TheDeltaFox

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Everything posted by TheDeltaFox



  1. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Main spar issue????   

    I'd replace them. I've never seen a weld like that especially running that long on aluminum tubing. Personally i wouldn't trust it.

    It looks like theres a lot of scuffing and scratches on the rest of the tubing as well.
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  2. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic EGT Temps   

    Bill,

    I see your from Fox Creek, AB. I used to drive by there on the way to Fort St John, BC. Nice little strip right along the highway. Always saw what looked like an RV4 or T18 sitting in one of the open hangars.

    Do you have an Avid there?
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  3. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic EGT Temps   

    Thats a good article! I printed it and added it to my two stroke library. I may need a small filing cabinet soon

    I made it out to the airport and adjusted the carbs and synched them mechanically last night. I didn't have time to fly but it now idles smooth at 2100 rpm and is running cooler at mid range. I didn't have a chance to do a full power runup to see what the temps are like because the one probe started acting up again. For some reason the probe works but when i give a shot of power, the one EGT needle drops in tune with the rise of the rpm guage. It was also not reading at all at first which meant a lot of cable wiggling and stuff. I'm thinking that the probe cables need to be run better and away from any other cables/metal that might be affecting them. Either that or the guage/probe is faulty and it might be a good idea to just replace the probes and guage. The wires look rather worn out where they run into the probes. For the bit it was working the EGT's were with 50 diff which made my day.

    I've got that feeling like a kid at Christmas that just wants to tear into his presents, but instead I want to go tear up the sky. This work thing sure is getting in the way of my flying..
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  4. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic EGT Temps   

    Thanks for the advice, i'm off to the airport to troubleshoot. This forum is worth its weight in gold. Especially the advice from all of you that have been through stuff like this before. I'll try to remember to take a better camera than just my cell phone and get some picks if I get it all sorted and go test flying. We lost the little snow fall we had and i'm chomping at the bit to try the wheel skis out. There's a few frozen lakes that I noticed last time i was up and once she's running smooth and cool i'm going to go practice some ice landings.
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  5. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic EGT Temps   

    Thanks for the advice. I had a bit of a brain fart in regards to the screws on the carbs when i was at the airport yesterday. After i made that post and started to think about it, i started to realize that other than the main jets, there really is no control over the mixture at mid to full throttle. Unless a person installed a mixture control like you guys stated. Maybe you guys could clarify for me... The big screw with the spring is what the carb slide rests on at idle and sets the idle speed. Turning it in would increase the idle speed. The little brass needle with the rubber o-ring is for air by pass at idle and as per Rotax should be 1 1/2 turns out. Is this right?

    I'm going to head the airport after work today and first turn those screws back out to 1 1/2 turns like I had them before. It idled nicley at 2000-2100 rpm until i monkeyed with it yesterday. Then i'll take the airfilters off and visually make sure that the slides are lifting at the same time and adjust the slack out of the cables to get it as close as possible. Then i'll hook up my homemade carb sync contraption and try to fine tune it. I'll also swap the EGT probes and see if it is one probe or the instrument in the dash or just an out of sync carb... If after all that its still hot, i'll LOWER the needle clip (raising the position number which is what i should have stated on the first post) and see how it runs. Anyone who ever said that these two strokes have fewer moving parts and are simpler than a 4 stroke have probably never worked with one LOL. I can't wait to have saved up enough coin for a 4 stroke like a 912.
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  6. TheDeltaFox added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    EGT Temps
    Hey Everyone,

    I finally got out to do some work on the plane and go flying today. Felt awesome to be in the air with my Avid again. The thing jumped off the ground about 1 second after full throttle and probably set a new stopping record at my airport when I landed a few feet short of the pavement.

    I'm a two stroke noob and have been trying to get my egt's to show the same on both cyclinders. At the lower temps it runs about 75-100 degrees difference and at the high end its maybe 50 or less off. The thing is that when I'm at full throttle or running anywheres above roughly 5500 rpm the one egt creeps to 1200 or slightly higher while the other one is at 1150 ish. Normally its turning 6200 rpm at full throttle on the ground and tied to my truck. I turned both mixture needles (the little ones beside the big idle screws) fully in so it should be running at full rich; right? I'm wondering if one egt probe is off or something. I've ground run it a bunch and can't seem to figure it out. Should i raise the needle clips 1 notch and see if that helps?

    Any advice would be super appreciated. I love flying this thing but don't want to cook the engine.

