n611af

n611af's Activity

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   n611af added a post in a topic Mike Ricketts, nice to meet you Joey!    12 Aug 2016

   I remember Alex making a set of mufflers that slipped on Bernstien seniors headers to tone down the volume for the spectators in the pits when they were running the engine. First time they started the engine they went flying about 40 feet in the air. That was the end of that idea!
   

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   n611af added a post in a topic Mike Ricketts, nice to meet you Joey!    11 Aug 2016

   Yes I remember and I want one of these shirts! No Brodhead for me this year as the mother in law is coming from Iowa and have to move my son back into a dorm one last time. If you saw the post about the Avid going down in Indiana, Im familiar with that field as I have camped there a few times on the way to OshKosh. Mr Miller is super nice and the place is great. In the middle of corn country though so no place else to go for that fella.
   

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   n611af added a post in a topic Mike Ricketts, nice to meet you Joey!    3 Aug 2016

   Ubet.
   Wish I could have met you up there at OSH. Im kicking around flying to Grassroots at Brodhead again next month. If I go I will look for your plane.
   Mike
   

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   n611af added a post in a topic Mike Ricketts, nice to meet you Joey!    3 Aug 2016

   Hello
   If your Kitfox was parked a couple planes down from Pauls Avid, its one of nicest I have seen! I spoke with Paul about using the the engine on the Ridge Runner and have absolutely no doubt that if it is propped correctly, he would be pleased that he selected the HKS. I introduced Paul to a friend of mine that has an HKS for sale. He had the engine on his Rans S7 and though it was the most trouble free of the three engines he has had on the plane, it wasn't enough horsepower for the kind of performance he was looking for. Thats not to say it didn't work, it flew the S7 fine but the performance was only comparable to a Cub or a Champ. 
   My Avid had the 582 originally and I flew it till TBO and had to make a decision wether to spend the money on the overhaul or switch to the HKS. I studied the torque curve of the engine and compared it to the 582 and on paper it seemed feasible. I then talked to Richard Kosi who had just won an award at OSH for his HKS powered Jenny and he convinced me that if the engine would work on a machine with such a high drag bucket, it would certainly work on an Avid. I then talked to a fella that had the engine on his Skyraider and that convinced me to go the HKS route. Even though his engine was under performing (he had dual exhausts that were not tied together, no scavenging, no balance, etc) he still flew it from OSH back to California with himself and another person in a little jump seat that was in the back!
   This fella sent me allot of pictures of his install and that was the basis that Jim Carruthers used to fabricate the install on my Avid. Jim is a craftsman of uncommon ability and I am fortunate that he lives just down the road. He has the gift of seeing the cause and affect of how one thing is going to affect another and so he did the complete install, motor mount, cowling, exhaust, oil tank, ignition, etc, etc, one time and it turned out perfect. The only teething pains we had were with regards to the exhaust.
   We started with stainless and it proved to be to brittle. I taught Alex Borla how to fly and eventually became their company pilot. They make stainless exhaust systems for cars. Alex was supplying me the materials and so it wasn't a quality issue, its just that with the heat cycle of such a compact installation, and the vibration of the engine, the exhaust needed to be fabricated from mild steel. So Jim fabricated it from mild steel and the cracking issues stopped. Jim also fabricated a bracket that suspends the muffler can from the engine itself so that the whole assembly moves in harmony and that is a must for avoiding cracking issues. The original HKS muffler only lasted 140hrs but I think I may have caused that. I was using copper anti-seaze on the joint between the header pipe and the muffler and the can turned to rust. Dis-similar metal electrolysis! Jim rolled a can out of 18 gauge mild steel and that problem was solved.
   As for the propeller, and I think this is critical for the success of the install, it needs to be an efficient long two blade prop that can absorb the torque of the engine. I am using the same 71 by 37 Peery Prop that I used with the 582 and its perfect for the HKS. It allows the engine to spin up to 5700-5900 on takeoff depending on the day, and that is right in the meat of the torque curve of the engine. Out of curiosity over the years I tried a Powerfin and a GSC and they grossly underperformed the Peery. And I do mean grossly underperformed, night an day difference. My friend Joe Maynard has a two place Hiperlight with an HKS and an Aerolux propeller. I gave him a spare Peery that I had and he tried it. He said the performance was identical to the Aerolux so for anyone considering the HKS the Aerolux would be a good choice since Peerys are no longer made.
   Whatever you choice, long and two blade is the way to go, 71 by 37 or 72 by 36. 
   As for performance the 582 with the 2:58 gear box allowed the 71 by 37 Peery prop to turn up to 6100 rpm on takeoff. As I mentioned the HKS with the same 2:58 ratio gearbox allows the 71 by 37 Peery to turn up 5700-5900 depending on the day. Based on the same weight this equated to my rate of climb with the 582 to be around 1200 fpm and with the HKS I get a solid 700-900 fpm depending on the day. Not considering fuel flow, overhaul time, maintenance schedule, etc, this is the only performance parameter that was affected by the conversion. The weight of the plane after the conversion was a few pounds lighter. My avid weighs 530 lbs. 
   I live and fly the Avid in the midwest and the performance by far exceeds what is required to fly around here. If I lived in the mountains, I would want more horsepower. 
   A few years after I had the conversion done I had a lot of folks asking about the performance so I shot a video of the instrument panel on a flight and posted it on Youtube. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOnOrQKaH6M
   The HKS has been on there 12 years now and I have 650 hrs on the engine. Its brought me allot of joy and I am very happy I decided to make the conversion.
   Mike Ricketts
   

