Brodstol

I'm in the same position NorthIdahoAvidflyer, I'm going hose shopping this weekend and I'll let you know what I come up with. The ID seems to be close to 5/16" and I like Jim's idea of clear hose. Hearing Leni's story of toasting a rotary valve shaft due to oil starvation was a good cautionary tale of making sure the cavity is all bled and full of oil.

Just a follow up, I put in another order yesterday before I got the invoice for the original order and it too was shipping UPS. I talked with customer service and they changed it to USPS so I think I'll be using the USPS option for now on. It'll be interesting to see what the shipping charge will be. 

The powdercoat looks nice!

Yeah maybe I need to use USPS option next time. I personally don't like talking on the phone so I prefer online ordering. They need to communicate better on their website the shipping options i.e. CPS or practically any other online retailer. What frustrates me the most is that I know they could've shipping my package cheaper but opted to go the convenient, easy route with UPS.

Just checked California Power Sports and now this is more like it...

Leading Edge has the best prices it seems from CPS and Lockwood at least for my 582 goodies but I think I'm losing out on any savings and then some if I have to pay premium UPS shipping costs.

Sorry for the rant, it just really shocked me when I got the invoice with my shipment today.

So I ordered some gaskets and small parts from Leading Edge Airfoils which weighed less than two pounds which was shipped in a box the size of a shoe box. I was charged $25 for shipping and handling using UPS! What's worse is that they don't give any quote/estimate of how much shipping will cost. Anybody find a way around this? They give USPS as an option but I didn't choose it since it seemed like there'd be hidden fees in using something other than their "preferred" shipper. I love their website and selection but man I'll have to look elsewhere if this is unavoidable.

For reference here's what they say on the website:

DELIVERY (STANDARD GROUND): Most orders are shipped UPS Ground and require a street address and a daytime phone number, unless it is more economical to ship USPS. Delivery of items in stock normally takes three to five business days. Shipping costs for orders are calculated using actual UPS shipping charges, plus a $3.00 handling fee per order. An additional $10.50 fee applies to propellers and oversized shipments. Please note the maximum weight per package for UPS destinations is 150 lbs. Maximum size is 165" length and girth combined (once down and once around the package). Oversize designations are given for packages with combined length and girth exceeding 84" (and less than 30 lbs.) and also 108" (and less than 70 lbs.). There are additional charges for Oversize packages. UPS also charges a $10.50 handling fee for packages measuring over 60" in length. Propellers typically incur the $10.50handling fee.
 

This'll be fun! Just taking a shot in the dark at 555 lbs. Good luck everyone!

I sent a little something through Paypal, thanks Leni!

So I called Kitfox today and they said they don't have any Model 1-4 parts in stock and that everything is special order. The new style counterweights are $160 for a set. So it looks like I'll be doing some modifying to make them work, no biggie.

Yeah I'm planning on doing that, I'll let you know what they say.

I posted on Team Kitfox and didn't get a response. I found someone selling a mass balance counterweight set. However it looks like it's designed for the symmetrical flaperon and would need to be reworked to fit my flat bottom flaperons. Would this be advisable? Any idea how expensive they'd be from Kitfox directly? When I looked at the SB it was $90 in 1990's dollars.

I like that camera angle, I'll have to try it once I get up in the air

Here's what Rotax Rick has to say about the Blue vs Grey https://rotaxrick.wordpress.com/qas/. I'm in the process of rebuilding a grey 582. You can essentially make all the blue head mods on a grey head i.e. ceramic rotary shaft seal, thermostat, etc. I'm still going stock on my grey head just knowing that I'll need to leave time for adequate warm up and no "shock" cooling while in flight to prevent seizure. Also the rotary shaft seal can still be the original rubber seals you'll just need to run Dex Cool which is phosphate and silicate free to prevent the seals from eroding.

Still weighing my options, thanks

No problem, I'm in no big hurry. Praying the treatments go well.

Yep that's exactly what I'm looking for, mine were never updated so they were the stock wheels and brakes from when it was built in 1988.

Huh that's interesting, might explain the mix up. I made more progress of the plane today. I took the 582 off and started the tear down. I dialed and dye penetrated the propeller flange of my "C" gearbox and all looks good. Next I need to get a puller for the stator and the crank flywheel. I'm thinking maybe a steering wheel puller will work. Here's a few pics of the progress.

