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  1. Av8r3400


    Well, here she is.  Mangy no more.  (But the name has stuck forever!)

     

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    For the record, I had the airframe, h-stab, elevator and both door frames media blasted and powder coated.  The total on the invoice with tax was $260.

     

    Yes.  Incredible.  See the link above to call for your own appointment to have it done.

    1 person likes this
  2. dav8or


    I would guess that this would reduce your roll rate at least some and I don't think you would notice much difference with short flaps if they are separated from the wing like an Avid. Your best bet would be to work out some sort of flapperon mixer but it should be tested very carefully. The Avids can have issues with control reversal if one of the flapperons were to stall with too much angle.

  3. lv2plyguitar


    Hi,  I am curious about resolving a problem with my Merlin GT.  IT does not have a flap control.  I was thinking about splitting the ailerons a couple bays on the inboard side and making those flaps.  The ailerons are currently set up just like an avid with the exception that the mixer control is simpler because there are no flaps.  I also considered getting an avid MIXER control and putting it in the merlin.

     

    Thanks

  4. dav8or


    I would guess it had to do with the large and very hot exhaust expansions for the 2 stroke engines which the 4 strokes don't have. My hangar mate did fiberglass work to add a motorcycle radiator just below and behind the propeller on his Avid. It works well for him but requires a good size opening. Not sure if that would work on a Kitfox but it might be an option to look at.

     

    Dan

  5. dav8or


    Hi all,

    I have recently installed a used 582 to replace the 532 that was on my Avid. I have had cooling problems since. The last several test runs of the engine on the ground with cowling off show it running fine and temps on the gauge are in the safe range but when I shut the engine down I get a long stream of air bubbles from the steam return line from the water pump back to the coolant header tank/cap. I have tried carefully removing all air from the system when filling it. I have run it briefly with the cap off and topped off with coolant to make sure any extra trapped air could escape. I never had these issues with the 532 which used the same radiator. I just changed the cylinder o-rings in the head in case I had a compression leak there into the water jacket but that made no difference. The rotary valve oil remains clean and at a constant level so no leaks there. There were no visible cracks in the cylinder head. Has the 582 ever had issues with cracks? I don't have any external leaks. Is there anything else that could be bringing air into my cooling system?

    Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am grounded until I can figure this out.

    Thanks,
    Dan LaFon

  6. TJay


    Here is today's progress, I built the engine plate and set the engine in for the first few fittings. I set the engine 1 Degree off to the left, any shimming I need to do now I can do with washers behind the engine mount, It is kind of a tight fit, I had to shorten an engine stud, Cut some of the electric starter housing off. Looks like I will need to cut into my firewall if I want to keep the pull start. Don't see anyway the exhaust will clear the engine mount down tube. But that's for a different day, good news is I think the cowl will fit nice with out to much cutting.

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    1 person likes this
  7. nlappos


    OK, you folks beat me into submission. The Government should keep control of the internet. And that's such a good idea, let's agree the Government should take the telephone system under control, and away from all those pesky private companies. And cable TV, too. And how about the power companies? yep, you convinced me. Thanks, I feel re-born!

  8. LSaupe


    Question for you all:
     
    I am covering my horizontal stab and rudder today.  I am trying to use a single piece of fabric for each in a wrap mode.
     
    Mi intial thought here is to glue it to the non-hinge ends and have the non glued wrap on the large tube diameter (hinge tube).
     
    Is this correct?  If so, when you glue to the two halves together (first half is already glued and dried) how do you keep puckering from happening (i.e. it glues beyond the 90 degree point on the tube as the fabric it is being glued to is not yet shrunk?
     
    I did my elevator using a two piece method (bottom and then top) and didnt have this issue as I was gluing the second sheet to a shrunk fabric.
  9. tcj


    Bandit, do you have an Arctic Sparrow or a HAC mixture adjustment.  I have an Arctic Sparrow.  I don't often need to adjust it.  When the outside temperature gets warm I get the thump in the rudder pedals.  One turn in the lean direction stops it.  I had the thump on my first test flight and thought there was someone back there hitting the trailing edge of the rudder with a hammer every few seconds.  it took me a couple flights to figure it out.

  10. TJay


    Sure that does make sense with the round cowl, I have a smooth cowl for my model 1 not sure what I want to do yet for my radiator. I have never done fiberglass work but am always up for a challenge. Thanks

  11. Av8r3400


    The round cowl was the signature look for Kitfox until the model V.  The round cowl doesn't lend itself to an internal radiator very well.

     

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    This is an oil cooler.  I'm going to follow this lead on the Mangy Fox.

     

     

     

     

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    This is (was?) an attempt at making the round cowl into a pressure cowl to cool a Volkswagen.

  12. TJay


    Why the Belly radiator on all older kitfoxes. I look at some of the newer kitfoxes and see an oil cooler way up front in the cowl and a radiator right below it molded right in to the cowl. so why is this not done with the older ones with the 582 engine set up. It sure looks nice.

  13. saskavid


    Well Randy was closest....It bolts on to the tail airplane and sits just under the tail spring as a ballast weight to get the cg back a bit further. Weighs close to 7 pounds. MY initial idea was to have it so I could have interchangeable heads of various weight and just swap them out depending where I wanted to fly with the cg and how much baggage I had in the plane. Made a 12 pounder as well just never stuck it on the plane yet. Just seems too heavy for the plane. Also can act as a tail skid in the event u break the tail spring on landing and need to get out of somewhere without another spring to put on the plane right away....though yo would make a bit of a mess of it better it than the rest of the plane.