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Bought an Avid Catalina kit.

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Posted

I am new to the group. I bought a Catalina kit from a gentleman in New Jersey. It has been in my barn workshop for 2 weeks. I have been organizing and moving my son's PT-24 parts to make room. Today, I finally started checking things verses the manual. The landing gear legs were cut off flush behind the vertical part where it is supposed to be drilled for the axle bolt. And, as I already knew, the sponsons were modified to remove the rear hump. They are deepened to allow forward retraction. The son of the deceased builder claimed that they saw this mod on a factory prototype. Any help here?

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Posted

:welcome: Belchfire!

Congrats on the new project, I saw that Catalina mentioned on the Yahoo group. Be great if you could post some pics when you get everything settled. While the Yahoo group is a great resource, I find it much easier to post progress and pics here in a dedicated forum thread than on an email list format. So how complete was the kit, and how much work had been done? Got an engine planned? Interesting comment on the gear mod, I'd not heard of that. Eliminating the wheel well humps in the sponsons seems like it would really clean up and make the lines much more modern looking. Please do share your progress and pics, lots of H2O pilots and water flying interest here.

-Doug

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Posted

I am new to the group. I bought a Catalina kit from a gentleman in New Jersey. It has been in my barn workshop for 2 weeks. I have been organizing and moving my son's PT-24 parts to make room. Today, I finally started checking things verses the manual. The landing gear legs were cut off flush behind the vertical part where it is supposed to be drilled for the axle bolt. And, as I already knew, the sponsons were modified to remove the rear hump. They are deepened to allow forward retraction. The son of the deceased builder claimed that they saw this mod on a factory prototype. Any help here?

These are moving day shots at Rumson NJ.

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Posted

These are moving day shots at Rumson NJ.

These are today's shots at my barn shop.

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Posted

:welcome: Belchfire!

Congrats on the new project, I saw that Catalina mentioned on the Yahoo group. Be great if you could post some pics when you get everything settled. While the Yahoo group is a great resource, I find it much easier to post progress and pics here in a dedicated forum thread than on an email list format. So how complete was the kit, and how much work had been done? Got an engine planned? Interesting comment on the gear mod, I'd not heard of that. Eliminating the wheel well humps in the sponsons seems like it would really clean up and make the lines much more modern looking. Please do share your progress and pics, lots of H2O pilots and water flying interest here.

-Doug

So far, I have made and installed a wiring harness from the tail to the panel for the trim and strobe. I cut a section out of each sponson and removed the landing gear for proper drilling. Replacing the foam and glass should be easy, I rebuilt 3 Vettes years ago. My dad and I also fabricated and installed a new more streamlined front end for his motorhome. The original was damaged in an accident, and the original company was out of business. We used glass and foam purchased from Aircraft Spruce.

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Posted

I've never had the opportunity to see an Avid Cat or Amphib up close so those are interesting pics, thanks for posting. Pretty weird looking engine mount, almost looks like an old flat plate style for a 582, but that can't be right?! Everything appears to be in relatively good condition for sitting so long, only minimal rust. Was that really stored in an unheated PA garage or barn for all these years? If so that's amazing given our weather and humidity.

Should be a fun project with a unique ending so please do keep us up to date with your progress. :beerchug:

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Posted

I've never had the opportunity to see an Avid Cat or Amphib up close so those are interesting pics, thanks for posting. Pretty weird looking engine mount, almost looks like an old flat plate style for a 582, but that can't be right?! Everything appears to be in relatively good condition for sitting so long, only minimal rust. Was that really stored in an unheated PA garage or barn for all these years? If so that's amazing given our weather and humidity.

Should be a fun project with a unique ending so please do keep us up to date with your progress. :beerchug:

New Jersey garage, and it's a 582 mount. The barn it's in now is our's.

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Posted

I got the gear drilled as per the plans. There is another glitch. Since the gear retracts forward, now, the actuating arm goes through a much larger arc. The bolt heads now hit the cross tube. I guess I will have to get the heads milled by 1/3. ???

