Kenai Chapter Breakfast?

[SuberAvid 617]

Hey Lenny,

Are you guys going to have pancake breakfast this year?  I would like to fly the old Avid down and get a chance to visit with all you guys and see your birds.  Hopefully we haven't missed it.

AKJack just told me about this forum; it looks great.  You guys are discussing all the right issues and I look forward to monitoring it frequently; maybe even provide some lessons learned from my experiences and hard knocks.  I went through the tail spring issue a few years ago and replaced mine with the Airdale double spring after breaking my first single spring.  (the rudder doesn't make a pretty skid)  I hadn't thought about cutting it though to get a better AOA.  I built a new set of main gear for the Avid Plus I am building that are 5 1/2" taller to help keep the AOA on it with the longer fuselage.  I know the AOA makes a big difference on take-off; I could get off at 25 mph when I had my Avid on tri-gear.  Now it takes 30mph.

Let me know about the fly-in.

Thanks,

Randy

[akflyer 1427]

Hey Randy,

Good to see you over here on the dark side, I know you can contribute alot!  I am all about learning from others "hard knocks".  Were is the CG on your plane?  I have not moved the battery to the tail on mine yet, so I am still at a WAY forward CG.  I know I can get the performance better than it is now.  Have you had any cooling issues with yours?  I am going to open up the botton of my cowling a bit as I dont think I am getting enough exit air.  Even with insulation on the firewall, I can feel the heat so I am thinking I need to ge the air moving in there.  A trip to Big Lake a couple weeks ago had me flying with the door open so my legs would cool down

[SuberAvid 617]

Hi Lenny,

My CG is almost at the forward limit when the plane is empty; it is 11.20 and I think the forward limit is 11.185.  I think it might be difficult to get enough weight to the back to approach the rear limit.  My battery is located just behind the seat right now.  I will be interested in how your bird flies when you move your CG back. 

I have been debating on where to install the battery in my AvidPlus but this makes me think I should get it as Far to the back as possible.  I just hate to run all that extra cable because of the weight and the current draw but it might be worth it.

My 582 in the Avid cools pretty well; definitely no issues here in Alaska.  It has the dual radiators in the nose.  In the winter I close off the front openings with 1 1/2" soft seat cussion type foam to restrict the air flow.  Below 0 I have them totally covered.  I also built a collector on the inside for one radiator so I can run a 2" duct off of it through the firewall for heat.  My temps are usually between 120 to 180 depending on how accurately I adjust the foam but in this summer weather they were running about 150 last weekend with no foam but the collector still in place.  I don't get any noticeable heat through the firewall but it is insulated.  The bottom of my cowling is relieved some to clear the muffler by about 1" all around where it hangs down near the bottom lip of the cowling; that may help with the airflow.  I know area out is even more important than area in.

Randy

[akflyer 1427]

Mine is around 11.85 if I remember right.  I talked to Dean Wilson and he said to move it to 18-19 " and we will be alot happier with the STOL.  He said he put a CG restriction of 16" on it because he knew that some guys would be building and learning to fly in the plane.  He tested it back to 21" and said at 20 you were fine, at 21 he did not recommend stalling unless you had full flaps on to help get the nose down.  He said at 18 the only noticable difference is lighter elevator, and better performance.  I have just not taken the time to strap some lead on my tail spring, but I think I may do that today if the wind does not pick up too bad.  I really want a calm day for testing so I can really tell how it changes.  Right now, I at at ful up trim at anything below 85 indicated.

[SuberAvid 617]

Lenny,

I looked at my cowling yesterday and it is closer to 2" clearance around the muffler; it pretty much took the lip off and then some at the muffler.

The change in CG from 11.2 to 16" to 18" is HUGE.  Have you calculated how much lead on the tailspring that is going to take?  It just kind of goes against logic that adding any extra weight will improve takeoff performance but I can see that is would affect the stick pressures and how it will fly.  I look forward to hearing about the performance difference.

Randy

[akflyer 1427]

If I can make it into town this weekend for the breakfast, I will bring some divers weights out to the airport with me and do a little experimenting and see how it goes.  I ran the numbers and it was about 15# in the tail to get me where I wanted to be.  That would be about equivelent to moving the battery to the tail.  AKFLYERBOB made a real nice mount to move his back there so I will copy it and get mine moved ASAP.  Dang summer time brings on too many projects and not enough time!

[akflyer 1427]

hoping for good weather.  I got my flights out of Kuparuk today so I will be there for the poker run and the breakfast.  Any of you anc guys gonna make it for sure?

[dholly 718]

Dang summer time brings on too many projects and not enough time!

Saaaay whaa???

[quote author=??]... dont give us any crap about life or work slowing you down, this should be the #1 priority lol

[SuberAvid 617]

Lenny,

I'm watching the weather; it should be clear enough but they say 25 to 35 mph winds by afternoon.  I know I'm a wimp but I don't like it at that level.  I may end up in Anchorage airspace or Beluga trying to cross Turnagain Arm.  We'll see if the predictions change by the morning.

Randy

[akflyer 1427]

Hey Randy,

missed a fun run.  We just did Ninilchik, Kasilof, McGahans, Soldotna and Kenai.  No bad winds, maybe 10-12.  Was real nice this AM but afternnon brought some clouds.

I was up till about midnight getting the belly mount radiator installed.  All my overheating problems went away as I knew they would.  Now slow flight high power settings and she never goes above 160!

[Trackwelder 12]

I have a rotax 582 and am considering putting the battery in the tail, how many have done it and was it worth it. I have an A model that is highly modified to Mark IV standards but have not covered it yet so I am not sure about weight and balance. what size cable do you recommend for the wiring?