neflyer15

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Posts posted by neflyer15


  1. Avid Flyers,

    There has been a lot of talk (and rumors floating) around as to the status of Avid Aircraft and I wanted to clear the air on my end of things so that people weren’t left guessing.

    In 2017 when I became interested in purchasing Avid Aircraft, I was very skeptical about the company’s state after looking through company assets and worried that much of the documentation and build fixtures were missing or in need of major repairs. Without going into too much detail, I went ahead and bought the company on a conditional 2-year contract. I spent months working late into the night after working days at my full-time job, but it seemed like there was a hiccup around every corner. Missing weld fixtures, no fiberglass molds to any of the four aircraft models, outdated or incomplete supplier and manufacturing information – the list goes on and on. I started to gain traction on parts orders in the summer of 2018, the same time my wife and I welcomed our first child. Unfortunately, there were major complications with my son’s birth that forced me to put Avid on hold completely. My wife and I have had to adjust our entire life due to the situation and it left me with virtually no time for Avid. It has been a long, hard road but I have come to the realization that although I have the know-how and drive to take over this company, family comes first and Avid simply cannot provide for myself or my family at this time.

    In light of my situation, I have decided to part ways with the company, and the business will return to the previous owner, Jim Tomash. Any outstanding parts orders will be fulfilled by myself as promised and I will continue selling some of the major parts including cowlings and engine mounts to keep Avid owners flying.

    As a side note, ALL fiberglass molds for the Mark IV, Magnum, and Ultralight Champion were missing when I bought the company. I located the ORIGINALS and purchased them outright – separate from the purchase of Avid - and restored them to mint condition. Even though I will no longer own or manage the company, I will personally continue supplying fiberglass parts for the Magnum, Mark IV and Champion to anyone in need that contacts me.

     I appreciate all the support as I took this project on and apologize to anyone that has been trying to get parts or questions answered that I have been unable to reply to. I will continue to leave the website up and will be monitoring email as I have time. If you have further questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

     

    Blue Skies and Tailwinds,

    Mark Mendick

    3 people like this

  2. Avid Flyers,

    I am getting ready to place an order from my fiberglass shop for upper and lower Mark IV cowlings. If I can get 10 people to commit to purchasing a set, I can take $100 off each order. The discounted price would be $725 for a gel coated set. Feel free to email me at mmendick@avidkitplanes if interested or post below. There have been a few customers in the past year who asked if I sell cowlings and I will be reaching out to them as well. Let me know if you have any questions. 

    Tailwinds,

    Mark - Avid Aircraft

     


  3.  

    Avid Flyers,

     

    Below you will find the current list of readily available Avid parts that we offer. I concede that with the small size of my workforce and the immense amount of parts orders, I would be a fool to continue to offer complete kits at this time. This would not only slow down parts orders, but also force me to put a very long lead time on kits. I realize that trying to restart this business is more than just getting kits out the door again and service to past, loyal customers needs to come first. People are more than welcome to inquire about other parts, but my main focus will be on the items below. I will continually add to the list as inventory builds up and hope that this simplified Avid Aircraft parts business will help bring the company back to full scale production in a more customer focused approach. I will also be changing my website in the coming days to reflect this new business position. A parts list with price sheet will be displayed on the site for transparency to all.

     

    In parts order news, we were able to engineer an aluminum fuel thank with a profile that fits both the STOL and Speedwing configurations. The location and size is very similar to the fiberglass Avid tanks (roughly 34" long and takes the place of the ribs at the wing root – the install will be nearly the same as well). I am very happy with how it turned out and have been testing the fit-up and integrity on a spare set of wings at the factory. I know there have been some Avid owners that say aluminum is not the way to go but so far, we have been impressed with it. As soon as we prove out the design as equal to or better than the fiberglass tank, it will be added to the list of parts we offer. BONUS…as you all know… ethanol will not eat through this tank and it only weighs 2lbs more than the fiberglass tank!!

