zadwit

Id be VERY careful flying that "hatz" type coil spring shock stut...ONe hard landing, or hit a ditch or anything to bottome the springs out and you WILL bend metal...

If a person was determined to fly this setup, get with Leni and do what he did, lengthen the slot and install stiffer springs. or

INstall bungee gear like a J-3 set on the shock struts

Or install the newer nitrogen shocks if you have the money....

I liked the wide gear, makes the plane a lot easier to handle....

large tires take up a lot of shock too

I just installed a new Matco 8" tailwheel on my model 4. IT has cams that only release at 45 degree angles left and right... I have a set of cams that release at 25 degrees. WHich ones should I use??????? THanks

I had 6:00x6 tires installed. They dont asorb much shock. Larger softer tires would take a lot of shock. It was a fair smak down landing but I have hit a lot harder in my Ridge runner with bungee gear and never bent anything..

The problem is the shock strut with the spring and slot can only travel about 2.5" and then bottom out , metal to metal and something is going to bend...

If I had tundra tires installed, this probably would not have happened....the gear getting bent!!!

I did weld in the tube from left to right across the top of the "V" cabane so that probably saved the fuselage fittings from getting bent...

Either enlong the slots in the shock struts and install stiffer springs or (2) install a shock strut with bungees like a J-3.

If you look close at the video, right AFTER I smaked down, you can see the left gear leg, at least part of it and it is bent so the hard landing bottomed the springs and the gear leg bent.... THEN I went I went ditch crusin!!!

Also blade angle, measured at some blade station with a  protractor or digital protractor just tells you the angle between the hub flat face and the  tip of the blade... 

IT IS NOT GEOMETRIC pitch.. .there are formulas to figure this out but it looks to me that most are 38 to 40 inch pitch in the end... this means if turned in a solid with no air slippage, you would travel that far in one revolution as if you were in a solid....of course there is air slippage but the faster you go generally the less it is...

Most of these 503-582 rotax engines with 68" diameter props run 11 degrees blade angle at the prop tip + or - a few degrees, but like C5 says, 1 degree can = 300 rpm change on some engines....

Its a complex problem.. the faster you turn the blade, the more "air drag" each blade has. For a slow plane, a longer blade, with pitch flattened enough to get RPM in the max torque band would likely make best thrust for takeoff.... as shorter blade would need more pitch to keep the rpm in check but might yeild faster cruise at the expense of not as good take off perfrom....and each brand prop is a little different as well... seems most the big aircraft prop manufacturers re going to a semitar tapererd blade design and that makes sense, ,higher aspect ratio = more effecient wing(or blade). so ask around  what the other guys are doing , what prop do they have, how many blades, what engine, do they have big tires installed(these slow the plane down).

Ive talked to guys who flew thousands of hours in 503s and they say keep the rpm at 6000 cruise, egts around 1000-1100 and that seems to give best performance for fuel used.....I also know using 5500 rpm will use less fuel but  alot less power... so there are lots of variables.... fixed pitch prop is a compromise....

Leni has an in flight adjustable prop and these are ok but you better get a good understanding of them because I think you could get in trouble with too coarse a pitch or maybe too flat a pitch. IT would take a little work to set it all up, ask leni about it....aka..AK flyer

Aircraft spruce has the jets , about $60 a piece!!!! but they make it run better....

I saw a kitfox model 2 wrecked on takeoff because the guy tried full flap takeoff (no wind) but one wing went down and when he fed in aileron the flaperone on the low wing went further down and stalled the wing which hit the ground, dug in and flipped the plane.. major damage and all in about 100 ft ground roll.

In hte KF manual they say to rig the flaperone for 23 degrees down, no more.. I did and  you have very little aileron control.. I would not use them at all in the wind, you are asking for it... the advantage is you have aileron control in the stall...

Install a set of the cheap (100) stol speed VGs from aircraft spruce.. I put a set on my Ridge runner and stall went from 35 mph to 26mph... 

location is critical but most say 2" aft of the WLE, any farther back and they dont help,  IT was 28 (f) and 2500 msl) when I flew this, gross wt=660 #, that plane is light single seat...

I think there is a way to pressure test the case to see if the crank seals are leaking or not......somewhere on this site or teamkitfox site....

Maybe joey (C5) knows....

