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Activity Stream

  1. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Airventure 2014   

    I guess we "rough it" by comparison.  No electricity or water hookups.
     

     
     
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  2. dholly added a post in a topic Howdy from Maine   

    Welcome Jason, I've lurked your site on occasion. When I get finally my Kitfox floating I'll jump thru your registration hoops.
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  3. dholly added a post in a topic Airventure 2014   

    Yep, I would imagine any elec/h2o sites are looong gone. I get a laugh out of what constitutes "camping" for some at AirVenture, many rigs look like they cost several times what my house is worth. My dear wife echoes your camping sentiment and always says her best camping experience was at the Acapulco Plaza during our honeymoon. Guess its been all downhill since. We had a pop up camper when the kids were young but a couple trips convinced Momma she preferred hotel style amenities. No prob, I used the camper for the Grand Prix race weekend at Watkins Glen for many years before trading it for a bass boat! Any coincidence she never much cared for fishing either? I ain't saying... ;-)
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  4. dholly added a post in a topic Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction   

    Well, IMHO, you can't shoot the (customer service rep) messenger for spewing the Co. line, but I'm not terribly surprised. I've noticed far more disclaimers than guarantees on everything from products to services and all inbetween over the past several years. The old fashioned, genuine willingness to please a customer or develop a long term relationship has been replaced with an impersonal 'take it or leave it' transactional mentality. And, more often than not, when a guaranty is offered it is either overblown or not even worth the paper it is written on. And then, there is the whole miserable US legal system... business folks with questionable ethics and crooks do what they do because they know it is cost prohibitive for most consumers to pursue a legal remedy. I just bitch-slapped some dumb little punk in court for misrepresenting his company and services and refusing to return my $. But not before being hit with a nuisance counterclaim for 4x the amount which, of course, one must either defend against or acquiesce to some negotiated settlement. Cost me a pretty penny and a very expensive lesson for him, but I abhor legal extortion and refuse to settle on matters of personal integrity. Seems society has forgotten their moral compass or is banking on the hope that others have. Sorry, too much coffee, off my soapbox now...
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  5. BryceKat added a post in a topic Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction   

    One word, Wicks!
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  6. akflyer added a post in a topic Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction   

    I wouldn't think that you would have to specify straight pieces when ordering for an aircraft!  I would have told the lady on the phone that I needed to talk to the highest level of supervision available cause she sure as hell don't get paid enough to hear what I am fixing to say....
     
    An 1/8" in one foot is a pretty good bend.
     
    Interested to hear about the gear design your working on.
     

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  7. ChrisBolkan added a post in a topic Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction   

    The two one foot pieces came nicely packaged in a completely undamaged cardboard box full of peanuts. No way it was bent in shipping or the box would have been damaged. It's not the fact that I got bent metal that bothers me. It is the attitude that what I got is to be expected. I know I did not misunderstand what she was telling me they said.

    it's also easy for me to see how 20 foot pieces of 1/2 and 5/8 square tubing could be bent during handling by simply letting too much hang over the edge of a table. But the poor QC and more importantly the attitude about it is what I found disturbing. I'n not normally the guy to complain about anything either.

    BTW, until now, Aircraft Spruce has done very well with my orders. This is the first bad material I have received. My problem is with the interaction and response from the metal shop, and the fact that they actually said if I needed it straight I should specify that.
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  8. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction   

    I've found that buying 4130 tubing from a local steel supplier is cheaper and is usually easier to get better quality than mail order, regardless of the source.
     
    This isn't a super exotic material.
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  9. lostman added a post in a topic tail wheel springs   

    I was wondering about that this morning actually. I may have to find a spring shop in the area....oh yeah, and a shop press since I don't have one or know a single person here.
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  10. lostman added a post in a topic Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction   

    Just curious but is there any way this metal could have been bent in shipping? How was it packaged? I'm not trying to defend A/C Spruce, just want to know how they actually shipped it. I've had more than my fair share of things bent, dinged, smashed and broken by OOPS (UPS), FedEx and USPS during the process. I even had an alternator come that was in pieces by the time I got it. It had huge Fragile stickers all over it and the box looked like it was run over by a semi, kicked by an elephant and then dropped from a plane onto concrete. No wonder the delivery person dropped it on the front porch and ran!
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  11. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Snowmobiles   

    I first rode my business partner's '05 Renegade SDi a couple of years ago and absolutely hated the riding position.  It totally kicked my ass (actually my knees and back)!  In 2008, Doo updated the chassis from the Rev to the XP chassis which gives you a more forward-foot body placement.  This was the trick for me.  Last season I rode another friends two sleds, the yellow TNT pictured above and his new '12 MXZ 600 Ace.  This put me over the top on this newer chassis.
     
    I arranged the deal on his yellow MXZ-TNT with the 500SS motor (600 carb) and then found the black one (also a TNT 500SS) at a local dealer when I started this thread.
     
    Like most aspect of my life, I'm not too interested in going super fast.  Although, these sleds are pretty fast compared to what I have ridden before…  The black sled is set up pretty soft and we both like that ride quite a bit.  The yellow is currently set real tight and "go-cart like" in it's handling, but has throttle response (clutching?) more suited to my wife.  I'm going to tone the yellow one's suspension down a bit to match the black one.  The only down side (maybe) to these sleds are they have the short (121") track with stock lugs.  Definitely not "off trail" machines.  Nevertheless, they are pretty nice and fun to ride (in this area at least).
     