     

    Many people have asked about cowlings and wing tanks - both being fiberglass parts. I have tried going through two fiberglass companies in the past 6 months to make tanks and cowls using Avid's original molds. Unfortunately, both companies fell short, unable to create quality parts with issues ranging from leaky tanks to inconsistent material thickness. I am reaching out to anyone in the Midwest who might have a reputable fiberglass company we could be put in contact with. Unless we use the aluminum tanks, we are unable to offer wing kits until this gets resolved.

    I want to thank all of those who have placed orders and many of the inspiring stories and pictures sent to us this past year. Your contributions have inspired me to continue on in this adventure, despite many road blocks along the way. With the first year in the books, we look forward to improving on our shortcomings and better serving the Avid community in the years to come.

     

    Tailwinds,

    Mark

    Avid Aircraft

     

    Available parts:

    Flaperon (Right or Left)

    Jury Struts (pair)

    Transportation Kit

    Rotax 912 Engine Mount

    Jabiru Engine Mount

    Wing Struts (pair)

    STOL/Speedwing Ribs & Butt Ribs

    Speedwing Extension Kit

    Shock Cord Kit

    Mark IV Belly Pan

    F7A Modified Bellcrank

    Windshield

     

    6 people like this

  4. All,

    I wanted to get some opinions on the new tank design for the Mark IV. I have some thick skin but I want to try and keep this conversation as civil as possible :) Keep in mind I will still be able to provide the original fiberglass tanks Avid used to make.

     From the research on this site and other forums, firsthand opinions from customers, and reviewing the competition, I have developed a new design that aims to accomplish the following:

    -Maintain the same fluid volume as old tanks

    -Allows for use of fuel with up to 10% ethanol without causing premature damage or failure

    -Does not cause significant weight increase

    -Does not cause significant price increase

    -Sits inside ribs so that tank profile cannot be seen after covering

     

    Having said all of this, I decided to go with an aluminum tank that slides inside the first 6 ribs closest to the fuselage.I have attached a picture below that shows the concept - the tank in the picture was a fiberglass mock-up. This is by no means a final design and I would appreciate your thoughts and input as we continue to make improvements to the design.

     

    Tailwinds,

    Mark

    Picture2.png


  5. I will have to do some more research on the leading edge topic. I know of a few different options, but have not looked into it very much. Any input from owners would be great.

    Thanks!

     


  6. All,

    Ribs, ribs, and more ribs! STOL and speedwing ribs are complete and spars are on the way. Wing kits and piece parts will be available soon. Flaperons are in progress this week and next.

    Feel free to email if interested in ordering parts.

    Keep warm, fly safe, and have fun!

    -Mark

    20180111_173904.gif

    3 people like this

  7. Happy New Year to you all from Avid!

    At the manufacturing shop we have been very busy making ribs for both speedwing and STOL wings. Flaperons are next and an order of steel should allow us to weld up our first fuselage before the end of the month. It is very exciting to finally see progress being made. I am also in the process of acquiring jigs to make a new landing gear configuration used by many - a cabane "v style" with shocks built in. This will allow a higher, wider stance for the Mark IV and gives owners the option for larger tundra tires.

    I have to admit that I have been absolutely swamped with emails from Avid enthusiasts near and far. It is great to hear all of the stories and see pictures. Many have asked about parts orders and I have tried to respond with a quote or time frame. If you have not seen a response, please don't hesitate to bug me again. I will do my best to respond to everyone within a day or two. I am excited for Avid's future and hope to make 2018 one for the books.

    Blue skies and tailwinds!

    Mark Mendick

    3 people like this

  8. Avid Update:

    Raw materials for flaperons are in! It won't be long before a few sets are built and ready for kits or parts orders! Materials for STOL wings are on order as well. 

    Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and safe travels to those on the road or in the air this week.

     

     

    Mark Mendick

    mmendick@avidkitplanes.com

     

     

    4 people like this

  9. My Mark IV is not complete and therefore not photo ready. I didn't want to steal pictures from Google and did not get a very good response when I asked for pictures back in August/September. The picture will get updated when I am able to gather a few Mark IV pictures that are good quality. If any of you are willing to send me a few to use, that would be great! The only ones I have are from Joey's model C or old photocopies dating back to the 1990's. I appreciate everyone giving input and being so observant. Let me know if there is anything else you see that may need some fine-tuning.

