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  1. akflyer


    Ahh, cool!  We used to do it with a mini 14.  If your in the rear, careful of the wing strut!  I know of more than one cub driver who heard the nasty bang bang bang ting as the gunner was watching the bullet hit the snow and trying to walk it in on the wolf with no regard to the location of the wing strut :lol:

     

    Shooting out of the plane is fun, but it takes a bit to get it down.  Kind of like trying to hit a road sign with a beer bottle.. ya gotta get the lead dialed in!

     

    :BC:

  2. EDMO


    Unless you want an IFA trim tab, and want to rebuild your elevator, then a small 2"x6" flat aluminum tab riveted to the inner part of the elevator trailing edge is the easiest - just add it and guesstimate a 5 degree bend to start with, then fly and straighten or add more bend as you need.  Bend it opposite of the way you want your nose to go.

    EDMO

  3. Trackwelder


    I don't think he follows this forum, I hope he doesn't just call an end to the Avid line of aircraft, it is so close to being an aircraft that could go LSA that I would like to see it continue. I know the Kitfox has made it through some tough times, but the right salesman could bring the Avid back into todays world.

  4. EDMO


    Joey,

          As an old retiree, I try to stay "on the cheap" as much as possible - If your Dad has a set of 72" tractor blades and a hub that fits a Soob, I might be interested if he wants to get rid of them.

          Otherwise, I will keep looking for some Warp Drive blades to fit my hub, or a WD prop.

    EDMO

  5. SuberAvid


    Welcome BanjoPlayer.  It is great to have another Fat Avid member on board!  If you read this forum much you will find I am a pretty happy with mine.  I finished mine in 2010 and have a bit over 300 hours on it now,  Willis just got his flying and hopefully JackAk will have his flying by this spring (it is just about to the point where we can bring it out to the hanger and put all the parts on it at the same time to make it an airplane).  Just keep after it every week and you will get it done.  We look forward to hearing progress reports and will try to answer any questions you have.

     

    On the wing spar spacing; yes, there was a problem with the jig and the front and rear carry through tubes were set slightly too close.  It sounds like Bruce or someone remedied that by moving the rear carry through tube.  I considered that option but talked to Steve Winder about it and he recommended heating and benting the front tube ends forward slightly.  that is the option that JackAk and I chose to do and I also wended in a tab to add a little extra support in case the bending weakened it some. See the attached pics.  Moving the rear carry through should be OK if the rewelding of the collector point was done well; althjough a lot more effort and complicated.

     

    Keep us posted and let us know if we can help.

     

    (Oh, I own a banjo but found I have no talent for playing it)

     

    Randy

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  6. SuberAvid


    Leni,

     

    Haven't set a firm time yet.  I just have the gunner permit, not the pilot permit so I am gunning for Randy Apling (Plaschem).  He is having shoulder surgery later this month so will likely be Feb before we can get out.  Meanwhile, I need to do some patterning with 00 buckshot to see if I can use my 18.5" 12 ga or if it would be better to use a long barrel.

  7. SuberAvid


    If he is not able to get back into business, I would be interested in buying the jigs and whatever rights he has, I am Medically retired, but not by choice, I would love to have a side business that I could turn into something better, I wish him the best of luck, but I hope he keeps my offer in mind.

    If Brett didn't want to actively continue with Airdale anymore I sure would like him to work out a deal like this.  It sounds like a win/win/win for Brett, Trackwelder and all of us!

    1 person likes this
  8. SuberAvid


    I've been doing a lot of thinking about my new wing build lately but no building as of yet, but looking at the post Larry made of the STOL competition at Osh, I got to looking at the videos.  The one of Kazoom was pretty interesting, besides the NOX (which I may get around to one of these days), it showed they had extended the flap chord with just a full length aluminum sheet tab along the trailing edge.  It looked like about a 2" extension.  What do you guys think that would do on the inboard section (say 40 to 60%) of our flaperons for slow flight?

  9. lostman


    How many people here are planning to fly in and camp onsite? My wife and I will be planning to make it this year if we are able to buy a plane shortly (in the works). It would be nice to meet some of this group in person and have people to hang out with during the event.

     

    This competition would be great to see! I've always wanted to go see it in Valdez.

