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Saved Avid #392 from a barn today

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Posted

I run thru the Avid and Kitfox section of Barnstormers once a week or so just to see what's there and what the market is doing. A few days ago an Avid popped up for parts that was just under 2 hrs from me. I called the guy on a whim and found it was a C model STOL with tanks in both wings and that it had been in a barn for over 20 years. Got some pics and it looked okay but I was number 3 in line. Got a call on Sunday saying the other guys had fell out and it was mine if I wanted it. I left at O dark thirty this morning and ran down to Turlock and picked it up. Was on a dairy farm with cows everywhere. It's dirty and stinky...Has some surface corrosion on a lot of stuff but I brought her home anyways. Had an engine out with a 532 and wrecked the gear, truss, and a few other things. Repairs to the fuse were made but they never put it back together. She had less than 100 hrs on her when she was sentenced to the barn in the early 90's.

 

Avid #392. Has Hydraulic brakes but it had a side radiator so not sure if it's a B or C. Has the straight rudder and smaller elevator. Came with brand new gear, Rosenhan Brakes, a plastic leading edge cuff, 3 boxes of parts, a raw MK4 cowl along with the original cowl, a raw oil tank and spinner, 2-stroke motor mount, and some really awesome original documents that I didn't even know existed.

 

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Her new temp home

 

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Which gear is this? The original didn't have the step and was shorter I believe.

 

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Lots of good stuff

 

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Came with a manual, tons of newsletters, the original color brochures, a sweet poster that I've never seen, and so far the coolest thing in the paperwork is the "Avid Year book" It has the history, all the AD's and 45 pages of all the tips from the Avid-COMM newsletters in one place.

 

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This has been on the wall of the barn since 1988

 

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I have a few things that I really want from this pile as well as my Dad. Once I get it all cleaned up and inventoried I will post a list of items that I will be trying to pass along.

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Posted

sweet

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Posted (edited)

Awesome find! The paint scheme is pretty cool. That gear looks exactly like the gear legs that came with my MK-IV. The way the  step is welded is just like mine.

Edited by Luked

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Posted

Forgot to mention I picked this up for half the price I just spent to extend the elevator on my plane. :buttrock:

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Posted

Nice score,that looks like the gear that came on my avid plus project, I also got a Avid C project but needs a whole lot more work than yours

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Posted

Nice Joey, Is that the WIB gear i wonder? If you decide not to keep the cowl shoot me a PM. Any chance we could get you to scan in that year book for us? When I got our bird it had sat from 1987 til 2011 and never been worked on it was still a raw kit just moved a couple times. I got with it some pictures of Deans factory including pictures of the Avid explorer. makes you wonder what other goodies are just sitting under dust somewhere waiting for someone to find them that could actually appreciate it. 

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Posted

:bday:   Great Steal!   :bday:

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Posted

Awesome Joey - Everyone's dream - Finding a barn treasure, and dirt cheap!

EDMO

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Posted (edited)

Good for you Joey. That is the mark IV gear. I've found deals on barnstormers as well.. You have to see the add early and act fast or it's gone. I got my Jabiru engine kind of like you. I was second in line and after a month and a half the seller gave up on the first would be buyer. I did call every week just to remind the seller I was waiting if things fell through. Jim Chuk

Edited by Jim Chuk

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Posted (edited)

Awesome find Joey! 

Edited by thebriman

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Posted

I think I have a copy of all the Avid-Comm newsletters but I've never seen the Yearbook.. What's that all about?

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Posted

SCORE!

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Posted

Doug the yearbook is all the builders tips from the newsletters and all the flying stories from them wrapped into one 100 page document. I will upload it.

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Posted

Nice, Great find!

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Posted

Spent the afternoon cleaning the barn dust and mouse shit off everything today. Did a quick inventory and I am pretty pleased with what I ended up with. More corrosion on stuff that I'd like to see and I'm worried one wing may be junk due mice living the spar but won't know anything for sure until it's all opened up. Here are some pics of today's progress.

 

Before

 

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After

 

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These Flaperons look a lot closer to the wing than mine

 

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Has anyone ever seen an Avid Digital Tach??

 

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Nice rats nest of wiring I pulled out

 

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The good stuff

 

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Walk thru video

 

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Posted

Congratulations! The McFarlanes are nice people, they had a Taylorcraft fly-in at their strip one year and I flew the 172 in to see some of my old T-craft buddies.

 

So what this means is that you can do the greatest thing that an airplane homebuilder can ever do... build an ultimate airplane just the way you want it, using everything you learned on your B model... while still having fun flying all the while you're building.

 

Good deal !

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Posted

SCORE!

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Posted

Can anyone verify whether that forward fuselage structure in the photo is stock Avid? My lower longerons do not extend as far forward as what is shown in that photo. The photo of Joey's barn find shows a fuselage that could have a flat firewall bolted to that tube structure... and the lower longerons on my airplane essentially stop at the last diagonal member. Is this one of the differences between the Avid B and C models... or is the one in Joey's photo a modified aircraft? I'm having a hell of a time designing an engine mount that fits my fuselage because of this.

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Posted

Awesome score Joey. Thanks for taking the time to share about it.

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Posted

The bottom of the fuselage is stock as far as I can tell. It could have a flat firewall installed if you wanted to, but the bottom of the firewall is stepped forward to give more legroom. Top of this step is just above the horizontal tube a bout 12" above the bottom of the front of the fuselage. Jim Chuk

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Posted

Since we seem to have a lot of lurkers and newer members I thought I would bump this thread. I'm still up in the air with what I want to do with all of this. I am not real attached to the airframe but some of the other things like the gear, cowlings, brakes, wheels, and tires I'd like to hoard in my hangar. I'm still not 100% if the wings are junk or not due to corrosion inside the spars. I will have to open them further to decide. I'd like to strip all the fabric off everything because it stinks still like the barn but I think it's somewhat protecting everything. Open for trades. I'm somewhat hunting for a 912 UL and FWF pieces and a 16" stretch kit. See anything you need let me know.

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Posted

Hey Joey,

I'm looking for brakes, wheels and tires. If they are hydraulic brakes.

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