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New Avid Owner Idaho

13 posts in this topic

Posted

Hi group, thank you Joey for the invite. My father and I purchased a Avid Flyer A model last week from an estate sale. Its a good looking little plane with low hours. It needs some work because the last owner left the plane in an open hangar and did not fly it for 4 years. The rib ends where the ailerons attach have lost there varnish and are very weathered. The fuel system is shot and full of varnished fuel. It has a new 503 with less than 10 hours. The cowl tank looks rough and will need pulled, cleaned and inspected. The engine will be sent to Rotax Rick for a complete inspection and seal kit. The prop was covered but they left the hub area unprotected and ruined the prop. I have a new warp drive prop for it.

I would like to hear about any AD's I might need to look at while putting this planes back in service.

Did they make a bed mount for this plane? The engine is inverted which depending on who you talk to is met with good and bad stories. I'd like to hear anyone's experience with the inverted Rotax.

To oil inject or not? My instuctor swears by oil injection but cautions they need to be installed correctly.

Has anyone ran into issues with the rib end aileron mounts and how was it addressed.

I think I have asked enough questions for this post. Thank you in advance for any information you my provide.

Thank you

Vance Simons

Post Falls, Idaho

(509) 599-9477

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Posted

Vance welcome to Avid Fox Flyers. Check your spam or junk mail folder for any emails from the forum. I had to manually verify you.

 

Here is a link to the Avid Builders manual and AD's from our Files and Forums section

 

http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/1927-avid-builders-manual-and-ads/

 

The inverted engine has a few tricks you need to know when cold starting it but other than that there's no real difference with it being inverted.

 

Oil injection is an ongoing debate.  I choose to premix because I run 100:1 full synthetic oil and the injector doesn't allow for that option. Thousands of them out there flying with injection too.

 

Here's a thread on Flaperon Hanger repair http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/1061-broken-flaperon-pivot-point/?hl=%2Bflaperon+%2Brepair#entry6198

 

Don't be afraid to ask questions that's what this place is here for! Spend some time looking around and typing things into the search box. There's gobs of great Avid info buried here and there on the forum and if you can't find it I usually can. :news:

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Posted

I have never flown the Avid, but the owners on here say that the inverted engine give you better visibility over the nose than my Kitfox.

One of the flyers on here has about a Zillion hours (maybe a little less) on the 503, and he loves it.

Welcome to the group.

EDMO

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Posted

I would say to fly it a while using premix before worrying about retro fitting an oil injection pump.  It will be very expensive to retro fit with new parts.  Now, I did retro fit an oil injection pump on my 503 but felt comfortable deciding what snowmobile/used etc. parts I could use.  I suspect if you ask Rotax Rick to put an injection pump on while he has it he will try to talk you out of doing it.

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Posted

Thanks to all that answered. Adding premix to the fuel is what I am fimiliar with. I have heard of failures but they are far and few between. I like the idea of an oil injector and see some benifits but since I'm running the engine inverted anyways the extra oil at start up is a bonus for me. The 503 is mounted very close to the fire wall to the point I was considering cutting the firewall and installing a bowl to give the fan adequate airflow into the cooling fan.

This plane has a hand actuated brake mounted on the floor at the pilots feet on the left side. It has differential handles for each brake which actuate drum style brakes. They don't work well. I have access to some Zenith 701 foot peddles with toe brake set up with hydraulic cylinders. What are you guys using for brakes on the main grear?

Joey you mentioned starting the inverted engines cold. What info do you have on this subject?

That's all for now. Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm also building a Zenith 701 with long wings. I just love building airplanes.

Vance

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Posted

Starting an inverted engine requires some careful priming or you'll flood it. Not a big deal just takes a few tries to figure out the technique. I give mine one shot of the primer and then I crank it and hit with another shot and that works most times.

 

Here's how I ditched my mechanical brakes. Requires quite a few parts but they are out there.

 

http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/530-go-kart-to-matco-brakes/

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Posted

Not to argue with you Joey, but here is what I've done.  I crank the engine a few revolutions without prime first of all, then prime and start it.  Here is why.  If the engine has sat for a while since it last ran, oily fuel will often fill the sparkplugs. (Pull the plugs some time and see) Those first few revolutions will hopefully blast that oily fuel out, so when I prime and go to start it, it is less likely to foul the plugs.  Jim Chuk

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Posted

Vance,

 

Welcome to the dark side!  I hope you find useful information here and have a good time here while learning about these great airplanes!

 

Joey runs the amsoil 100:1... I cant bring myself to do that due to some of the snowmachines I have seen that were running it.  If you run premix, normal oil, then you run 50:1 all the time.  With oil injection, its closer to 70:1 at idle, then it comes up to 50:1 at WOT.  For me, I like the oil injection, it takes the guess work out of mixing at the pump or at the remote areas I sometimes fill up at.

 

:BC:

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Posted

So turns out RVSimons deer hunts in the podunk Idaho town where I grew up and on a totally unrelated tangent bought his 701 project from my Dad. Small world indeed!

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Posted

Vance,

I have the Avid MKIV Bandit with the inverted 503. I am getting close to a 1000hrs. on the AE. In all those hrs I think I have flooded the engine and had to pull the plugs only a couple of times. Like Joey, I pulled the oil pump and went to premix. Way to much vibration, which wore the oil pump arm way to much.It was a constant problem. Now I don't have to worry about it. My cooling fan is about a 1 1/2- 2 " from the firewall. I have never had any cooling problems with that install.

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Posted

post-720-0-93755800-1386119323_thumb.jpg

 

Me and Joey's Dad after I purchased his Zenith 701 project. This is how we seal the deal in Idaho.

 

Thought you guys might get a kick out of this picture.

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Posted

attachicon.gifIMG_5615.JPG

 

Me and Joey's Dad after I purchased his Zenith 701 project. This is how we seal the deal in Idaho.

 

Thought you guys might get a kick out of this picture.

 

 

Oh man that's Classic. That's my Pops alright! What did you think of the shop?? I'll have to send this to him.

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Posted

That shop was huge and full of all kinds of stuff. Your dad was a hoot. Really enjoyed meeting him. I didn't get into Pierce like I hoped. The guys I were meeting were not far out of Orfino. I called your Pops when I came into town but he was out of town for the week so I didn't get to visit him. Neat area.

 

Vance

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