got plane home

[bigfoot 2]

finally got plane home, had to tow 500 miles thru fires all the way, crazy how many fires between kettle falls wa and caldwell id anyway i made it, plane towed like a dream kept it @65 all the way a little buffeting of plane when semi would be in front nothin when they would pass, which is what i was worried about anyway now the fun begins by the way bought from a guy named Joe dore, great guy, cant thank him enough for all the help attaching some pics for anyone wondering how to make trailer. doesn’t have to be complicated, i didn’t even have any dimensions except length from front of main to cross tube in rear. anyway cant wait to get started on er

[C5Engineer 1170]

Joe is a good friend of mine. Him and his Dad are good people. I am headed to Austin Nevada on Saturday to their annual FlyIn. Congrats on your new bird.

[bigfoot 2]

yep, great guy, give him my regards it was a pleasure to deal with him and the characters that hang around the hanger

[EDMO 1078]

Bigfoot,

     Are those steel angle pieces bolted to the tail?  I about had a heart attack when I saw them with no padding - Looks like an instant hole to be made into the tail fabric - but guessing they are bolted thru the tube there.  I can guess that they pivot up...

Congrats on having  a nice bird at home.

EdMO 

Edited 18 Aug 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[dynomike 91]

crazy today I just washed all the bugs off my plane from kettle falls.grass hoppers like nothing ive ever seen

[EDMO 1078]

Mike,

     How high do grasshoppers fly?  Or, how low do you fly?   G-airspace again?

      Is there a limit on them?  Did you report your kills to Bug & Game?  

I hate cleaning bug juice and cadavers!   does this have anything to do with the fires out west?

EdMO

Edited 18 Aug 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[RDavidson 183]

Congrats, it looks like a great bird...

[bigfoot 2]

Bigfoot,

     Are those steel angle pieces bolted to the tail?  I about had a heart attack when I saw them with no padding - Looks like an instant hole to be made into the tail fabric - but guessing they are bolted thru the tube there.  I can guess that they pivot up...

Congrats on having  a nice bird at home.

EdMO

 

Ed, yeah picture is crappy angle, there is about 3/4 inch gap between angle and the fabric and they are bolted on bottom with 5/8 bolts so its pretty rigid sorry about the palpitations lol

[KFfan 151]

When I trailered my KF2 from TN to IN, 350mi, I was forced to slow below 60 when semis passed.

[MarkD 53]

Nice looking airplane. Is it flyable or do you have some work to do to get it airworthy? I'm starving for more details. I would love to see a picture of your panel to see how it is arranged.

MarkD

[bigfoot 2]

Nice looking airplane. Is it flyable or do you have some work to do to get it airworthy? I'm starving for more details. I would love to see a picture of your panel to see how it is arranged.

MarkD

mark, it runs and in flying condition but gonna send engine to rotax rick, its been in storage since 1990 its got 70 hrs on it i dont trust the prop either theres no gap on the hub and right off the bat going to rearrange cooling also

[MarkD 53]

I suppose checking the crankshaft seals is probably a good thing after that long in storage.

Mine was in a garage for 9 years before I bought it back. I ran the engine and it seemed all OK and I now have just over 10 hours on it with the longest flight just last weekend of 2 hours.

I do not know anything about the GSC props and mounting details on ROTAX engines.

Thanks for the picture of the panel, nice and simple.

So probably no flying this season?

Since I'm still a relatively new guy on the FORUM I have noticed quite a few flyers in the Pac NW. Maybe next summer after enough time to plan something we should have a fly out and meet up someplace for a weekend. Maybe,.....next summer, the whole east side of the Cascade Range will not be on fire.

I did notice that your rudder pedals do not appear to have the reinforcing straps welded around the torque tubes....I'll take pics of mine when I get home this evening and show what mean. There was a problem with some earlier Avids that had the pedal separate at the torque tube weld and the fix was to add a reinforcing strap around the torque tube. If you are going to be down for a while it might be worth considering.