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   n611af added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar    2 Aug 2016

   Mike Ricketts, nice to meet you Joey!

   Hi Joey
   Nice to meet you at OSH and put a face with a name. And thanks for inviting me to your campsite to watch the Valdez demo. You guys had a choice spot! I left Wednesday and went over to Iowa for a few days. Between giving rides and hitting Brodhead and another fly-in, I ended up putting just shy of 17 hrs on the Avid. The HKS used 41 gallons for the trip and purred like a sewing machine. Love that little engine.
   Hope to see you up there again next year.
   Mike
   

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   n611af added a post in a topic HKS Avid    8 Dec 2015

   I had the Hawker into Edmonton A couple years ago which I don't think is all that far west of you. That is some really nice territory up there and looks like a great place to fly around in an Avid. Some areas appeared largely uninhabited and remote so it might be a long walk if you landed out though!
   

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   n611af added a post in a topic HKS Avid    8 Dec 2015

   Steve
   i did not know there was another Avid with an HKS on it. Do you have pictures posted somewhere of your installation? I would like to see them. Where are you located?
   Mike
   

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   n611af added a post in a topic HKS Avid    21 Nov 2015

   Yes not in the instructing game anymore, at least in GA airplanes.
   i do it for a couple flying buddy's and there is no charge.
   

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   n611af added a post in a topic HKS Avid    21 Nov 2015

   New Albany Ohio just northeast of Columbus. I keep the plane at August Acres OH17 but am moving it to a private UL strip near Johnstown next month.
   

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    n611af added a post in a topic HKS Avid    21 Nov 2015

    I flew it with the 582 for 280 hrs before I switched. As I recall went from a 1100 climb to to an 800 fpm climb with the HKS. The worst I ever saw was giving a BFR to a heavy fellow on a 100 degree plus day and it was only doing about 400 fpm. On a normal day with a normal weight person in there with me it climbs 600 fpm and has never caused any concern flying in the midwest. I usually fly it with 5 gallons of gas in it unless I'm headed out to the airshows. After about an hour and a half I'm ready to get out and stretch my legs so carrying allot of extra gas around is not something I usually do. Most of the time fly out of 2000 ft grass strips but I am currently in the process of moving to an 800 ft grass strip. There are no obstructions there. I am using the same Peery prop and the 582 turned it 6200 static. The HKS turns it 5900 static. It's an honest 60 hp with a flat torque curve.
    

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    n611af added a post in a topic HKS Avid    21 Nov 2015

    It's been doing great. I had it installed in 2005 and I just hit 600 hrs on it.
    The TBO is 1000 hrs but I doubt that I will be doing an overhaul unless something changes with the compressions or oil analysis's. Oil change once a year just before winter and plugs at 200 hrs (about 4 years at the rate I fly it). Two people on board and I run it at 5400 rpm which is 2.5 gph. Me by myself I run it 4800 to 5200 and fuel flows drop to 1.8 to 2.2gph. Normall cruise is 70mph which seems to be close to best L/D for my wing but it will go 90mph wide open. I warm it up slow and cool it down slow and preheat it if I fly when it's colder than 40 degrees. Fly it at least once a week unless the snow is to deep to breakfast with the guys and to the midwest airshows in the summer.  I expect it will last me until I'm done flying the plane. Turn the key and go. It's been pretty much care free. A well engineered engine.
    Mike
    

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    n611af added a post in a topic HKS Avid    20 Nov 2015

    Yes it is. Cool but scary.
    

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    n611af added a topic in Avid fox flyers pics and vids    20 Nov 2015

    HKS Avid

    I Googled my N number and this picture came which I had never seen. I have had the plane at Oshkosh several times over the years ( I use the UL strip ) and thought it was taken there but a friend thought maybe it was landing at Brodhead. There are photographers and cameras everywhere so who knows. Anyway I think it's a good picture of my Avid
    Mike
    
    

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