'Nother Noob in NC

[allonsye 85]

Greetings to the Collective.

 

I've been away from flying for a good many years but recently decided to jump back in. I'd always liked the Avids 'n Foxes. I have 250 hrs PA28 time and 250 BC12D Tcraft time. I'm hoping this bird will be like the Tcraft.

 

Thanks to Joey and Rich M. for their invaluable feedback via email and texts as i looked towards this purchase.

 

I was actually considering getting into UL flying but after my g/f said "why don't you get a real airplane", I jumped on this C Mdl that many of you have seen or inquired into on Barnstormers. I was immediately attracted to the straightened fuselage and the HH wings w/fiberglass tanks. N951ST grosses at 1150. With it's IVO IFA prop, the seller/builder claims he'd cruise at 95mph (that's up there w/the Tcraft).

 

I have all the original receipts and build log.

 

 

It was a long haul from N. IN to NC - 620 mi and this bird accumalated thousands more cycles from bouncing down the highway on a modified snowsled trailer which resulted in wearing out and eventually bending the cheap old Maule single spring tailwheel.

 

I'm not too dismayed about that however -- the way I see it is it was the sacrificial anode of sorts - mounting the airframe rigidly to the trailer would have likely resulted in frame damage. Though the 4130 structure is very robust.

I considering different mods from simply retaining the Maule wheel but adding a dual leaf spring to a complete retrofit.

 

You could call this an this is an undamaged project. Actually FWF and an annual.  My rusty old A&P background will certainly be handly - but I do have my work cut out for me. "Radiators and 2 strokes OH MY". This is totally new territory for me! My only 2cycle experience was my Yamaha RD350 years ago. I've ridden 'em but never flown em.

 

The 582 was overhauled back in 2000, sealed in foam and boxed and only saw the light of day when the seller put it up on Barnstormers recently. So, I've got a motor to go through and update w/seals or whatever is called for.  But what's really got me perplexed. is the radiator set-up. What a mess. Interestingly (and fortunately) the airframe doesn't reflect this convultedness. One of the brackets is broken in half. I need to redo all the plumbing to aircraft quality spec and to include rods and staunchions for the radiators. But gezzzzzzzz that's a lot of footage of lines. I'm wondering if there is an alternative setup? ??

.

.

 

I welcome your feedback and suggestions on my project.

 

Cheers:)
Paul

 

 

[Mendlerr 4]

The alternative is a vertical radiator on the side or a belly radiator like my kitfox. I wish I had the cheek radiators though.

Looks like a nice avid though and good luck with it. Hope to see it flying soon

[C5Engineer 1170]

Welcome to the forum! Glad we could be of some help. With a little bit of time and work you are going to have yourself a fun cheap to operate bird. No comparison to heavy certified planes to how the fly. I often find myself flying over to check something out simply but just thinking about it. I fly with two fingers on the stick most of the time. The responsiveness of these birds is awesome especially in the roll axis!.

[843SG 0]

Congrats on the purchase.  I had pretty much made up my mind to purchase this same aircraft.  But with two daughters playing for State in Softball I did not have the time to make the run up to do a prebuy inspection.  Told myself if it was gone within the next two weeks It wasn't meant to be.  Well you purchased the week of the tournaments.  What is that famous saying?? You snooze, you loose.

 

 Get that thing flying and contact me, I wanna ride!   I would like to see what I missed out on and You can rub it in  . 

[Guest]

Hi and welcome!

 

Maybe you can find a MKIV engine mount and cheek radiator setup for a MKIV from one of the many who have converted to four strokes. You could get rid of all that external plumbing and radiator under the plane and have a much cleaner setup. It's a very clean install that is very easy to work on and maintain. That was my experience anyway. I flew for 1200 hours with that setup, and found it easy to install and remove the engine for maintenance and the overall setup proved very reliable over a very long time.

 

Just a thought,

 

Chris

[Mendlerr 4]

Hi and welcome!

Maybe you can find a MKIV engine mount and cheek radiator setup for a MKIV from one of the many who have converted to four strokes. You could get rid of all that external plumbing and radiator under the plane and have a much cleaner setup. It's a very clean install that is very easy to work on and maintain. That was my experience anyway. I flew for 1200 hours with that setup, and found it easy to install and remove the engine for maintenance and the overall setup proved very reliable over a very long time.