MarkD

[allonsye 85]

mark, it runs and in flying condition but gonna send engine to rotax rick, its been in storage since 1990 its got 70 hrs on it i dont trust the prop either theres no gap on the hub and right off the bat going to rearrange cooling also

Having Rick look this engine over is a good idea. 

 

I recently ran mine after acquiring it 18 months ago and going over the whole aircraft.  The engine had been overhauled and pickeled at 320 hrs 10-yrs ago.  I decided to hang it and see how it operated.  Shortly after the 30min break in cycle it lost power as I was doing a high speed taxi on my local runway -- would only turn 3k rpm. I thought it seized.  A visual showed no oil left in the injector reservoir. I sent it out to Rick.  Turns out the crank seals let go (age I guess) -- otherwise no other damage . Rick also found dirt in the carb mains (likely accounting for the power loss).  Rick has a long list of things he addresses on the 582 such as improving lube channels on the rod ends

Your motor likely has the early "small" crank like mine.  There are concerns Rick has about this but he can address them w/out having to replace the crank. He overhauled mine and added a vibration damper to the crank.  It's on it way to me now with a fresh log book and 2-yr warranty.

 

Again, I can't stress highly enough having an expert look over your motor, especially given it's age -- definitely worth while.

 

I'm moving (back) to VA this w/e and the Avid will be in tow for 290mi on a rig I built similar to yours. 

 

BTW - love the panel on yours. Looks very functional.

Edited 19 Aug 2015 by allonsye

[allonsye 85]

I did notice that your rudder pedals do not appear to have the reinforcing straps welded around the torque tubes....I'll take pics of mine when I get home this evening and show what mean. There was a problem with some earlier Avids that had the pedal separate at the torque tube weld and the fix was to add a reinforcing strap around the torque tube. If you are going to be down for a while it might be worth considering.

MarkD

Please do share pics and tell Mark. I've no idea myself what you're referring to -- never noticed a reference in the pubs in this regard.

[MarkD 53]

I got temporarily sidetracked last night but I will definitely get some pictures tonight and post them.  I ran into the rudder pedal attachment weld issue in 1998 while was building my Avid Model C.  It was addressed on the old Avid Flyer website, so long ago I do not remember the now defunct address.

 

I had acquired some parts off a wrecked MK IV and was "Upgrading" my Model C by adding the hydraulic brakes, rudder pedals and structural portions of the MK IV lower firewall framework.  When I acquired the partial kit for the Model C I had to do a bunch of scrounging to complete the airplane so I was looking for any and all information I could get and any parts that were available at the time.

 

 As morbid as it sounds, I was also checking the FAA and NTSB data base for crashes looking for parts.  That is when I discovered the rudder pedal failure issue.  There were several airplanes (Avids) that were damaged due to "Loss Of Control" (ground loop)  on the ground. I do not know if it was ever determined if the broken rudder pedal caused the loss of control or if the pedals we damaged due to the loss of control.

 

Anyway, there was a fix for the weld failure recommended by several of the active web site members at the time.  I do not think AVID ever addressed the issue.  This may have been during the time when AVID was struggling. 

 

So while I was busy modifying things with a torch and filler wire I performed the fix on my salvaged rudder pedal assemblies.

 

I'll get some picture, I promise.

[EDMO 1078]

Instead of a strap around the torque tube reinforcing the pedal support tube, Kitfox just added a small triangle between the two on the one side of the upright tube.   About the same time as adding triangles at the inboard ends of the elevator pivot tube.  I think the strap may be a stronger fix.

I think the drawing from the manual may be in Files and Forms section.  If not, I can post it.

EdMO

Doug Holly broke his rudder cable tube at the pedal tube and made a reinforcement change there too and posted photos somewhere on this site.

Edited 19 Aug 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[MarkD 53]

I have not seen the KF manual, could you share a link? 

[EDMO 1078]

Mark,

     You are asking a Neanderthal to fly the space shuttle - I found the Avid manual and ADs in Files and Forms - Donno if any Kitfox manual has ever been posted.   I haven't found my copy of the rudder pedal SB yet, but think I posted it at one time.  I will post it when I find it.  Now posting Kitfox elevator SB in Files and Forms.

