Luked

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Everything posted by Luked



  1. Luked added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   

    Looks good Larry. The fun part will be putting it back together for the last time. I'm looking forward to seeing that happen.
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  2. Luked added a post in a topic Saved Avid #392 from a barn today   

    Awesome find! The paint scheme is pretty cool. That gear looks exactly like the gear legs that came with my MK-IV. The way the  step is welded is just like mine.
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  3. Luked added a post in a topic Looking for a good place to buy Aluminum   

    You might try these guys if you can't find anywhere else.
     
    http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=1249&step=4&showunits=inches&id=76&top_cat=60
     
    I've bought from them several times, and I've been happy. I assumed you were looking for 6061 T6 since it's the most common. The thicker plates only seem to come in T651, but from what I understand, that's preferable to T6 anyway because it removes internal stressed caused by the tempering process.
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  4. Luked added a post in a topic plastic leading edge   

    Cost for 2 was $93.90 last year when I bought them. Nice place to work with.
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  5. Luked added a post in a topic First flight as a KC-10 Crewmember   

    Thanks for sharing pictures. That's awesome. Congratulations on the move back to refueling. Looks like it will be a great job.
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  6. Luked added a post in a topic SkyRaider Wing and hinge pictues   

    Interesting  to see how they did that. I also took some pictures at Oshkosh. Not quite as good, but here is what I took.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    I have them in a lot higher resolution if you need more detail.
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  7. Luked added a post in a topic Over 1000 members!   

    Nice pictures guys. I guess I haven't really contributed too much lately as far as interesting updates. I've been side tracked on some other projects. Hope to get back at it soon. I did a fair amount of welding on my lower spar carry through a few weeks back. I'll try to post some pics of that when I get home.
     
    Thanks Jbird and tcj for sharing!
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  8. Luked added a post in a topic Oratex covering   

    So, the Belite Ultralight guys apparently use regular Dacron covered with vinyl film. Here is an article.
     
    http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/370528/24
     
    I wonder if this type of vinyl would work on the Oratex for the accents.
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  9. Luked added a post in a topic First flight on my SkyRaider with skis   

    From what I remember reading, there were about 4 factors listed in the end, but no single cause could be linked to all of the accidents. If I remember correctly, one of the big ones was that the lift for the aircraft at gross weight was improperly calculated leading to a wing design that was too weak for those loads.
     
    To stay with the thread topic a little though, good job Bandit! Looks like a lot of fun.
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  10. Luked added a post in a topic First flight on my SkyRaider with skis   

     
    That was the Zodiac designed by Chris Heintz. Interesting idea that should work fine in theory, but I'd be a little nervous to use it on flight controls. I think Zodiac owners eventually replaced them with piano hinges because they produced unwanted resistance in the control system.
     
    http://zenithair.com/kit-data/ht-aileron.html
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  11. Luked added a post in a topic Classic IV Restoration   

    I missed the earlier discussion about the thermostat. The only experience I have with this is from when I installed a Subaru engine in our 87 VW vanagon. The cooling system is fairly complex because the radiator and front heater core are at the opposite end of the vehicle from the engine.
     
    Anyway, I found that having a good flow of heated coolant directed at the thermostat was required to make the thermostat function properly. I had to buy a special spacer (designed by another Vanagon guy) to go in the thermostat housing to accomplish this. Temp stays rock solid now.
     
    btw, glad to hear you are making progress Larry. That's more than I can say for my project lately.
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  12. Luked added a post in a topic Issue putting KF wings on Avid   

    From memory I think most of the KF/Avid wings called for 1.5" or 1.75" washout. Most people seem to think that .5" would be sufficient.
     
    I would definitely use the stock early KF ribs that you have. In fact since you have a complete stock kit, I would probably just try not to change anything. This will speed things up a lot. With the changes I've made, I'm still in "backwards mode". It will be nice to get things back to the completion level they would have come in the kit so I can go back to moving forward.
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  13. Luked added a post in a topic Happy Birthday Lostman   

    Happy birthday Kenneth! Hope you're doing well.
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  14. Luked added a post in a topic CHERRY Q RIVETS?   

    Hey Ed, I've never used them, but it seems a standard pneumatic rivet puller will work according to the second post in this thread: 
     
    http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/sheet-metal/5457-avex-vs-cherry-q-rivets-possibly-others.html
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  15. Luked added a post in a topic PLASTIC STRUT FAIRINGS?   

