Buying an avid magnum


11 posts in this topic

Posted

Hi

I am new to the forum but I am looking for advice. I am looking at buying an avid magnum and understand the company has been out of business for 20 plus years. How easy is it to get parts? Would you buy one the lycoming or Subaru engine? I have a 1400 ft runway. Will it fly off with 2 people?

Thanks

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Posted (edited)

Welcome to the forum Dan,

      There are a couple of Magnum owners on here - I am not one, but I do have the manual, as do some others.  As far as parts, there are some Avid parts being made, but most of that is for other Avid types.  You can make most any of the parts, or get them from others. 

      I have the Subaru EA-81 in my smaller Kitfox type scratchbuilt, but the Magnum is capable of the Larger Subaru,  Lycosaurus or Contisaurus engines, so it is your choice.   Some are using the 912/914 Rotax, but they are not cheap when new.  A Soob WRX should really send it skyward!

      Hoping you get the new bird and post some photos and join the writers on here.

Magnums are fairly scarce, and you are lucky to have found one for sale.

      What parts do you think you will need?

EdMO

Edited by Ed In Missouri

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Posted

Thanks Ed. No parts needed that I know of. I am just thinking of future possibilities.

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Posted

Ed - what is the smallest engine you have seen in a magnum? I have an r2800 radial and am looking for something strong to mount it in.  Even though a small engine and high performance may not occur with 110 hp, it should still out perform the j3 cub I had with a 65 ho engine.  Thoughts? 

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Posted (edited)

Ed - what is the smallest engine you have seen in a magnum? I have an r2800 radial and am looking for something strong to mount it in.  Even though a small engine and high performance may not occur with 110 hp, it should still out perform the j3 cub I had with a 65 ho engine.  Thoughts? 

I have not seen any Magnums except for one or two belonging to members on here.  I think 100 hp would fly it just fine, if your DA and GW is not too great, but 125 to 150 would of course be better.  One of our members is building a Magnum with an O-360 engine, which should really make a good performer.  Your J3-65 was 1200 GW and (I think) more wing area than the 1700 GW Magnum.  We changed a J3-65 to a C-90 and the performance was great.   It is now for sale.   EDMO

Edited by EDMO

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Posted

Thanks for the feedback very much! 

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Posted

0-320 all the way! They weigh 1000 lbs empty and are much bigger than the standard Avid. I just crawled all over them at Osh this week.

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Posted (edited)

0-320 all the way! They weigh 1000 lbs empty and are much bigger than the standard Avid. I just crawled all over them at Osh this week.

I agree, a 165 HP Subaru conversion should work too.   EDMO

Edited by EDMO

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Posted

Dan,

I am building one with a Lycoming IO-360 200hp.  I went huge with the HP because I live at a high altitude airfield and got tired of everything being underpowered here.  That being said, a 150-160 HP O-320 is plenty of power on the Magnum.  O-320s are also very inexpensive compared to others.

Im sure the Subs are fine, but the proven track record of the Lycs and abundance of parts are hard to beat.

If the kit is complete you are set for parts.  The biggest problem I have seen guys have is finding the right engine mount for the engine they pick.  The Avid engine mount is unique to say the least...

Also a lot of Kitfox parts are close to the same.

I think, your take off and landing requirements can be easily met...

It is an easy build, and I hope that in the next month or two I can let you know how the Magnum flies.

I love the idea of the Rotec Radial!  It would look really cool!  There are Magnums that use the Cont O-200, so I think the Rotec would be fine!

 

Take care,

Ron

 

 

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Posted

Oops, a couple more parts thoughts...you might have to replace all of the plexiglass.  Mine was covered in paper and the adhesive melted into the plexi over the years.  Some guys have had success using different tricks to remove it, but in my case none of the tricks worked, and I tried every one of them!

I couldn't find anyone that would make new ones without charging me a fortune, so I had to get creative with it myself.  I like how it turned out, but it definitely slowed me down a little.

You might want to look at a different landing gear, the original was designed narrow and short.  There are a lot of options in gear types and designs.  The one I have seen most used and averagely priced is the aluminum spring gear.  I went with a custom Cabane style gear, but it was expensive, required gear mount modification (welding), fiberglass fuselage modifications, and took a lot of building time.  However, landing gear construction is probably the most rapidly changing part of experimental flying...there are a lot of great suspension ideas out there and a lot of people willing to work with you and build a product to meet your needs.

 

Good Luck,

Ron

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Posted

Thanks for all the good info Ron! I appreciate it.

dan

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