  10. SuberAvid


    I'm running the MGL FL-2 that includes fuel flow, gal remaining (set starting gals if you don't have a gage), flight time remaining, distance to bingo fuel, fuel warning at set min fuel, and a bunch of other flight functions like air speed, vertical speed, altimeter, OAT, TAS, tach, density alt., hobbs,maint timer, and probably a lot of other stuff I am forgetting.  It is more than $130 but is a pretty neat guage and between it and the MGL E-1 for engine monitoring, they cover about all you ever need and more for our planes, IMHO.  They make single guages for just fuel flow or other single functions also if that is what you prefer.  It is worth going on their web site and taking a look.  MGL Avionics.

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  11. akflyer


    Well thanks to Larry egging me on, I decided to post up the work going on with the 180.  When we bought it we were "hoping" to get in a couple hundred hours before a major, but that was just not in the cards... So I will keep this thread updated as work progresses on the ole bird and hopefully, come spring time, she will be back in the air.

     

     

    I guess I may as well turn this into a rebuild / repair / tinkering thread.. Not going to be as impressive as Bigrennas thread by any means, but it gives me something to do while I am at work and have time to kill..

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    At the dock after a quick flight to the lodge. Was a great flight and she flew nice and straight. Hauled in 50 gallons of Diesel to them to help hold them over till the water freezes and we can use the sleds to freight in fuel and supplies.

    After this flight it was time to pull the plane out of the water as the lake started building ice the next day. The trailer I use for my Avid and the PA 12 was too small for the 180 so it was time to get to building. All the iron came out of scrap piles we have stacked up behind the hangar so it was nothing but time to get it built.

     


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    I didn't get any pics of it in the trailer as it was blowing wet snow and rain and we were scrambling to get it inside before we lost all the heat in the hangar.

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    It took 2 days of parts blaster, home make concoctions and me turning out a tool in the lathe to try and get the damn tail spring out. The cross tube was rusted in SOLID! I ended up cutting the cross tube with a sawzall to get the tail spring out, then we had to carefully split the tube inside the mount to fold it into itself and pound it out of the mount. That was a bugger that help to expand my vocabulary into something any sailor would be damn proud of!

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    After much going back and forth, we went ahead a humored the IA by putting the 7/8" tail spring back on.. After the annual it will probly take a magic viagra and turn into a 1 1/8" that happens to be hiding on the shelf in the hangar. The gear and wheels came from Denalipilot and look sweet on the old gal. According the the log books and the previous owner, this is the first time since 74 that she has seen wheels.

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    While we were busy replacing the right hand elevator, servicing the jack screws and putting in new trim cable and chain, the wife spent 3 days up to her arm pits slopping out the belly of 40 yrs worth of dirt, oil and crap build up. It took multiple applications of Stoddard solvent and lots of cussing to get the crap scraped out and cleaned up, but I bet it was close to 10 pounds of crap that came out. 5 full coffee cans of sludge and dirt came out of the belly not to mention what I was able to vacuum out before she went to work on it.

    Interior has been stripped and the old ADF system and various other antiquated crap has been removed. I dont have any scales at the hangar, but I am certain 35-40 pounds have come out. We will see how we do when we put it back together and put it on scales for a new WB.

    we are thinking of sound proofing and perhaps kydex to take care of the ceiling and aft cabin from the doors back. Extended baggage will be installed as well.

     

    Some of the names mentioned in there probly wont make any sense to you unless your a member of BCP or back country pilot.  Its a pretty good group of guys with a passion for leaving the pavement behind and getting out and exploring the back country and hanging out around campfires at night telling lies.

     

    More to come as the work progresses.

     

     

    1 person likes this
  12. marshawk


    Howdy banjo player, congratulations on your fat avid,I recently got mine in the air after about 2 years of building it with alot of help from friends and the guys on this forum,just working out a few bugs and it seems like a great bird.

  13. dholly


    Joey- try Madison and Appleton from ORD too. At least, that's been my experience from the east coast. Which ever, don't wait for the last minute, it's one hopping busy week and seats fill quick.

  14. Av8r3400


    If you can do it, try for CWA (Central Wisconsin - Wausau) or Green Bay (GRB).

     

    It will probably require a connection from ORD, MSP or DET.  (If you're not afraid of planes with propellers on them…)