Looking to buy an OEM LH Kitfox Model 1 thru 4 landing gear, preferrably complete with original Kitfox wheels and brakes. Shoot me a PM with a price!

Perfect! Thanks a lot ppilotmike! I just measured and the original RH landing gear is the same measurement whereas the "new" LH gear is 2" shorter at 20". I'm starting to doubt that the gear came from Kitfox but rather someone else who didn't fabricate appropriately. I'll start posting in the wanted ads for a LH main gear and hope to find one from the many people who've upgraded gear over the years.

Thanks guys that'll definitely help solve the mystery. I'll check on the axle placement and I agree the taller, wider gear would be preferred. 

Well today was my first day back to A&P school from the holiday break and I got right to working on my KF1 project. History on it is the previous owner upon landing on his driveway, veered off into the ditch and took out the left main gear. The wingtip hit the ground as well as the prop. The plane sat for about 10 years and then the owner passed away. I bought it from the estate with little to no information or logbooks. Here's the main squawks I have;

• New left main gear supplied by the family is the wrong size, about 2 inches shorter on the front and aft main tubes. Are there different stock gear from the 1 to 2 and so on?
• Bent tubing on LH fuselage side
• Collapsed RH Seat truss, will need to be rebuilt
• Dial prop flange and complete Rotax 582 overhaul
• All SB's and SL's need to be complied with. i.e. elevator and rudder pedal gussets and the "Jesus" elevator pushrod bolt
• Multiple rips and tears in the fabric
• Needs a new prop
• Complete condition inspection

Needless to say there's a lot to do but I'm just excited to finally start work on it. Today I removed the interior and seat pans to get a better picture of the bent tubing of the fuselage. I'll be using AC 43.13 as my repair reference but any advice will be more than welcome.

Also the previous owner had a replacement LH main gear built supposedly by Kitfox but it's definitely smaller than the original RH main gear.

Did the model 2 or 3 have taller gear, is there any difference. If someone has a model 1 would they mind taking some measurements for me to reference?

Anyways any help is appreciated and I'll be updating the thread as I make progress or have questions.

Happy New Year everyone!

Yep, the fuselage is bent in a couple places near the gear attachment. It's my biggest concern going into the project, along with any damage in the gearbox/engine from the prop strike. I'll just have to see how it all pans out as I go.

So I just got back from a 1250 mile roundtrip to pick up my Kitfox project down in Burley, Idaho. I'm still in a haze since I slept in my truck for two nights and am running on 5 hours of zzz's in the last 3 days. This forum has been such a help in my research on hauling the fox that I wanted to recount my tale so in the future it may be of help to someone else.

I only had access to a 12ft utility trailer so I figured the only way to make it work is remove the elevator and stabilizer to gain truck turning clearance.

As you can see the tailwheel sat in the spare tire and I also used an office chair (with a hydraulic support) without it's back supporting the aft end of the fuselage to share in the load. I had help from the seller and his friend so in 3 hours we had the wings off along with the tail surfaces.The wings and flaperons were wrapped together in bubble wrap then shrink wrap. I tried to avoid the wrap from disintegrating in the wind by putting a couple tarps over the whole plane to take the brunt of the wind. The lift struts kind of surprised me because the secondary support struts are welded so it took up much more space than I figured. Them and the control surfaces rode on the floor of the trailer with a couple straps to hold it down. 

I set my max speed at 65mph and it was pretty interesting since the speed limit for I-84 in Idaho is 80mph. I don't think I've been passed as much. The tarps for the most part did their job in buffering the wind but as you can see in my after pic I lost quite a bit of wrap and tarp, mostly near the rear of the trailer.

The 10 hour trek back home was relatively uneventful. I made checks every fill up and 100 miles or so. So here it is now at my school in Moses Lake, WA. I'll get it unwrapped once school starts in a week, but I'm just relieved that the fox and I made it home in one piece. Thanks everyone for the help, have a Merry Christmas!

Thanks for the help, It'll be an open trailer but its just too small to be able to fit lengthwise the plane with the wings folded. It'll be interesting but I feel better about it than having the whole plane on the trailer. I'll share pics when I have a chance.

Is it as simple as it looks? I'm back in on the Kitfox 1 deal and I'll be trailering it tomorrow without the wings and control surfaces attached. I have obviously the flaperon connection, fuel line, and electrical wiring to disconnect and for the lift struts it's just removing the hardware correct? What about the elevator and rudder, same sort of deal?