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Thread: Full Lotus and HKS power??

  1. #11
    Super Moderator Av8r3400's Avatar
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    Default Re: Full Lotus and HKS power??

    The Yamaha Phazer engines, beginning to come on line, are very promising as far as being an all around upgrade from a 582, but still lighter than a 912.

    Fuel injected, 4-stroke and 80+ HP in the same weight and size package as a 582.
    Av8r3400
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  2. #12

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    Default Re: Full Lotus and HKS power??

    Av8rps, thanks for the thorough feedback. Are the floats pictured the ones that worked well? I have seen a pair for sale locally but I need to find out the buoyancy since the KF3 is 1050 gross and if I’m not mistaken the KF1 and original Avid were 850. It would be fun to have this thing on floats. And yes I have been burning under 3 GPH at cruise.

    I just installed the HKS so the phazor will need to wait for another time. But they do look great.

  3. #13
    Senior Member av8rps's Avatar
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    Default Re: Full Lotus and HKS power??

    The floats you see on the Avid prototype are the floats that Dean Wilson created for the airplane. They were actually way too big for those early airplanes, but still worked well. They would be ok on a Model 3 as years later I used my floats to test fly a super nice Avid Mk 4 that weighed 625 lbs on wheels. I also had a friend that flew a set just like them on a Subaru powered Avid Mk 4 for years, and they worked fine on that one (which was even heavier than the friends' Avid I flew). I would guess them to be 1200 lbs of buoyancy. They are a good performing float that perform relatively well. A set of Zenair 1100 through 1250 will also work well and will likely perform better as they are very light aluminum that could save as much as 50 lbs of weight over the Avid float as it is foam filled fiberglass. Both Avid straight floats and Zenair straight floats can be had pretty inexpensively these days, as it seems everyone wants amphibs today. And I certainly understand the desire for amphibs, but if you can get by with straight floats they are a lot more fun to fly being so much lighter.

    I agree the 80 hp Yamaha Phazer engine looks intriguing for use on the early airplanes. But I have a friend that has been putting one in a SkyRaider 2 for some time now. It is taking a long time considering this guy's experience, he has built many airplanes in the past with a multitude of engines used. He said while it will be a neat set up when done, things like wiring harnesses and gearboxes are far from totally figured out, so you are still kind of on your own. But I admit it will be a really cool way to bring back some of the really fun early Avids and Kitfoxes. An early Avid or Kitfox with an 80 hp Yamaha would be a real contender in the stol world. My 2nd Avid was a 75 hp 532 Rotax powered version weighing only 396 lbs and it would climb 2500 fpm on a cool day solo, stall right around 20 mph, and 50 ft takeoffs were no big deal. An A-model Avid (only 387 lbs on floats) has still never been beat at the Greenville Maine seaplane takeoff contest. His record is a 2.7 second takeoff! So, if that Phazer engine could keep the overall empty weight the same while providing more torque and hp, those early planes would probably become some of the most coveted Avids and Kitfoxes out there for STOL. Carbon Cubs look out (The funniest part would be you could probably do it in a $10,000 airplane)

    An old video that shows how that plane performed



    A later video of the same plane


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