I will take a picture of my tailwheel and post it. Its a nice tail wheel but hard to break free to turn sharp on the ground. I have read that tailwheels that break free easy can get you in trouble with these small coupled taildraggers but I still feel it needs an adjustment. When I was flying yesterday on my second flight the wind kicked up. The wind sock was sticking straight out on approach. I got it on the ground with no trouble at all but got hit with a side gust which pushed me right. I got on the rudder and was able to correct the pending swerve. If the tail wheel would have broke free under the side load it would have been a fun ride. Brakes and throttle would have been my only other option. My brakes are different. The are Maco drum brakes which are activated with a dual handle system on the floor just under your left leg. I did not like the looks of them at first but the work well. They also have the option of pulling both handles all the way back at which time they cam over and work as parking brakes. Great for starting the plane....not so good for controlling the plane during landing because you have to take your hand off the throttle to actuate the brakes.  

     

    I have looked at the battery and it is possible to move it back quit a ways. It's mounted right behind the seat. I'll have to build a mount and extend the leads. I should be able to remove at least 5 pounds of weight from the tail. I'll fly it like this for the summer then move the battery as an off flying season project.

     

    This bird has a very small trim tab on the elevator (4"x4") and it is already bent way down. I would like to install an adjustable trim tab. Can you guys share what you are using for an adjustable trim tab?? I installed one on a taildragger Phantom Ultralight I built years ago. I bought the kit from Phantom and that was the best mod I ever did to the plane. Easy to adjust for climb or decent and took all pressures off the stick in flight. I am considering installing the same kit of this Avid. Thoughts???

     

    Shoot me an email or phone call of you like. vancesimons@gmail.com / (509) 599-9477

     

    I'M ALSO LOOKING FOR A CARBON FIBER OR FIBERGLASS PROP FOR THIS SETUP.

     

    Thank you

    Vance

    Post Falls, Idaho

  8. Posted

    Some of you might remember my father buying a Avid flyer. Dean Wilson repaired the wing. He found two rear ribs that had broke loose from the spar and repaired the aileron rib ends. He also rib stitched the rear section of the wing, tightened the skins and painted the wings. All said and done it cost 3k.

     

    We got it home and I went through the engine. The Carbs were all gummed up so I rebuilt them, the fuel pump, changed out all the lines from the gascolator forward, and cleaned the cowl tank with fresh gas until it looked clean.

     

    After getting it running good I took it to a local private strip and did some taxi testing. Static runs looked good so I took it for a flight around the pattern. All went well so I took it around again with good results. On the third flight I was going to climb up and check some performance stats. After take off I climbed to pattern altitude and leveled off. I was just about to pull the power back to cruise when I felt the engine lose power. I looked at the RPM gauge and it was reading 4650. I turned the plane around and brought it back in with no issues. The engine ran fine under 4500. Once on the ground I did a static run and could not get more than 4700 rpm. I pulled the cowling and noticed the pro-line fuel filter did not have any fuel in it which was not normal. I pulled the gascolator and it was full of brown chunks. I pulled the line coming from the tank and nothing was flowing. I blew back through the line and felt it break free. The fuel ran out for 2 seconds then stopped again. There was crap in the tank and a lot of it. We had sloshed the tanks with fresh gas before flying it but there must have been some stuff caked to the inside of the tank that decided to break loose during taxi testing. We siphoned the fuel out and it was full of old tarnished fuel. The tank was plastic so we used carb cleaner to melt the rest of the crap out. A bore scope was used to check the final cleaning. After I knew the tank was clean I changed out the rest of the lines from the tank to the gascolator.

     

    I'm happy to report that this weekend I put almost three hours on it with no trouble. All I can report is the wood prop is not tracking right and causing some roughness/vibration. A warp drive is on the way. This plane needs some weight in the tail. Its not super bad but more than I like. It had weight in the tail when we took it to Dean but he removed it. It's going back on. At this point there would be no recovering from an elevator failure. Has anyone installed a mechanical trim tab on one of these?

