Budget Avid

51 posts in this topic

Posted

I haven't been on the forum much lately because of work. Also, I realized that I don't have the money right now to finish the Avid the way I would like. Then last Wednesday I saw a wrecked Avid on Barnstormers for a really good price that was pretty close by. I called the seller and drove down to check it out. I picked it up on Friday. I think I can rebuild this one and stay within my current budget.

From what I can tell It's half way between a model C and a 4. It's got a 582. It lived on the coast while the last owner had it, but rust doesn't look too bad. He had an engine failure and put it down in  the dunes.

Here are some pictures.

 

The tail was full of sand, so the owner cut the covering to empty it.

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Rudder supports and lower firewall are bent up.

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Prop was stopped when it kit.

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Rudder pedals are pretty busted up.

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Diagonal at back of door  is buckled both sides. 

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Posted

Ouch. I think I will take landing on dunes off my bucket list.

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Posted

Ouch. I think I will take landing on dunes off my bucket list.

Yeah, it wiped out the gear completely. The previous owner put on the Kitfox gear in the pictures so he could move it.

I got quite a bit done today. Not sure when I'll be able to work on it again. Here's how it looks.

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Garage is a mess, but we've got company coming, so I've got to quit for now.

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Posted

Hey Larry this is how a shop is supposed to look :)

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Posted (edited)

Its a mod C with the MK IV radiator and cowling.  The doors are C model and there is no baggage door on the left side from what I can see.  I hope the plugs have not been out of the engine this whole time.  Looks like a good project to bring back to life.

 

:BC:

Edited by akflyer

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Posted

I have a C model fuselage that needs way less work than that.  To bad we are so far apart.  Jim Chuk

Avid floats 007 (Large).jpg

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Posted

I still have quite a few parts laying around from my barn Avid.

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Posted

My Kitfox 3 was banged in a little harder than that, but still rebuildable.

EDMO

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Posted

If this plane wasn't as close as it was, I probably wouldn't have been interested. Also, the price was hard to pass up. I think I'll have a flying airplane for a pretty low cost and a fairly short amount of time. Then I can have a plane to fly while I take my time getting my Mark 4 project exactly how I want it.

I took a bunch of pictures of the tear down. I'll post a few later when I have a USB cord for my phone.

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Posted

Here are a few more pictures from tearing it down. Struts are no good. I'll be using the struts from the Mk4.

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Posted (edited)

Luke,

If the attach fittings are OK, then it might be worth saving about a foot of each end of the struts - maybe they could be rebuilt by welding a tube over the end stubs.

EDMO

Edited by EDMO

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Posted

I wholeheartedly disagree with Ed.  Lift struts are NOT the place to go cheap and try to repair or piece part together.  Use the existing as a pattern to build new ones. 

If I were going to build new ones, I would seriously consider biting the bullet for streamlined tube.  Expensive?  Yes.  Definitely.  But you won't ever have to screw around with farings again.  

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Posted

Luckily on this one I don't have to worry about struts. I have a set of stock Avid Mk4 struts that came with my first project, and have never been used. I wasn't going to use them on that plane because I'm adapting Kitfox wings and they won't be compatible. I'll be scratch building struts for that. I do like the idea of using streamlined tube. Might do that on the MK4. I think it would save weight too.

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Posted

I have a C model fuselage that needs way less work than that.  To bad we are so far apart.  Jim Chuk

Avid floats 007 (Large).jpg

Wow Jim, I really like those bush wheels on that baby.

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Posted

Not much drag with them. And it made it so much easier to move  it around.... Jim Chuk

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Posted

And more floats I see.  I hope to get the ones I bought rigged next year.

 

Mark

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Posted

No Mark, not new floats, those are the same ones you got from me.  Pic is a few years old.  Jim Chuk

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Posted

I worked on the budget plane yesterday, and got quite a bit done on the fuselage repairs.

I started with the right side strut attach point. It was bent up slightly.

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Then I worked on the other side. It was a little worse.

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After some work:

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I plan to add some reinforcement to the areas that got bent.

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Posted

Next I worked on the cabin structure and firewall.

56646cd28da60_IMG_20151205_154509524_HDR

Since the trusses under the doors were bent up, and the upper roof structure was also bent upward, I had to pull everything back into shape. I knew it would take too much force to do it all at once, so I cut the four tubes in the windshield area, so I could straighten the lower structure by itself.

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After a lot of adjusting, the front tubes started to match up.

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Next step is to start replacing all the bent tubes. I started last night, but ran out of time. Maybe next weekend.

 

 

 

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Posted

I got a little work done here and there over the last week. I think I'm about half way done with the repairs. Here are a few more pictures.

I thought I took better pictures of this, but I guess not. I replaced the diagonals at the back of the door openings on both sides

. The lower joints have internal sleeves, and rosette welds.

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Next I worked on the uprights on either side of the windshield. The clecos are where the rosette welds will go later when the holes are enlarged.

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Well, out to the garage to see if I can get a little done tonight.

 

 

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Posted

Got some work done on the project this week. Not too much left on the major structural repairs. My attempt to repair the front spar carry through didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, so I ended up making a new one. That was a lot of work. Here it is in a simple jig I made.

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Old front spar carry through removed.

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Doing some grinding to fit the replacement.

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New front upright tubes, spar carry through, and center diagonals all in. About 50% welded at this point. You can see the simple square tubes I used for jigging.

IMG_20151224_144829073.thumb.jpg.5235f4d

 

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Posted

Nice work!

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Posted

Luke,

Thanks for taking the time to document all this for us.  I like your jigging techniques.

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Posted (edited)

Thanks IFMT. It's actually kind of fun putting the broken parts back together.

No problem Sed. I've learned a lot from what others have posted. Hope this helps, or at least entertains someone else. I've been trying to remind myself to use the simplest jigs possible, and just get the job done. Hoping to get this plane back in the air in a reasonable time.

Edited by Luked
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Posted (edited)

Thanks for sharing this project with us. These sort of contributions makes this forum enormously valuable and educational. Ditto on your jigging technique.

(Researching what led to her fate was also an education I must say.)

Edited by allonsye
content

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