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When mine was a tricycle, I had the same problem. I switched to a taildragger to fix it. However, someone makes a swivel type nose wheel ala an rv-6 for the avid and it works very well. Chris B had one on his mkiv and really liked it. Pm him, he'll help you out. Bryce
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The Kitfox and the Avid gear are not the same, but 5 minutes with a file will make that change, up until model % I believe they are almost identical fuselages, There are several ways to strengthen the seat truss that Steve Winder had described, the easiest is to use an Epoxy ( he used Hysol 4130 I believe as hat is what Kitfox sells) and glue little triangles into the seat truss. If I was doing a complete teardown I might think about welding in 4130 plate, nothing any bigger than .062.
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Flying right seat brings out a couple of problems with the rudder forces, left peddle to nose gear linkage, and nose gear centering springs. The rudder pressure through the peddles seems excessive and seems to center around the springs for centering the nose gear – which are “very stiffâ€. Any thoughts or cures to this problem? Left seat has the problem also, but it’s not as noticeable since the nose gear linkage doesn’t encroach on the rudder peddles – giving more space on the peddles for your feet.
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Chase,today I was cruising airspeed 115 ..gps said 117 ,,pretty calm for the most part but weather was saying 5 mph winds ( tail wind at the time) so my ASI is off 2 mph
Sounds like your ASI was very accurate at that speed - Airspeed almost never matches GPS groundspeed anyway. Good cruise.
EDMO
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Hell Leni, when you learn to fly that 180 real good you won't talk to us 2 strokers any more.
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Nice plane and nice panel. Its worth whatever someone will pay for it. It's a buyers market right now.
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Folks, thanks for the introductory advice. I have my Beech Sundowner up for sale and am looking for the KitFox 4 or 5. One, KitFox 5, just popped up today on Barnstormers with a Lycoming O-235 engine @$39K. 200 hundred hours, with all white exterior paint in Denver. Based on your experiences, does that sound like a good combination and a reasonable asking price? Mark
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I always feel that way when doing power on stalls for a checkout in a Cessna. Keep pulling...Keep pulling...more...more...more....more.... BREAK!
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Welcome to Avid Fox Flyers!
The first question you have to ask yourself is what is your mission? Are you wanting to just unload a plane on the side of the road and go check something out while traveling or will you also be using is as your primary plane at home as well?
A 912 powered Model IV cruises at 115 ish and is a bit bigger and more refined than the earlier models. They also fetch an almost double the price tag to an early, simple, two stroke powered one.
I would say steer clear from a Kitfox I or Avid A model. They were very basic machines. A lightweight 2-stroke powered Kitfox or Avid would be perfect for hauling in a trailer and unloading on the side of the road to go and do some airborne sightseeing. Performance and visibility is amazing. The downside is if you are planning on doing crossing country stuff they have a realistic cruising speed of 80 mph.
Here's some basic info to consider while looking for a bird.
Avid models: B, C, Mark IV
Kitfox models 2, 3, 4 The Kitfox 2 and 3 were similiar to an Avid B and C but the Kitox 4 is a totally different machine than an Avid 4. The major difference is the Kitfox 4 used the Riblett Airfoil and a different control system.
Avid wings are either STOL (undercambered airfoil) or Speed (flat bottom) The speedwing is unpopular unless it's been extended by 2 rib bays.
On Avids a 582 is about your best match to the airframe for STOL ops. They fly great with Subaru motors too but unless the fuse has been extended they tend to be very nose heavy and they won't get off the ground nearly as quick as a two stroke powered one. If you are ready to drop 30K one one a 912 powered Kitfox 4 like Larry mentioned is the nicest of the bunch. They are in high demand and good ones sell very quickly off Barnstormers. A 582 powered earlier model is running in the mid teens right now.
If I were towing one around the country I would go for as light and simple as possible but that's just me. I have a friend who does this. He has an Avid to tow behind his motorhome. A Zenith CH601 is his everyday flying machine and a Tripacer for when he goes camping with his wife and dogs. And he lives at an airpark 100 yards from the runway. Living the dream.
Stick around on here and don't be afraid to ask questions. The goal of this site is to be a one stop shop for all things Avid and Kitfox.
