Just bought my first airplane!!!

[Eli 3]

Hello all, my name is Eli and I just purchased an Avid project. I think it's a model C but I'm not sure. It has a 582 rotax and one wing tank. It looks like it might be a full restoration job, but it has flown recently. I'll look froward to getting advice from everyone here.

[1avidflyer 1983]

Welcome to the group.  Pictures are mandatory!  (well not really, but they are nice  ;-)  Fire away with the questions, someone here will probably come up with a good answer.  JImChuk

[Allen Sutphin 705]

Where are you located?

[Eli 3]

I'll post more pictures soon. I'm located in Lawrence Kansas. I bought this plane fairly cheap and it needs a lot of work, so I will be posting many stupid questions if you don't mind hearing them!  Basically I'm trying to decide whether to recover and repaint everything. The covering doesn't look awful, but the fuel tank is leaking which may have damaged something inside the wing if not the fabric itself and there's a few rips and holes that need to be patched. Plus I can see some places on the tubing that have surface rust that could be hard to get to without taking the covering off. Also I would be concerned with any possible structural upgrades that could be done to the airframe in general as a good excuse to go ahead and strip it down. The prop needs to be replaced and the wiring is terrible so I've definitely got my work cut out for me with this thing. 

 

[nlappos 413]

Congratulations! And let us all help you since we have crossed many bridges that you face. But it is fun.

One tip, trailer the tailwheel carefully, support the tail with a strut to the frame, not thru the wheel and spring, which will break if the trailer bounces. That's because the folded wings put a lot more weight on the tail than it was designed to withstand dynamically. How do i know? I was dumb enough to break my TW spring that way!

[1avidflyer 1983]

Real good idea to support the rear of the plane when it's trailered.  With the wings folded back, it's a lot of weight on the tail spring.  JImChuk

PS,  I saw Nick had posted a message as I was typing mine.  Here is how I supported the tail on a Kitfox the I hauled 1500 miles.  Had to take the wheel off cause the angels were a bit on the short side.  

Edited 25 Sep 2019 by 1avidflyer

[Eli 3]

Thanks for the tip! I had no idea how to transport it properly and was relying on the guy I bought it from to help me secure it to the trailer. I didn't have to take it far and everything seems intact after the trip. It's safely in my garage and not going anywhere soon.

[Fly-n-Low 181]

Congratulations! And let us all help you since we have crossed many bridges that you face. But it is fun.

One tip, trailer the tailwheel carefully, support the tail with a strut to the frame, not thru the wheel and spring, which will break if the trailer bounces. That's because the folded wings put a lot more weight on the tail than it was designed to withstand dynamically. How do i know? I was dumb enough to break my TW spring that way!

Didn't even think about that!!! I guess I am lucky!!! Especially with our roads!