    Hey, I don't have much to add to this, but I'll be interested if anyone comes up with a new idea for strut fairings. I think the idea that Joey posted might be a good one to keep weight down.
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  16. Luked added a post in a topic Luke's MK IV Project   

    I made a little bit of progress forward yesterday. I welded the wing attach bosses into the spar carry throughs. This was very time consuming because they have to be exactly the right distance apart (equal to the lower strut attach points), parrallel with each other, and perpendicular to the carry through tube. I haven't trimmed anything to length yet, or welded and caps on yet.
     
    Here are some of the tubes in the jig I built.

     
    Here are some close ups

     
    Here they are after welding. I sprayed some "Zero Rust" paint on them to stop flash rust.

     
    This is the new torch setup I got for this job.

     
    Small steps, but it's fun.
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  17. Luked added a post in a topic Phase I flight testing   

    Good job Robert! It's nice to see another Avid take to the skies. Thanks for posting pics.
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  18. Luked added a post in a topic Can't find fuselage structural diagram   

    Yeah, I already bought the 1" x .035" tubing a while back when I started thinking about these changes. I really hated to add the weight, but these are fairly short pieces, and it's not much different than the 7/8" x .035". Also, I figured if I'm putting in new pieces, I might as well use what KF used.
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  19. Luked added a post in a topic 2014 High Sierra Fly-in   

    That video was a great way to start the day! Have fun.
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  20. Luked added a post in a topic Can't find fuselage structural diagram   

    Thanks guys for the information and for putting up with all my questions. Larry, tell Dave thanks for the information about his plane. It has all been really helpful. I think I have enough confidence to proceed on the big stuff. I just started having some last minute second thoughts about the stuff I was doing, and kind of wanted to reassure myself that I'd be okay. 
     
    I'm sure I could have attached the wings with no modification to the fuselage. Dave's plane has proven that. I'm already past the point of no return though. The upper part of the cabin area is removed. I just wanted my plane to be a little closer to the configuration KF uses for this wing (angle of attack wise). While I'm changing that, I decided to make a few of the structural changes at the same time. It will be interesting to compare notes with Dave when my airplane is flying. I'm sure he'll win on who has a shorter build time though! 
     
    As of right now, this is my plan (along with my thinking):
     
    - I'll use 1" x 035" spar carry throughs - Probably not needed,  but this is what KF changed to when they went to the model III
    - I'll use 1/2" square tube for the uprights in  front of the door - Probably not needed, but this is what was used in the Later model KF I looked at, and I have to replace them anyway.
    - 1" x .049" struts - This may be overkill because the model III only had 7/8", and was tested to something like 14Gs (1050 GW I think).
     
     
     
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  21. Luked added a post in a topic Can't find fuselage structural diagram   

    Okay, I found the mysterious diagram I thought I had seen somewhere. It's not quite what I thought it was, but this is definitely the one I remember. It was tagged onto the end of the "History of Pursang" PDF file. Not much explanation was given except that it appears to be a MKIV fuselage.
     
    Jim appears to be right in thinking this was only an issue in a nose over since that's what the notes on the picture indicate. I took a screen grab of the image from the PDF file.
     

     
     
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  22. Luked added a post in a topic Can't find fuselage structural diagram   

    Ha ha. I won't ask Jim. I'm not really worried, just curious. Remember though that I'm not talking about a stock Avid of Kitfox here. I'm talking about an Avid MK IV that was designed for 12' wing panels, but will instead have the longer KF wing panels. I  know of one Avid that has already done this successfully (Larry's friend).
     
    Edit: Sorry Jim, I realized that I didn't really answer your question. Like I said, I'm not really worried about any area in particular. I just like to get all the information I can on a subject. That was just one area that I think I remember seeing on that diagram. I'd like to see what it had to say about other areas too.
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  23. Luked added a post in a topic Can't find fuselage structural diagram   

    Thanks Ed, I'm confident in the strut material. I was thinking of the vertical tubes in front of the doors that go up to the carry through.
     
    Just to clarify. I'm not trying to find fault with the Avid structure. I know it's proven. I'm just kind of interested to see this drawing.
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  24. Luked added a post in a topic Can't find fuselage structural diagram   

    Hi Doug,
     
    Thanks for posting this. I think that might be the diagram I was thinking of. My memory of it is a little foggy. I thought I saw one that looked very similar to this (fairly rough hand drawing), but it seems like it showed several areas where failures occurred under testing. For some reason I'm thinking that the tubes that go up to the front spar carry through were a weak point. I don't want to start any rumors or mis-information though, so don't quote me on that.
     
    I'll definitely be taking a look at this one though.
     
    Thanks again,
    Luke D.
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  25. Luked added a post in a topic N139AH   

    Congratulations! I really like those pictures earlier in this thread of the plane right in front of the hangar. It looks like it's ready to jump into the air. Also looking forward to hearing how the first flights go.
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