    Thanks,
    Darcy
    • 21 replies
    • 8,126 views


  7. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic MZ 202   

    Thanks for updating us on the MZ engines. I've been thinking that when my Rotax goes (hopefully not in the air) that i'm going to replace it with the MZ202.

    They are using them in the Mosquito helicopter and they must be reliable if a chopper is going to run that thing full throttle all day long.


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  8. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic To Chute or not to Chute ?   



    When I look at that picture i have the urge to mount that = shaped BRS canister to a quick release under my plane and make a whistling noise as it plummets.

    That being said I think the Avid might a good flour bomber... any thoughts?
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  9. TheDeltaFox added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Ready to fly...again :)
    Hey Everyone,

    So after much slacking I am finally getting around to posting some pictures on my wing rebuild.

    As a recap, I've replaced the back half of the two outboard ribs that hold the flaperon on and put new fabric on along with a shiny new paint job.



    New fabric going on.



    Polybrush and tapes.



    PolySpray.. good UV blocker and nice color too.



    Sprayed the white and the shiny blue tip. Looking good



    Did the double leaf spring conversion just after i put the wing back on.





    Here she is ready to rip up the sky once again
    • 3 replies
    • 784 views


  10. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Got the runs...   

    Thanks guys.

    So after some discussion with a friend who sprays poly brush, spray and tone regularly, i found the biggest mistake i was making was not changing from the stock needle to a small one. I was blasting WAY more material at the wing than i needed to. Which was obvious by the runs. I managed to dress out the smaller runs with a brush before it dried and used some reducer on a rag to clean up the rest. After an hour of that i was back in the game. I brushed on a couple coats where i rubbed with reducer to make sure the weave was filled. Then i resprayed a couple coats on the wings with the first coat being a fine mist as per the manual and your suggestions. Worked like magic. I've been using the plastic on the paint booth walls as a test spot. I'm no painter and never will be but I am really happy with the progress. I sprayed the Poly-spray on with a fine cross coat first and then when it was ready did the other two cross coats and it looked great. I sprayed the ploy tone on the one side of the wing with the same patience and care with really good results. I can't wait to get home tonight and start on the other side. I'll post some pics of the whole process minus the runs once i finish.
    I did build a nice little paint booth in the garage with some scrap lumber and a couple rolls of plastic from the local hardware store. Worked great!

    Thanks for the advice on this. As much as i hate painting, i resolved to forcing myself to learn to do this and do it right so next time it won't be so intimidating.
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  11. TheDeltaFox added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Got the runs...
    First off, i've changed my name to AlmostAirworthy because its taken me almost 3 months to get around to fixing my broken wing, replacing two ribs and finally recovering it.

    Last night I decided to follow the Stits manual and spray on a coat of poly brush over top of whats already been brushed on to get that smooth finish and look. Well that was a bad idea. My lovely new HVLP turbine unit works great. The problem is that i'm not a painter and probably should stick to roller coating things. I ended up putting on way too much and it ran like a gut shot coyote. I tried to fix what i could with some reducer and a brush then ended up wiping with reducer and a rag and touching up with a brush. I got so fed up as it dried i decided to leave it until tonight and then mess with it some more.

    My question to everyone who uses the poly system is whether or not i should have just brushed on a top coat of poly brush then went on to the poly spray? Any suggestions or tip would be much appreciated.
    I need to get this wing done and back on the plane before it starts getting really cold outside and the wife demands her space in the garage back.

    Darcy
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    • 892 views


  12. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Airports turning into ministorage   

    Sorry for jumping in on this one so late. The town I live in has an airport on the edge of it and i live within a few minutes walking distance. Myself and the few other pilots that have planes there are outraged at the fact the town bought the biggest hangar on the airport and are putting a bloody recycling center there. We tried explain the concept of all that paper debris floating around and went as far as to contact people in Transport Canada to try and sway the town. They're putting up big chain link fences around it and a big baseball backstop additional fence to try and catch any paper that blows around. One of the pilots had a few less than polite words with the town council and told them they should be advertising the airport and putting in lots for hangar homes not chopping it up for industrial junk yards. It sure is frustrating when you have non aviation minded individuals running the show and killing small airports. Here's an outdated sat picture of the airport. I live just a couple blocks south. If we had a direct street i could almost fold the wings and drive her to my garage!

    Darcy

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  13. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Camping at Columbia   

    The last picture in the canyon looks as if you're playing chicken with someone.
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  14. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic The best prop option is ?   

