What is this all about?

[1avidflyer 1983]

Just saw this on barnstormers.....  JImChuk

AVID AIRCRAFT COMPANY • AVAILABLE • Avid Aircraft company, all equipment, parts. Family owned. Call Holly at 406-451-3527 for details. • Contact Holly Driskill - AVID AIRCRAFT , - located Norris, MT United States • Telephone: 4064513527 • Posted December 5, 2021

[Yamma-Fox 403]

Be neat to see Avid North America relocate to Chisholm there Jim   

[backcountry1 0]

I thought Mark Mendick owned Avid and has the parts and equipment.  I just bought some wing extensions from him.

Edited 6 Dec 2021 by backcountry1

[1avidflyer 1983]

No Brad, Avid will not be relocating to Chisholm any time soon.  This whole deal is kind of funny.  I don't think Mendick and company ever got the jigs and such from the last guy to own Avid.  (Brett Mckinny).   Not sure if this is a scam or what.  I don't know who really has the rights to Avid if there actually are any at this point.  I was tempted to call just to see what was the deal.  Best to keep my nose out of it though.  JImChuk

[Buckchop 479]

Damm now id curious for sure, love to own it, but not have time for it with mining in summers.
Ud never sleep much owning it to get it rolling, but once it was hold on b a heck of a ride!!! 

[Av8r3400 1179]

No Brad, Avid will not be relocating to Chisholm any time soon.  This whole deal is kind of funny.  I don't think Mendick and company ever got the jigs and such from the last guy to own Avid.  (Brett Mckinny).   Not sure if this is a scam or what.  I don't know who really has the rights to Avid if there actually are any at this point.  I was tempted to call just to see what was the deal.  Best to keep my nose out of it though.  JImChuk

Brett McKinney does not own Avid.  He owns Airdale.  The jigs he has are NOT the original Avid jigs, they are copies and reverse engineered jigs for the Avid product line.  The Airdale (Pursang) jigs are original.

The original Avid Jigs were "Lost" or scrapped according to all the "experts".

I don't know what Mark Mendick has.  Maybe his are the "lost" Avid tooling.  Maybe not.  According to people in the know, the original jigs were uniquely hinged to open and allow the completed fuselages to be removed.

There was talk of other sets of jigs and "original Avid" equipment out there in Montana, somewhere...

 

Who really knows at this point.

[1avidflyer 1983]

Larry, not arguing with you at all, just saying what I thought was the case.  I think I was Brett's first customer.  I brought a fuselage down to him to repair when he was setting up his shop.  As I understood it, he bought the stuff from Jerry ?? who owned Avid in Idaho.  Jerry (I can't remember the last name) lived in Alexandria Mn.  The guy who worked in the Avid shop in Idaho came and worked with Brett for a week or so to get things set up.  (not Steve Winder) His name as I recall was Leo Sells.  I met Leo when I was there at Brett's.  I thought Brett just called it Airdale instead of Avid.  Not sure why.  Anyway, that is how I remember it.  Maybe I was miss informed on some of the facts.  I know you have been around Brett a lot more than I have, so if one of us is wrong, I would guess it's me.   JImChuk

[Av8r3400 1179]

Not meaning to be argumentative.  Just sharing some of the information that I know on the subject.

The original Avid company was so fractured in it's demise and so many copies of their equipment and products have lead to several people saying they have something they really don't have.  I believe most of the true "original" Avid tooling was scrapped and destroyed.

[1avidflyer 1983]

Larry, not arguing with you at all, just saying what I thought was the case.  I think I was Brett's first customer.  I brought a fuselage down to him to repair when he was setting up his shop.  As I understood it, he bought the stuff from Jerry ?? who owned Avid in Idaho.  Jerry (I can't remember the last name) lived in Alexandria Mn.  The guy who worked in the Avid shop in Idaho came and worked with Brett for a week or so to get things set up.  (not Steve Winder) His name as I recall was Leo Sells.  I met Leo when I was there at Brett's.  I thought Brett just called it Airdale instead of Avid.  Not sure why.  Anyway, that is how I remember it.  Maybe I was miss informed on some of the facts.  I know you have been around Brett a lot more than I have, so if one of us is wrong, I would guess it's me.   JImChuk

Jerry Mattison is the guy I couldn't remember his last name.