IF you install the smaller idle jets, then install the clutch, you will first notice the idle speed is too high and even if you back the idle speed nut(the big one) all the way out it still  might be too high....IF that happens, you might have to take a dremmel tool and cut the groove a little higher , the one the idle speed screwpresses on the slide...

I like the clutch,it is easier on the engine.... cant hand prop but if you have a good battery and starter not a problem.....

Because of the mass airflow thru a two stroke engine, it is real hard if not impossible to get it to idle much below 2200-2300 mainly because of the prop load, the turngind of the gearbox and prop... I have a clutch on one of my engines and it will idle down below 2000 maybe as low at 1400 just like a snow machine engine sounds...

Im sure you read the pros and cons of clutch... one thing the guys didnt mention, is the C and E gearbox havbe a rubber dampner in the gearbox adn it "steals" power...

I easily got 100 rpm more on takeoff with my clutch......I flew in the morning with the standard setup, then install the clutch and flew the same day a few hours later and saw 100 more rpm on takeoff and climbout...its because you dont waste power compressing and expanding that rubber coupler....it is mainly installed for low speed to protect the gears from chatter...

I had the same problem on a 503 that sat for several years.. I fought it for months and finally removed it based on the advice of a few overhaulers saying probably the crankshaft seals were shot from sitting.. dont mean that is your problem, could be however... 

Try to get a  couple of good known carbs and install them? or just take the ones off you have now, take them apart and see what jets are in them. That kid who had it might have messed with it, he was a dip stick in my book from talking to him, so full of BS he was... so be careful.

The clutch will only put a bandaid on your real problem. That engine should idle fairly smooth at 2200- 2300 rpm after its warm and assuming the correct jets and installed the air bleed set at 1/2 turn out..

I had this plane sold and just wanted to do one last flight..The forecast was for calm winds and when I showed up at the airport it was calm. I have the coil spring "Hatz" type shocks which bottomed out and bent the left gear. YOu can see in the video towards the end if you look down at teh left gear leg it is bent from my hard landing....

I went out and flew around for about 20 minutes instead of just around the pattern.. when I came back the (1)wind had picked up to about 20 mph from the right direct cross wind.

(2) I had installed one size smaller idle jets to smooth out the idle just a little and it idle smooth at 2200 on the ground. I forgot that in the air, the prop unloads so I could not get the engine to come below 3300 in the air on landing. This was a surprise to me.. So on the first landing attempt I landed long and the plane just didnt want to slow down so I went around for worry about running off the end of the runway...I guess I should have shut the engine off but it all happend so fast I dont think that fast...(3) on the second attempt to land I let the wind blow me across the runway on downwind leg and yet I continued to salvage the landing,....I didnt know what was going on with the throttle, thoughts of the housing slipping off or the engine goign to idle by  itself crossed my mind so I was determined to LAND.(4) my airspeed is a POS and hard to read. If you look, you will see the airspeed get dangerously slow as I get close to the ground... The airspeed bleeds off rapidly from 45-35mph and I knew this but I was trying to slip and towards the end do a skidding turn to line up with the runway....I ended up stalling out about 5 ft in the air and hit hard, hard enough to bottom the coil sping on the left gear and bend the gear leg. The the wind turned me to the right  and onto the ditch... I have 6.00-6 tires so they do not soak up much landing shock. If I had tundra tires I might have not hurt anything...

I know the key is a stablized approach and I did not do that... I should have gone around again and gone out farther and set up a longer final approach and a stablized approach...I just got behind the plane because they are quicker than most spam can planes and even pipers...we all flew at one time. being light weight they have low inertia so you have to pay attention to speed reduction, they happen quick.

I fixed the tail and the left wing tip and ordered the parts to fix the gear leg then just sold the plane.....38 yrs of flying and 3300 hours never bent a plane till this... but I look at the video and I see all the mistakes I made.....hopefully it will help others not do the same..

Oh , one last confession... my brakes are crap, I orderd new pads but they had not shown up when I flew it and I also have that damn Maule tailwheel and I felt it "Pop" as the ground loop started and the tail took a good side load the tailwheel "released"... POS, anyway... dont think much of them.... there are posts on this site on how to remove the cam so they dont unlock...

