I am starting a new thread to keep our Aviator improvement photos in one easy to find location. Let's see what you've done!
I will start us off with some of the things done by myself as well as others including Blackhat6mike's awesome solar system and Toyboy who had the cool underglow.
That picture of ToyBoy's Aviator with the underglow is a great pic. It looks like some kind of spaceship!
Blackhat6mike, did you remake your curtains to match the rest of you interior? Mine are a solid color.
I added led lighting to the big curved cabinet and closets as well. Enjoying coffee and the view while prairie camping at a South Dakota ranch rodeo. Be back out there in June. Keep the photos coming! What have you done and where have been with your Aviator?
Wow! Love the exterior lighting on the awning and the underbelly. Very cool.
The curtains look perfect Blackhat6mike, I am glad to see that there is a solution for those. I think I am done hearing about the "clown pants" in the front windows.
We were pounded by high winds and rain from a squall line that blew through faster than I could roll in the awning and almost took it off!! One minute it was dead calm, the next, 45 knots! Believe me when I say awning poles did nothing but delay the time it took to roll it in. We are soooo lucky!
__________________ Aviator Wright Flyer #1919
Army Pathfinder Vietnam, 3 tours
DAV, MOPH, VFW, NRA, 1stCav. ABN
MAN, was that a surprize!!! From behind, we look way too much alike. That is scary! If it weren't for the fabric on the dinette, I would have thought you were me. I'll see if I can do a pix with same setting and zap it to you. DW says we even "sit alike", what ever that means???
__________________ Aviator Wright Flyer #1919
Army Pathfinder Vietnam, 3 tours
DAV, MOPH, VFW, NRA, 1stCav. ABN
That picture of ToyBoy's Aviator with the underglow is a great pic. It looks like some kind of spaceship!
Blackhat6mike, did you remake your curtains to match the rest of you interior? Mine are a solid color.
I added led lighting to the big curved cabinet and closets as well. Enjoying coffee and the view while prairie camping at a South Dakota ranch rodeo. Be back out there in June. Keep the photos coming! What have you done and where have been with your Aviator?
That is the fabric that came with the unit, I just threw away the crappy curtains, went to a fabric shop and matched the original pattern. Bought the tracks and hardware from HD. I did the whole job in about 3 hours.
Measure the curtains from the closed position [window covered] as when you open [slide] them up, they will be too loose. If you measure with them open, they will be too short to close and you will waste a lot of fabric. I also made tie-backs for when they are open.
__________________ Aviator Wright Flyer #1919
Army Pathfinder Vietnam, 3 tours
DAV, MOPH, VFW, NRA, 1stCav. ABN
I agree! You will have to post the pix so people can see. That is my favorite spot to sit and look out the window. You can't see it in the photo, but off to the side were a group of intoxicated young ladies in bikinis and cowboy boots dancing on the roof of what I am sure was daddy's borrowed motorhome. About now he is probably wondering where all the holes in his roof came from!
I am going to show my wife what you did with the curtains. She likes to make things like that. The factory design is a pain to use so that's a nice improvement.
Unfortunately, I now have a pretty bad leak in my fresh water tank and have opened up the underbelly to drain out the gallons of water. I will soon pull the tank to see where it is leaking. You can see the water dripping very steadily off the metal frame and running to low points. As long as the belly was open I thought I would show where I bolted the table down where as originally wood screws were all that held a very top heavy table in place.
Does anyone have a good contact within Forest River? I am hoping that although my Aviator is 2 months out of warranty they will in good faith send me a replacement tank which I will install myself. Any thoughts?
I lowered the water tank today. It turns out I poked a hole in it when drilling holes for the table bolt mod I did last fall! Oh well, fixed the leak and put it back together. Also finished installing a wind deflector to keep bugs off the glass. Got it on craigslist and modified it to go on the back of my topper. It weighs only a few pounds and installs in less than a minute. I definitely recommend a 50 to 15 amp adapter. It is very convenient for at home or a quick overnight stop when you don't want to wrestle with python power cord.
Got a couple new things to post. First of is Blackhat6mike's digital refrigerator thermometer. Handy to keep an eye on things without opening the door. Maybe he will share where he got it and it installed. The second thing is for whatever reason, the Aviators did not come with a screen door so my wife helped me make one. We used a modified Magic Screen and a curtain rod. it just slides out the way when not in use. We are very please with how it turned out and how well it works.
Wow, you two have been busy. Looking forward to working on my Aviator now that we have it back. Going to do something with my backsplash and I really don't like my curtains. Great idea guys.
Aviator #1916 is for sale in Arizona. It is interesting to note the power tongue jack has been moved back a few feet and is now under the hood. I'm not sure why you would do this except to maybe keep it out of the elements. Any other ideas?
Soooo...you have to raise the hood to lower the tongue jack?? What a PIA that must be.
The dual temp gauge I installed in the control panel of the frig/freezer can be bought for $10 on Amazon. It has two temp probes with about 3 ft wire each. I put one in the freezer and one in the fridge. It flips back and forth between the two every 2-3 seconds. Easy install, just cut a rectangular hole in the plastic and mount it flush. I added a micro-mini toggle switch beside it to turn it off/on.
Oh yes, I used white Gorilla tape to secure the probes and lead wires. You don't even see them.
__________________ Aviator Wright Flyer #1919
Army Pathfinder Vietnam, 3 tours
DAV, MOPH, VFW, NRA, 1stCav. ABN
Aviator #1916 is for sale in Arizona. It is interesting to note the power tongue jack has been moved back a few feet and is now under the hood. I'm not sure why you would do this except to maybe keep it out of the elements. Any other ideas?
Maybe it was moved back so he could lower his tailgate without unhooking. I can't lower mine with unit attached. I've thought about moving mine back, but not that far. Not sure if you can open the hood if you move it back at all. I'll have to check it.
__________________ Aviator Wright Flyer #1919
Army Pathfinder Vietnam, 3 tours
DAV, MOPH, VFW, NRA, 1stCav. ABN
We actually got our tail gate stuck on the power button of our jack. A fellow camper had to come over and help us get it unstuck. Would like to move ours back as well.
Thanks for making the FB page Carol! My tailgate wouldn't fully open with my previous travel trailer either. I think it is a common situation. I think you could move the jack back slightly and the hood would still clear.
Since we watch tv inside, I removed the outside tv and turned the compartment into a campfire kit complete with wienie roasters, cooking irons and a light.
In the utility cabinet I made a few changes as well. I removed the filter and instead use an inline filter outside. I put metal water shut-off valves on the water heater, fresh and city water supply lines. I mounted the pump in a plastic tub in case of leaks.
Blackhatmike and I just finished going through our tv/video systems and adding input switches. I think we have a pretty good idea of how it all works so if anybody has any questions feel free to ask.
Aviator Wright Flyer #1919
Keep the photos coming! What have you done and where have been with your Aviator?
:
Linear Mode