     

    Thanks

    Vance

  9. Posted

    That shop was huge and full of all kinds of stuff. Your dad was a hoot. Really enjoyed meeting him. I didn't get into Pierce like I hoped. The guys I were meeting were not far out of Orfino. I called your Pops when I came into town but he was out of town for the week so I didn't get to visit him. Neat area.

     

    Vance

  10. Posted

    Aircraft spruce sells a heat muff that goes around the 503 muffler. Has anyone installed this to heat the cabin?

     

    Thanks

    Vance

  11. Posted

    post-720-0-93755800-1386119323_thumb.jpg

     

    Me and Joey's Dad after I purchased his Zenith 701 project. This is how we seal the deal in Idaho.

     

    Thought you guys might get a kick out of this picture.

  13. Posted

    Agree the two blade will give you more climb performance than a three. I had a 503 on a Phantom which came with a three blade GSC propeller. I think this prop was intended for a 532 but I was told it would work on my 503 with a 2.58 to 1 gearbox. I ran the prop for three years and was happy with the set-up. After an engine seizure caused by Steve Beatty's faulty installation of his Nippon Denso CDI conversion (I burned two engines up over his crappy work and a friend burned up one) I sent my engine to another rebuilder and was asked during a conversation what prop I was running. I told him a three blade GSC (I don't remember the length). I was told I was running to large of prop for my gear box and needed to use a two blade. I ordered a new two glade GSC prop and installed it on my plane. It was the worst thing I ever did to my plane. I did have better climb performance but the difference between the two and three blade was night and day. The three blade was just a much smoother running prop. The gear box never seemed to mind the difference in inertia of the three blade. I know from talking with others that you can overload a gearbox with to much prop but my set-up seemed to work good with no gearbox issues. I guess it just worked in my case.

     

    My original instructor loved the IVO prop but did say they were less efficient than other props on the market. He was running a three blade IVO on a 582.

     

    Vance

    Post Falls, Idaho

  15. Posted

    Thanks to all that answered. Adding premix to the fuel is what I am fimiliar with. I have heard of failures but they are far and few between. I like the idea of an oil injector and see some benifits but since I'm running the engine inverted anyways the extra oil at start up is a bonus for me. The 503 is mounted very close to the fire wall to the point I was considering cutting the firewall and installing a bowl to give the fan adequate airflow into the cooling fan.

    This plane has a hand actuated brake mounted on the floor at the pilots feet on the left side. It has differential handles for each brake which actuate drum style brakes. They don't work well. I have access to some Zenith 701 foot peddles with toe brake set up with hydraulic cylinders. What are you guys using for brakes on the main grear?

    Joey you mentioned starting the inverted engines cold. What info do you have on this subject?

    That's all for now. Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm also building a Zenith 701 with long wings. I just love building airplanes.

    Vance

  16. Posted

    Hi group, thank you Joey for the invite. My father and I purchased a Avid Flyer A model last week from an estate sale. Its a good looking little plane with low hours. It needs some work because the last owner left the plane in an open hangar and did not fly it for 4 years. The rib ends where the ailerons attach have lost there varnish and are very weathered. The fuel system is shot and full of varnished fuel. It has a new 503 with less than 10 hours. The cowl tank looks rough and will need pulled, cleaned and inspected. The engine will be sent to Rotax Rick for a complete inspection and seal kit. The prop was covered but they left the hub area unprotected and ruined the prop. I have a new warp drive prop for it.

    I would like to hear about any AD's I might need to look at while putting this planes back in service.

    Did they make a bed mount for this plane? The engine is inverted which depending on who you talk to is met with good and bad stories. I'd like to hear anyone's experience with the inverted Rotax.

    To oil inject or not? My instuctor swears by oil injection but cautions they need to be installed correctly.

    Has anyone ran into issues with the rib end aileron mounts and how was it addressed.

    I think I have asked enough questions for this post. Thank you in advance for any information you my provide.

    Thank you

    Vance Simons

    Post Falls, Idaho

    (509) 599-9477