You might also remove the cam off the maule tailwheel or else just throw it in the Columbia and buy a MATCO... A couple of years ago a guy trashed a nice kitfox in your area due to wind and the TW unlocking....on landing

I flew a factory new 582 not long ago with a C gear box adn 3 blade warp drive prop. WHen it was warm it would idle smoothly at 2200 rpm. I did have to go DOWN one size in jets to #50s on the idle mixture like C-5 says above and it will idle smoother.....being that engine sat for a number of years the carbs are likely gummed up...

not sure of a good way to clean them but I have taken them off and apart and the jets out, not to hard to do any of this, and then soaked them in sea foam. I used sea foam mainly so I wouldnt ruin any O rings if I got it on... other wise I guess carb cleaner would work...

NOTE: if you do manage to get it to idle smooth at 2200 or so with the throttle closed, remember to then adjust the idle speed down to around 1400 rpm  otherwise when you are in the air, it will be around 3000 rpm at idle when you close the throttle due to the unloading effect on the prop.....

Look at the KF4, they did change the airfoil, increase the tail size and airfoil shape of the tail...HOWEVER I think the earlier models take off shorter and perform better due to their lighter empty wt. The model 4s and up are a lot heavier and weight KILLs these little planes....

I removed my bungees, the look like new and installed grove landing gear. Later I looked at the bungees closer and notices all the rubber strands are broken right next to the aluminum crimp. A landing or two later and it would have let go. These bungess are about 5 yrs old, plane has always been stored inside, total time about 150 hrs since new.

ENclosed are photos...

I think if I were making bungees, I hand make them and avoid the aluminum crimp.

I just talked to him a few days ago and he said he just got out of the hospital and thought he was not going to get out this time.. I didnt ask or pry because a lot of people has had the flu..still it was unsettling. We talked about the Aerolux props and stuff. He was a definite go to guy who had a wealth of info in his head.....Damnit....

He turned me onto Jim Carruthers who welded me up a engine mount so I can install my HKS 700 into my Kitfox Classic IV..I just got the mount today and man what a work of art..!!! JIm sure can weld........incredible... not to many can do that any more....Still a sad day learning about Jerry...

Mark Smith, out in windy Davenport Washington....

Dont forget, the location of the EGT probes is critical. Vance can tell you all about this.... I found someplace on the web and it gives the location of the EGT probes for  503, 582, and all the other rotax engines and no two are the same.,, The 503 and 582 require different locations for the EGT probes....IF they are in the wrong spot , your readings will be high or maybe real low...

The tach needs to be accurate as well. IF it is off, it will make yhou pull your hair out trying to get the other reading to read right......EGT, CHT, Water temp etc....performance..

Thanks for the info guys... Im going to try to just buy a whole new rudder pedal setup from Kitfox factory if they have one.. If not, Ill look for a used on and add the reinforcements, that way I dont have parts all over the place ripped apart.........I inspected each weld very carefully and they all look fine for now however I dont want a built in problem so will do something about it soon...

Mark

I thought about trying to overhaul it for a spare but as little as I fly and with all the "other projects" I have going on ,,I guess the best plan is to just sell it so I did...

Looking back at what it cost for a new engine, I sorta wish I had researched this a little more... there are local guys who I could probably pester for info on overhauling it...

I could have sent the crank out to be overhauled or just bought a new one I guess....I know I dont want to try to take a crankshaft apart and this one needs new seals in the back end of the engine....

I sold the engine......dont know how to remove the listing ????????

yes its for sight glass, however I cleaned the end of the tank and sprayed clear gloss varathane and I can almost see thru the tank, can easily see the fuel level..

mine is a botton mount.....Ill try to post some photos later today....this is a photo I took before I removed the old engine. You can see how close the elbo on the exhaust comes to the mount. IN fact KF factory shortened the elbo to clear the mount... Im thinking the only real way to fix this is get a newer mount that holds the engine different and allows for clearance....

The bluehead is Daves install from Eastern Canada. He has the later mount for KF4. THe cowling support tube is not in the way. YOu can also see where Dave welded and extension to the header pipe and claims to gain 700 more RPM which could be true.....IF I try to run my elbo on the outside of the cowling support, I would have to hack up my cowling something terrible to make it all clear and fit. Still tryhing to figure out exactly what KF changed because Daves cowl and mine Look the same, the radial engine look cowling,,..

I already pulled out 12# of wires and relays and old guages that I dont need......you are right the panel is thick aluminum way too thick....so eventually Ill do somethign with that at well. This plane weighed 515# when I got it so dont want to add any more weight .....I like simple...