     

     


  10. Hey foxflyers!

    I am going to try and post regularly on this thread with updates and news at the Avid shop. Feel free to ask questions, make comments, and enjoy!

    This week we finally got the website up and running. I am still setting up search engine optimization so it is difficult to find on Google unless you type in the exact URL. Check it out!

    www.avidkitplanes.com

    In other news, we hung up and organized the masters for all sheet metal parts on the Mark IV today. Things are slowly taking shape here and I anticipate we will be welding in a few weeks. 

    More updates to come.

    Happy flying!

     

    Mark Mendick

    mmendick@avidkitplanes.com

     

    20171029_144520.thumb.jpg.900ae96fcd93c520171029_144531.thumb.jpg.67f3075e2c8d97

    8 people like this

  11. I would love to have a new subforum. I can also post updates and pictures of the progress at the shop! If someone can set that up, it would be a great resource.

    3 people like this

  12. All,

    When I acquired the company at the end of the summer, I was so excited and couldn’t wait any longer to share the news about Avid’s revival. Had I known there would be so much backlash already, I would have waited until things progressed further before opening my mouth.

    As stated before, this is a start-up that is going to take some time to get going. I am not a millionaire investor nor do I have other people or companies backing me. I dedicate every evening from 4:30 (after I get off work) till 10pm and weekends sorting through files, cleaning up jigs, remodeling an old shop for Avid’s manufacturing facility, and trying to learn as much as I can about the business as I piece together information on this forum and documentation from the acquisition. My goal is to bring Avid Aircraft back so we all can continue to have reliable parts and give others the opportunity of ownership as well. I am willing to bet that at the end of the day, most of you would say the same. I care about the customers and am interested in the items of discussion on the forum but until I get some other major milestones out of the way, I will have to continue to stay passive on the site unless someone emails me personally. With regards to the unanswered emails, I believe I have answered every email sent through mmendick@avidkitplanes.com. If I haven’t, send me another and yell at me a little so I don’t make the same mistake twice! I noticed I never responded to a message through the forum email and I apologize for that. After I got my business email, I quit checking the forum mail assuming people would contact me through my business email. 

    I have the molds for the Catalina as well as weld fixtures. I plan to focus my efforts on the Mark IV until things are running smooth with production before re-introducing the Magnum and Catalina. I anticipate by next Fall I will be able to start on it. The molds for the Catalina will have to be refinished and will require an investment (part of the reason I am waiting). If this is something multiple people are looking for and there is a strong demand, I can certainly look at pulling those molds out earlier than the Fall to try and have fiberglass parts made.

    I have no intentions of getting into hot water with Airdale, Kitfox, or the like. If there are any issues, they are welcome to email me. I don’t know how speculations about legal troubles are already floating around when kits haven’t even been built yet.

    I am a young, energetic, and driven to see this great company succeed again. It may start small and take a while, but I would rather do it right the first time and not rush into uncertainty. If you would like to talk to me personally about issues, send an email or I can even give you a call. I hope this message finds you all well and I look forward to your input.

    Thank you!

    Mark Mendick

    7 people like this

  13. My name is Mark, new owner of Avid Aircraft. We have the original cowling molds for the model B and can have some made if you would like! We are still working on setting up the factory but can start taking on some parts orders like yours. Email me at mmendick@avidkitplanes.com if interested. Thanks!


  14. I am a member of this site and want to thank everyone for the encouraging words. As C5Engineer said, I am in the very beginning stages of startup and would appreciate your patience as we bring this amazing company back to life. We hope to start taking parts orders before the end of the year and build complete kits in 2018. If you have any questions or would like to share anything Avid, feel free to email me at mmendick@avidkitplanes.com. We hope to have a website up soon and I will continue to be active on this site.

    Thank you!

    9 people like this