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Hopefully new bird.

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Posted

Plan on going after a SkyRaider kit in the next few days. Found on within a reasonable distance from me at a fair price. I guess you could call it a baby, single place Kitfox. Its complete minus engine, prop and instruments. Those I prefer to do myself, anyway.

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Posted

Nice!

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Posted

that will be a fun build

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Posted

I saw that one on barnstormers, and thought, lets see, I have a 503, and then I said no way, to many projects now.  Hope it works out for you.  A buddy of mine up here got a skyraider with an HKS on it last spring, and he likes it a lot.   JImChuk

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Posted

I saw that one on barnstormers, and thought, lets see, I have a 503, and then I said no way, to many projects now.  Hope it works out for you.  A buddy of mine up here got a skyraider with an HKS on it last spring, and he likes it a lot.   JImChuk

Same for me Jim, it’s a great deal but I’ve got too many projects now, trying to finish off my phaser Skyraider

044F2B2E-4941-49A8-800E-497CF95E6984.jpeg

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Posted

It looks pretty nice Allen,  better snap it up before someone else does.  JImChuk

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Posted

I got dibbs on it. Going after it Wed. He has removed the AD from barnstormers. My intention is to make it Pt 103. Can be done with the right engine. Actually, its like a blank canvas to me.

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Posted

Whether its a good deal or not, who really knows. Engines are the key to making it Pt 103. And if I can get the performance I want, great, if not then convert to E-AB. it can be done with a little shuck and jive on paperwork. Right now I am looking at the Polini engines.

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Posted

If you go E- AB, I would look hard at an HKS engine.  About a month ago, I watched a youtube video from a trike dealer having issues with Polini engines.  I hope he is just one guy and not a  trend.  The UL world  really needs a lightweight engine.  JImChuk

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Posted

Had an HKS that I tried to use in my model 2 Fox. Never could get it to work to suit me. It's also a lot heavier than they say.  Good UL engines are the stumbling block for Pt 103 birds. I'll get it home and weigh it and see what I have to play with weight wise and go from there.

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Posted

But then, every bird I get, I usually tear it apart and redo it to my spec's anyhow. Who knows what will come out of the skunk works.

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Posted

Well, the SkyRaider is safe and sound in the barn. It has to be the cutest looking bird I've seen. With the rounded tail feathers, it looks like a baby Avid.

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Posted

Welcome to the SkyRaider family! They're great birds, I'm sure you'll love yours :)  

You can find the most info on these birds in the SkyRaider/RidgeRunner Facebook group if you're not there already - Do you know what yours weighs without an engine?

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Posted

Right now it has more paint on it than a lot full of new cars. But I am going to weigh it prior to recovering just to see. 

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Posted

Good for you Allen,  Hope it turns out to be the plane you want.  My buddy with the HKS likes his.  JImChuk

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Posted

Weighed the covered fuselage with gear, tail feathers, seat and engine mount. Total weight was 65.1 lbs. Will remove both wing tanks and recover the wings prior to weighing them. Will be using a 5 gal fuselage tank for Pt 103.

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Posted

Well, bird got its new skin the other day. Not too bad for the hillbilly "skunk works". Now, time to start thinking about the FWF.

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Posted

Beautiful!

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Posted

Thanks!

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A friend and I finished this little guy last year. I flew it for about 40 hours before we sold it. I did not want to sell but external circumstances sort of forced us to. It was one of those 1 1/2 place ridge runners and it was a joy to fly. Looks almost identical to your bird. We did a pull start 503 and even though it didn't meet UL weight, I never feared flying it anywhere even if FAA would have been around. All they would have had to do was watch me struggle to pull start it and I doubt there would have been a conversation even started about if it met weight. :-)

It could takeoff in half the distance of my fat Avid and land in the same. And the stall speed was REALLY low! If I did anything resembling a STOL landing it would hit tailwheel first.

IMG_0561.jpg

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Posted

Almost the same bird, and nice looking. Getting hard to find now. About all the 2nd seat was good for was extra storage. I think I'll be very close to Pt 103 wt. 

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Posted

Yeah that 1/2 "seat" really wasn't a seat, but it was a great baggage area!

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Posted

Weighed mine today, minus engine and prop. Came in at 164 lbs, including engine mount and inst panel. Leaves me 90 lbs for engine and prop. The Hirth F-23 supposed to weigh 74 lbs with redrive and exhaust so it will be close or a couple pounds over the 254 limit. But around here the FAA isn't hiding in the bushes and I fly out of a hayfield. 

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