    I don't plan any serious modifications, probably just some "accessories".
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  12. saskavid added a post in a topic Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction   

    I've ordered a fair bit of steel from these guys over the years never recieved any of it bent or dented.One time I needed .028 wall thickness and they sent me a piece of .035 instead . Considering at the time the .028 was almost  triple the price of the .035 they heard about it and got  the .028 to my door no charge.
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  13. ChrisBolkan added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Super disappointed with AC Spruce Transaction
    I ordered two 1 foot sections of square telescoping tubing for my landing gear project on my Fat Avid. I received the tubing yesterday and both pieces were bent. About 1/8 inch over the length if I laid them on a flat surface. They certainly would not telescope when one was inserted inside the other.

    So I called to explain and ask what might be going on with their quality control. The woman was very polite and said she would get a hold of the metal yard and ask. She called me back and explained that they had told her that the metal comes in 20 foot pieces and what I received was "normal". (I assume it gets bent from improper handling) I said how can that be? I asked what if I needed straight tubing? I explained that I expected more buying aircraft grade material from an aircraft specialty shop. She offered to send me new metal, but said she could not be sure it would be straight. I said all it would require is the person cutting the metal to eyeball down the lenghth to see if it was bent before cutting or sending it out.

    She ended up telling me that if I wanted something in particular...like straight tubing....I should specify it in the notes section of the order. I was flabbergasted.

    Anyway, I told her I did not think I needed her to send new metal and that I thought I could make it work. But I asked if they have a complaint handling system and that I wanted to lodge a formal complaint. I said that if it is required to ask for straight metal from an aircraft specialty company that they should state it clearly on their website and catalog to avoid confusion from people expecting to receive what they order without asking that it be straight.

    Dumbfounded......
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  14. akflyer added a post in a topic Snowmobiles   

    Good looking rides!  If you want to bet the best out of them, I will talk to my buddy and get the hot shock set up.  He did a TON of testing and tuning to get them to ride pretty damn sweet in the whoops and big bumps.  He aint happy with a set up unless you can ride one handed in 2' stutter bumps at 100 MPH.
     
    How long did it take you to get used to the rider forwards position of the new sleds versus the old sitting position?  I hated it for the first few hours, then I began to love it.  Now I cant go back old style for more than 10 minutes or my back and knees are killing me!
     

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  15. akflyer added a post in a topic tail wheel springs   

    I re-arched mine in a press a few weeks ago... if we were smart, we would do our own re-arch so we get the angle just perfect, then take them to the spring shop to have them cooked and tempered so they will actually hold that arch.
     

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  16. akflyer added a post in a topic Got the first coat of pink on yesterday...   

    Watch it Larry... Any man twho knows more than the primary colors is subject to having his man card pulled by the voting membership! 
     
    Yeah, I was hoping to see some fat avid pics Doug, ya got me on this one!  But ya gotta keep momma happy too cause if she aint happy nobody is happy!
     

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  17. jjbaker added a post in a topic Howdy from Maine   

    Thanks!
     
    Not sure where I found this avatar picture but there's tons of them out there.
     

     

     

     
    You should be able to right click those, save them to your computer and then upload them as your avatar.
     
     
     
     
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  18. marksires added a post in a topic Airventure 2014   

    Somewhere in Camp Scholler.  I'll try to get an electric/water site since the wife may come. Otherwise anywhere in the 24hr generator sites work - then I'll have an excuse to get the 2nd Honda 3000 and use the parallel kit I already have ) . The old camper I only needed one .  Every other year I've gotten there on Wednesday, and had to park south of the ultralight approach lane in the 'overflow' camping area near the dump station.   I actually kind of like it over there - quiet, and you can spread out a little more, but they don't let you camp over there until everything is full.
     
    This new one really isn't camping, which is good, since I'm not a camping fan.  I always said it'd be fine if the room service wasn't so slow!  )
     
    Mark
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  19. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Howdy from Maine   

    Ditto; welcome JJ.  The Avitar picture is great.
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  20. EDMO added a post in a topic Soob air oil seperator   

    Thanks Randy,
          I like those big isolation mount rubbers on the rads.  Can you measure the rads sometime and give me dimensions and include thickness and hose sizes?  I have a local builder here and will price them.  Also, how big are your inlets?
    EDMO
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  21. EDMO added a post in a topic Motorcycle Twin Radiators for cheek rads?   

    Thanks Doug - real good photo.
    EDMO
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  22. SuberAvid added a post in a topic Soob air oil seperator   

    I don't know about the EA71 piston swap so no help there.  The first engine I built was a hydraulic motor and I had the heads milled, rebuilt  and the cam reground through Stratus.  He typically only builds the solid lifter motors but will get the parts and do the work on the hydraulic motors. I built the intake manifolds for that one out of mandrel bent tubing but they were for the Bing 64's and independent so no issues with the planed heads.  I actually like the positioning of the carbs on those manifolds better but the Stratus redrive places the starter in a different position and the manifolds would not work.
     
    If you guys are looking a light alternator, use the one from a 1995 Suzuki Samari (the one in the picture).  They are about 6 lbs, 55 amp and about $150 rebuilt with lifetime warranty from ORieley's or such store.

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  23. dholly added a post in a topic Motorcycle Twin Radiators for cheek rads?   

     
    The inlet radiators on my Aerotrek are mounted by brackets to the lower cowl with Dzus fasteners (which must be undone to remove the lower cowl). Attached is a stock photo that will give you some idea, I can walk out to the shop and take detailed pics if you need.

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  24. Av8r3400 added a post in a topic Airventure 2014   

    Where you gonna park it?
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  25. marksires added a post in a topic Airventure 2014   

    My ginormous new 5th wheel, truck and I will be there most of the week this year, unless a client changes my plans.....
     
    Mark
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