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Posted

I spent the last week at Sentimental Journey at Lock Haven, Pa. with family and friends. The usual vendors were NOT there this year, except for Univair. I ordered bolts as per the instructions, got them Monday, TOO LONG. I spent Tuesday on the road searching for tools and stuff for the bird. I got some fancy drill bits, some spacers on order, and 2 digital calipers. I finally found the rest on line, just before I wrote this. It's all on order.

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Posted

Flying down to Sentimental Journey is on my 'Bucket List', but I think OSH this year is the place to be for Cub fans!

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Posted

I got the gear drilled as per the plans. There is another glitch. Since the gear retracts forward, now, the actuating arm goes through a much larger arc. The bolt heads now hit the cross tube. I guess I will have to get the heads milled by 1/3. huh.gif

Hit up akflyerbob, he did some mods to the way the gear mounts so it will seal up better. I think he had a few pieces machined out of delrin or teflon with orings to seal them up instead of a ton of silicone and some grease and a prayer.

:BC:

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Posted

The pic attached shows what I did.

Its a piece of soft gasket material (black) and a ring of teflon

cutting board on the outside. The screws go thru to the welded gusset plate

already on the fus. The gusset is thin so only two threads to tighten with.

The black gasket material is cut to the angle of the hull.

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Posted

The pic attached shows what I did.

Its a piece of soft gasket material (black) and a ring of teflon

cutting board on the outside. The screws go thru to the welded gusset plate

already on the fus. The gusset is thin so only two threads to tighten with.

The black gasket material is cut to the angle of the hull.

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This idea may be worth pursuing. Thanks

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Posted

I am broke after having to replace my computer tower. It had eaten 2 hard drives in 3 years. I am still working on the Cat. I finally finished all the retract mods for the electric motor setup. I'm now working on the front floor, mounting the rudder pedals, next it get's mounted in the fuselage. I have started the sheet metal parts for the interior. I could use the original parts list as none came with this bird.

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Posted

The rear seat sheet metal is in. I found a bunch of stuff that I believe might be for the water rudder. I could sure use that part of the directions. It is missing.

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Posted

The front seat back and bottom is in. I have assembled the throttle assembly that gets riveted in (and is prewelded on newer birds). The long cable that goes from that assembly to the engine is missing. I think it is 12 or 13 feet long, but i'm not sure. I wish I could buy one. I still need info on the water rudder. I wish the instructions were complete. The complete parts list would be a help as well. The used 582 FINALLY showed up. The seller had to ship it twice. Yellow Freight sent it to heaven knows where, then returned it to him. OOPS (UPS) got it here, but destroyed the shipping container. It will get overhauled after everything else is done.

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Posted

Maybe we can get Bob to measure his cable. I would bet you could get CPS to make one up for you, they custom make cables to about any length you need! Will see if I can get ahold of him tomorrow too and see if his manual shows anything on a water rudder. I didnt think it had one, just used the bottom of the rudder in the water for low speed steering but I could be wrong!

Glad to see the posts that things are coming along on it! Post up some progress pictures!

:BC:

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Posted

The later Catalina photos I have seen show one, but not clear enough to do anything with. The manual says to retract the water rudder before take off. Thanks.

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Posted

More photos as the work progresses. I think the first owner made the sponsons too deep. I need dimensions from a late model owner.

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Posted

I have been working on the water rudder, but my 30+ year old Kmart (really is) 1/2 inch drill press died. Next week is payday, so off to Harbor Freight for a drill press, and Sears for a saber saw. I am currently working on replacing the hinges that were ground off the fuselage by the previous owner. I will also start on the sponson reshaping process, since these are fatter than those on 157AB. This gives me almost NO ground clearance. They were done by the TLAR method. That looks about right. They weren't right.

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Posted

I have been working on reshaping the right sponson. I am now doing the left sponson, using templates that I made off of the right one.

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Posted

It's coming along!

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Posted

I am recovering from my 3rd right knee replacement. I should be back at work on the Kitty around March 12.

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I am recovering from my 3rd right knee replacement. I should be back at work on the Kitty around March 12.

Well that is just around the corner! Not good on it being #3! I hope they have it figured out on what the bad word is going wrong and they get ya fixed up right this time.

Keep the updates coming

:BC:

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Posted

I started going to the barn, again. The knee is still healing, but I started cleaning the shop.

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