Just a thought,

Chris

I am looking to do this but I cannot find the radiators used and they are $1200+ new for the kit. Out of my price range.

Cannot wait to see this thing fly Paul. I think with all the mods it's going to be a great avid

I also remembered I have a brand new leaf spring for your Tailwheel if you need it. It's a single leaf but it's a strong one. Came out of my new 3 leaf pack. 3 leaf springs are way to much for my solid maule Tailwheel. I removed one

Edited 1 Aug 2013 by RMendler

[allonsye 85]

Hi and welcome!

 

Maybe you can find a MKIV engine mount and cheek radiator setup for a MKIV from one of the many who have converted to four strokes. You could get rid of all that external plumbing and radiator under the plane and have a much cleaner setup. It's a very clean install that is very easy to work on and maintain. That was my experience anyway. I flew for 1200 hours with that setup, and found it easy to install and remove the engine for maintenance and the overall setup proved very reliable over a very long time.

 

Just a thought,

 

Chris

The builder had one toooooo many radiators and installed it. Aren't 2 radiators plenty?

 

This aircraft has the Holman fiberglass cowel with nose/inlet mounted radiators.

[allonsye 85]

Congrats on the purchase.  I had pretty much made up my mind to purchase this same aircraft.  But with two daughters playing for State in Softball I did not have the time to make the run up to do a prebuy inspection.  Told myself if it was gone within the next two weeks It wasn't meant to be.  Well you purchased the week of the tournaments.  What is that famous saying?? You snooze, you loose.

 

 Get that thing flying and contact me, I wanna ride!   I would like to see what I missed out on and You can rub it in  . 

Thanks SG. I took a chance on this and unseen. It does have a few issues related to the way it was wired but otherwise a very nice aircraft and I'm enjoying sorting her out -  it will take a bit to get her airworthy FWF. The airframe is in exceptional condition. And, no need to rub anything in on my part. - 

[akflyer 1427]

After the changes I had to make to my cowling and radiator set up, I would be willing to bet you good money that the belly radiator you have is doing nothing more than adding weight and an insignificant amount of cooling fluid to the system.  With the lip on the bottom of the cowling, 99% of the air is going right over the bottom of that radiator and its sitting in stale, hot air from the cowling.  I had to cut the lip off the bottom of my cowling and drop the radiator down almost 3" below the bottom of the fuse to get it into good clean air where she would keep the temp in check on a 90 degree day.  I am hoping that the MK IV in-cowl radiators I have for it now will let me take the belly radiator off and loose some weight and drag.  Of course, now I have to fiberglass the lip back on the bottom of the cowling

 

You have a very nice looking bird, and you should be happy with it compared to a Tcrate.  I regularly fly with my buddy who has a 100 HP BCD12 that was moded.  I kick his tail in take off, climb and cruise, wheels, ski's and floats.   He does get me on fuel burn in cruise though, unless I throttle back to 5200 RPM to let him stay with me.

 

[akflyer 1427]

Oh, I fogot to mention... When I was kicking his tail in cruise, He was on ski's and I was on Full Lotus Floats

 

[allonsye 85]

I suspect you're correct about the 3rd radiator AK. When I asked the seller about it he said he put it on "because a buddy gave it to him".    I'm thinking of mounting it in the cabin - making it a cabin heater .

After the changes I had to make to my cowling and radiator set up, I would be willing to bet you good money that the belly radiator you have is doing nothing more than adding weight and an insignificant amount of cooling fluid to the system.  With the lip on the bottom of the cowling, 99% of the air is going right over the bottom of that radiator and its sitting in stale, hot air from the cowling.  I had to cut the lip off the bottom of my cowling and drop the radiator down almost 3" below the bottom of the fuse to get it into good clean air where she would keep the temp in check on a 90 degree day.  I am hoping that the MK IV in-cowl radiators I have for it now will let me take the belly radiator off and loose some weight and drag.  Of course, now I have to fiberglass the lip back on the bottom of the cowling

 

You have a very nice looking bird, and you should be happy with it compared to a Tcrate.  I regularly fly with my buddy who has a 100 HP BCD12 that was moded.  I kick his tail in take off, climb and cruise, wheels, ski's and floats.   He does get me on fuel burn in cruise though, unless I throttle back to 5200 RPM to let him stay with me.

 

[SkyPirate 8]

the radiators that go inside the cowl look like modified truck heater cores,,allot cheaper then $1200.00