    I'm running a 3 blade ground adj GSC. It impresses me but then again i'm easily impressed
    Once mine kicks the bucket i'm going to carbon fiber like the IVO. Wood props lead to moisture issues and a little flight in the rain can do bad things to a wood prop.
    I also like the idea of having one main screw to adjust the pitch instead of playing with 3 blades and trying to match them to the same pitch. Just
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  15. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Ribs   

    Question... Why didn't you or couldn't a person leave the cap strip running to the end of the hangar and just round it off? It would make it a lot stronger to side load which is why mine broke. Well that and a shoulder from the guy who fell off the ladder and into the flaperon.
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  16. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Ribs   

    I got my new ribs in the mail and the cap strip runs right to the end of the hangar for more strength. Anyone have any suggestions for removing the cap strip from the existing rib so i can put in the new splice in?
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  17. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic An after work day of playing   

    Those are some nice pictures! Makes me feel good to see someone else flying around with a side mounted radiator. I was doing a runup yesterday and decided to open the cabin heat vent and WOW, it pumps the heat out nicely. Should be plenty come winter time up here.

    Darcy
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  18. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Ribs   

    I like your idea!! I have a bunch of 0.25 and think i may just copy cat you. Are you using small bolts to attach each one or just some pull rivets?
    This is the reason why this forum is awesome. Thanks again,

    Darcy
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  19. TheDeltaFox added a topic in Avid Flyer General Hangar   

    Ribs
    Has anyone here experimented with putting a layer of fiberglass or carbon fiber over the trailing edge hangar ribs? I was thinking that while I have the wing opened up i'd put a layer of carbon fiber on each of the ribs to protect them and strengthen them against any accidental side load such as what snapped my two outboard ribs.

    Any thoughts?
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  20. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Skyraider Lifts Off   

    Congrats!! That first flight is the most memorable feeling ever!
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  21. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic VW Engines   

    Thanks for the input. I think i'll just keep saving the nickels and dimes till i'm ready to cut a check for the 912.
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  22. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic Wounded Bird   

    Brett is going to get me the back rib hangars to splice in. I'm going to remove all the fabric, inspect and recover the wing while i've got it off the plane. As much as it sucks to have to repair it, i do enjoy the work. Now if i could only build planes for a living. Then i'd never really have to work ever again....
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  23. TheDeltaFox added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Wounded Bird
    Why is it that answering machines always have bad news on them. Today i returned home after a funeral and a 16 hour drive to find one of those "uh-oh" beeps on the answering machine. A friend who lets me store my plane in his hangar had some bad news. He had fallen off a ladder from just a couple steps up but his shoulder caught the outboard edge of the flaperon and broke the ends off the two most outboard flaperon ribs. He feels terrible and has offered to pay for the repairs. He said he felt so bad he almost got sick. I'm not mad at all just sad that i won't get to fly my little AVID for the next few weeks while its getting fixed.

    I wondering where to get the ribs from and seeing as i'm going to have it open i might as well put a second gas tank in so i have one in each wing. I assume Brett at Airdale for the ribs but does anyone have any suggestions on where to get the wing tank?

    Thanks,

    Darcy
    • 3 replies
    • 575 views


  24. TheDeltaFox added a post in a topic VW Engines   

    Its a MK IV. I'm still at the curious stage but will most likely pick up the engine anyways. The price is too low to pass up the engine even it it ends up in another project. I might call Great Plains and see what it would take to do the conversion.

    Weight is the big issue. I love how this thing jumped in the air and climbed with the 582 so i really don't want to pack the weight on it. Although it might be good to keep the VW on the shelf in case the Rotax does what its famous for
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  25. TheDeltaFox added a topic in Rotax and other engines   

    VW Engines
    I know i'm probably opening a can of worms on this one but....

    I have the oppurtinty to purchase a 1600cc and a 2200cc(fuel injected) vw engine for a really really good price. This brings me to ask the question of whether anyone here is using a VW engine or knows anyone who is and how is that working out for them. I'm curious about installed weight/weight and balance issues, static thrust if not using a redrive for a bigger prop, reliability and well anything I can learn about them. I was thinking to pick up the 1600 at least for a future project i've always wanted to build. The 2200 with a redrive and 70" prop should pull like a bugger.

    I see that Great Plains offers some VW packages that they advertise will work on AVIDs and even sell engine mounts. I'd like to get some opinions and make an informed decision before i lay down any cash.

    Thanks

    Darcy
    • 13 replies
    • 4,859 views