Avid Speedwing MKIV

[kennyp]

Hi fellow LAA Members My names Kenny, Ive bough a very nice avid G-ELKS, Ive trailered it home to sunny central Scotland (west coast)Where i am based.

I am in the process of completing my NPPL(M) And from there i wish to convert to tail dragger and full SEP.

I wouldn't mind hearing from any owners or previous owners of these a/c with advice and from anyone who can help with either Instruction or just someone who would like to fly an a/c for free and fun with me as ballast.

I am quite tall at 6"1 ish so if you are tall and as long as you dont mind rubbing shoulders and knees we should get on great.

I had some flight time in the right seat with the previous owners instructor a test flight tbh and its going to take a little taming thats for sure!! I kept the ball in the cockpit on occasion so done not to bad LOL!!

cheers

Kenny

[kennyp]

Does anyone have or know where i can obtain the Vn Vne loading figures etc for the avid speedwing?

cheers

Kenny

[Chris Martyr]

Hi Kenny,
Hope I'm not stating the obvious here, but have you tried www.avidflyeraircraft.com

Also, in the absence of any responses on here, it's probably a good idea to contact LAA,Turweston, directly , although I did notice that there were no data sheets [TADS] available for your type , but at least they can point you in the direction of other Avid owners.
Unfortunately , LAA Coach/Instructors are also a bit thin on the ground in your neck of the woods, so for gawds sake don't get tempted to do a wee fast taxy, or a wee bunny hop when no-one's looking.
The problem being that many aeroplanes with entry level price tags aren't entry level when it comes to flying 'em, as a few Kitfox guys found out in the early 1990's .

Stick with it mate, there must be someone from either the LAA or BMAA who will avail themselves

[epearson]

Hi Kenny,

If you write to Howard Elkins who originally built G-ELKS, he can probably tell you all about weight and balance. He lives not far from me and I looked at her when he was selling her last year. At the time I had nowhere to keep her. He looked after her really well in a huge purpose built heated shed at his house and she was featured in either Pilot or Flyer magazine when he converted her to the Jabiru engine. His address is on G-INFO.

As to learning to fly her, it's going to be a bit of a baptism of fire. 10 years ago, after 3 years and 150 hours of flying Cessnas and Pipers from several thousand metres of hard runways, I bought a Rans S6 taildragger with a 582 2-stroke engine and based it at a 500M farm strip. I had 10 hours with a microlight instructor which just about gave me enough confidence to land without killing myself, but having a 2 stroke engine, tailwheel aircraft, and short, narrow grass strip really made me wonder if I'd done the right thing.

After about 100 hours over 2 years, I sold the S6 (I had converted her to SPL to maintain my licence) and bought another taildragger but this time a short wing Rans S6 116 with a 4 stroke 912 engine (not a microlight). That was the best thing I ever did (also the guy up in Scotland who bought my S6 said the same) and I got up to 600 hours by the time I sold her when I moved to Wales. During that time I went as far north as Shetland, as far west as Mull, as far south as France 3 times, Scilly Isles, Lundy and most places in between.

I had a Jabiru 450 for a couple of years and it was very nice and quiet after the Rotax but it was a bit like sitting in a passenger plane. I missed the noise and excitement of the rag and tube taildragger. I've not flown much since and watching someone spending £25 just warming the engine of a 150 the other day reminded me that I have little interest in spending upwards of £140 an hour to fly one of those.

I was looking at Avid Flyers when I stumbled across your post. From the start, I'd always wanted a Kitfox after reading stories (no longer on the web) of flights from the Eastern seaboard of the USA to Alaska. the Avid is of course a close relative of the Kitfox.

You will find most of the technical information on the web - just keep Googling but it's a pity the LAA don't have a TADS for this aircraft.

As to learning to fly it, get your PPL out of the way first, get a few more hours to confidently find your way around and handle the aircraft and then if you can't find a PFA coach locally you could do a few hours at a microlight flying school to get to grips with low inertia aircraft and then perhaps a taildragger conversion somewhere else. By then you might be able to handle the very substantial "differences" with the Avid (the Flyer of course has the short wing so it's going to be quite frisky).

If you're on the west cost, Oban would be a good place to start. I'm sure you'll find tail dragger expertise there.

Hope this helps

Eric Pearson

[epearson]

Just noticed you're doing an NPPL(M) so you'll be used to low inertia aircraft, and with a bit of luck, Jabiru engines.

Eric

[Chris Martyr]

Just seen some pics of G-ELKS , she looks like a very nice young lady indeed , and a very interesting post from Eric , his 'journey' does have a few similarities to my own, as I'm sure there must be a fair few who have done the Cessna/Warrior bit and then thought , where the hell do I progress to now .
It is a great adventure indeed and I have often come back from a particularly nice flight and thought to myself , yes,,now I can see why it's referred to as "exercising the privilege" .

But getting back to Kenny's query, I still reckon that the best way is to talk to the LAA directly if you haven't already, as they will have on record G-ELKS's PtF renewal data , which will show weight/balance details for its Permit renewal flight, stall speeds , climb rate , and of course dive to Vne , as that's one of Chief Inspector Craigie's top ten items as far as unsuccessful PtF renewals are concerned . It has to be correct on that form , otherwise she wouldn't have got a Permit to Fly .

Let us know how it all goes. Don't forget, you have to crawl before you walk, walk before you run , and run before you can fly. It's when you try and cut out the middle bit that it gets pear-shaped.
Great looking aeroplane too.

[Arjxh56]

Hi Kenny,
Just letting you know that I have been contacted today by what appears to be a scammer trying to sell me your aircraft through Google pay. He declares to be on an oil rig in the North Sea and will deliver the aircraft to my house! I found the advert on afors and replied to it.

Should you actually be selling the aircraft please drop me a PM..

Thanks

[kennyp]

HI there... Thanks for all the reply's I have been having problems posting i wrote huge big reply posts and then somehow they disappeared...I think I've fixed the problem If this one works i will re post better reply to you all

cheers.

Kenny.

Ps the a/c is not for sale it was indeed a scam!!

[kennyp]

AHHH!!! Its working...

I have found all the details i require and i am now awaiting the weather... and instructor to enable me to do my GST.. Then i can do the conversion and get the avid up flying..

I wouldn't mind finding the magazine that the avid was in if anyone knows for sure what magazine i will try to find a copy.

Thanks for all the reply's people I appreciate the effort, I did try and reply a few times but for some reason the site wouldn't let me post kept kicking me out, glad its working now and I look forward to replying with some more updates on my flying etc.

once again

thanks

[glastar58]

Hi Kenny.

Can you confirm that your Speedwing is not in a box at London Docks and that it is not for sale?

You are not on an oil rig?

Do you know a Brenda Truman and a firm called Daimon Motors?

They are trying to sell your Avid G-ELKS to me!

We are all Interested in your reply as you have already been scammed.

George