EdMO

I have KITFOX 1, 4, and part of 5 manuals - Also Avid Magnum manual, and Aerobat flight maneuvers pages, and a Zenith 701 or 801 manual that I haven't been able to find recently since I moved.

Doug Holly probably has the best library and access to that and photos.

 

I would copy and mail a copy of anything I have - Just pay actual costs UPS charges me - guessing about $50.

Edited 19 Aug 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[MarkD 53]

Ed,

 

Yup, I know what you mean.  Sometimes I can't figure out how to do what everyone else finds as simple tasks.  I have the original avid manual that came with my "Kit".  The Kit I got was owned by 2 others before me and there were many parts missing.  It is a good thing I had the manual for part identification.   Like I said before I had to scrounge a bunch of stuff.  I do not need a copy of the KF manual just yet but I was interested in how others had elected to accomplish repairs or Fixes to problems.

 

Thanks,

 

MarkD

[EDMO 1078]

MarkD,

      I wonder if Kitfox sells a complete copy of all SBs for each model, or for combination, like 1,2,3, maybe including 4?  Postings on here help, but they are not complete.  I only have a few copies.

      The SBs may be posted on the Kitfox site to download, for someone who is puter literate....

EdMO

Edited 19 Aug 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[MarkD 53]

Ed,

 

I dunno about service bulletin listings, since AVID is no longer a company I have no idea if anyone other than the FORUM folks are even keeping track of problems with older aircraft.  I kinda think the FAA is leaving it up to the individual builder, operator, repairman, pilot to maintain the airworthiness of each individual airplane.  Because these airplanes are not "Certified" and there is no factory or engineering support I doubt seriously if an AD or SB would ever be issued.  The FAA is certainly not going to engineer a fix for anything.  Doing so would make them liable for any subsequent failure. 

 

That being said, I think that is what makes this type of information sharing FORUM so valuable to us as pilots and builders.  That is also what makes this aviation activity considered by some to be a higher risk endeavor.

 

I saw your other post of the elevator SB for the KF-1.  Interesting that the elevator component would fail in that location....now I have to look more closely at my AVID for a similar issue.

 

From an engineering analysis perspective, I think that type of failure is due to production methods using wire feed welding and not annealing the joint after the weld process.  If these 4130 chrome-moly steel structures were welded using oxy-fuel and under-matched filler material then the effect of the heat affected zone would be less critical.  (ie. less prone to cracking due to cyclic stress)  However, that would seriously impact production times and cost.

 

End of Physics and Business lesson for today.....

 

MarkD

[KFfan 151]

Some time ago I saw video of a guy making these mods, and others. It may well have been on U tube...

 

Wasn't on any of the X sites. They just lay pipe

Edited 19 Aug 2015 by KFfan

[EDMO 1078]

MarkD,

     I agree with your welding theory, the welds cracked on my KF1 on ends of bent tubes when it was wrecked - probably from no annealing.  My elevators, and a lot of the mods to my airframe were welded by a FAA Certified Repair Station with O/A gas.

For the record:   The FAA does not issue ADs on experimental planes, since they are not made to a "Type Certificate", they would have to issue an AD for each and every plane.   The kit manufacturer issues SBs (Service Bulletins) and can label some of them "Mandatory", but since individuals are the final manufacturer of each plane, it is their decision whether to implement it.   It would be prudent to check if the original owner complied with any Mandatory SBs.

I still think Kitfox may have a list of SBs on the internet somewhere that could benefit Avid owners.  I may have a list of some of them in my old manuals.

This might still be on the old Skystar site.

I know that one SB was issued on the reinforcement of the Kitfox rib tails to meet UK certification standards.

EdMO

Edited 20 Aug 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[MarkD 53]

OK got pics, I hope they show what I was trying to describe. 

 

The welding looks somewhat amateurish.....the straps are .032" material wraped around the torque tube and up the pedal stem about 1-1/2".  Welded with O/A.

 

[MarkD 53]

Dang, I think I might be responsible for hijacking a topic thread.....sorry I guess it just happened.

( That's what happens when you are bored at work and have access to the web.)

 

MarkD