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Almost twice the displacement without much weight gain, good thinking on the shared aircleaner, wet sump lubrication with PSRU lubricated by engine oil. Overhead cam rather than pushrod. I'm guessing that it actually makes it's horsepower while HKS usually mostly disappoints in that regard. I wonder how much? If you look at the power/torque curves it's really peaky. Like a 2 stroke.
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No snow yet. I went out today and put a couple more hours on her. On the west side the snow line was around 2000' and the ponds above 1500 were starting to freeze up. It's no avid when it comes to getting in or out, but after 6 or 8 splash n dashes with a 10,000 hr 180 time driver copilot, I learned a few techniques that cut my take off run to about 1/3 of what it was. It's an amazing bird in the hands of a good stick! Much of what we went over was already stuff I knew, just tweaked it a touch to what the plane really likes. Damn, I got spoiled with the control forces on an avid
when I thought I had the yoke all the way back to get it on step, I still had 3" more to pull. Thought I was gonna pull the damn firewall out! 
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$.02 worth of advise: Hold out for a 912 powered Kitfox IV or newer.
The design had matured by then to a great little plane and you will not find a better engine for the type than a 912. From there look for the doo-dads you would prefer.
Your budget may dictate other tid bits of advise.
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Hi, I hope I am in the right section. I have been flying for 30 years in Cessna and Baby Beech products. I would like to migrate to an Avid or KitFox that I can fold into a covered trailer and haul around the country to drive-n-fly. I am curious about engines and airframe models. It looks like this group knows a lot about both. Mark in Sun City West, AZ
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Anyone have experience with this engine or know anything about it? Thanks, Bryce
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Blue magic xtreme quicksteel Put it on one side and fit them together and let it set up.. Fills in the low spots.
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Ever since I switched to my Blue Head my exhaust joints have not lined up as well as they could have. I don't know what the difference was between the two engines but the alignment ended up slightly different. This has caused me to battle an exhaust leak. I'm pulling my exhaust manifold to inspect my pistons and rings as part of my Condition Inspection this year and I want to do something about this leak before I put it back together.
As you can see in this picture my muffler is mounted to my firewall using rubber isolators. These came from McMaster Carr. I'm planning on getting a few that are 3/4" of inch longer to try and get a better angle on the joint.
I've already taken it apart twice and cleaned up the joints and tried to adjust it to where it would seal up with no luck.
Leni I know you've used valve grinding compound before. Did you just smear it all around the joint and then just work it around in a circle? What's the best way to get it to actually grind the high spots?
Another thing I've considered doing is going to the ball joint conversion kit. I safety wire my springs and have only ever had one break before. At $140 to do both joints this conversion is pretty spendy. It would be worth it though it though if it'll seal up the joints better.
http://www.cps-parts.com/catalog/eppages/balljointkit2.php?clickkey=1024035
Any other techniques that people have found that works to seal them up? I thought about replacing the elbow until I saw the price of one!!
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Scroll down to the 582 tuning post http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/1925-all-things-rotax-582-related/
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Have you had any snow? We were in Soldotna in July and we had a few good days and some rain. Mosquitos were down too. Great time.
Dan
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No leaks!! Couldnt find the "tack and seal", so went with Permatex #97 high tack. Finally....
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- Flies GREAT! as expected.... I don't take off or land yet myself Had very dirty carbs due to sitting with auto fuel. could only get 5000-5100 rpm before it started sputtering.. but that was still plenty of power for most flying.. prob only 54 hp @ 5000..lol I rebuilt carbs and am working on all fuel and coolant lines. radiator is getting cleaned & pressure checked ect.. P.S. I will be a Evans coolant dealer in a week or so.. discounts to fellow rotax flyers. e-mail me at russ@lelandshondasuzuki.com if interested.
- Flies GREAT! as expected.... I don't take off or land yet myself
machining a prov 8 case
in Rotax and other engines
tbucket
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I know that someone has done this so I won't ask if someone has done this so I will ask this question
about what is involved in this. The case is a prov 8 case the holes is already drilled but not taped are there any more to do to the case other than drill the holes for the correct size and tap them to fit a rotax c box to it? do you have to do anything to the crank [a standard 582 crank]
thanks Bob