Allen Sutphin

Contributing Member
 View profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    1,007

  • Joined

  • Last visited


Everything posted by Allen Sutphin



  1. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Kitfox 1 questions   

    No matter what it weighs, its a nice looking plane!
    • 1


  2. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Kitfox 1 questions   

    My Hirth came in 105 lbs as removed from previous airframe. It shouldn't gain much with a gearbox over the belt drive.  Compared to a 500+ aircraft w/582 and a 450 aircraft w/55 hp should perform similar all other things being equal. I weigh 140 with a cup of Maxwell House so I am not concerned there. I don't think there has been an aircraft built from a kit that weighed what a factory kit plane weighed.  They go very basic and have been known to fudge a little on specs. Same with engine specs. Homebuilders are not known for going basic. If we had all the stuff the flying mags said we need to fly safe, there wouldn't be room in the aircraft for a pilot. We all know that no way a Cub can fly with 4 or 5 gages at the most, right.
    • 1


  3. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    I have some Dacron bowstring material I use to make custom strings with, that could also work. would take a few turns more than safety wire but is super strong. I think my home grown swages will work good. I have some excess bungee to do a test with. When I get them made and tested to my approval, I'll post a couple pictures.
    • 0


  4. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Kitfox 1 questions   

    500lbs, Holy Cow!  If my model 2 is near that then I'll start over. I am shooting for 425-450 lbs. Whether I make it or not remains to be seen. But I've been wrong before.
    • 0


  5. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    I don't know if I trust safety wire or not. One has to be careful of not cutting the bungee. I think I'll make my own swages out of 4130 tubing. I've done it before and it passed the strength test of the bungee breaking before the swage let go. 
    • 0


  6. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    Anybody know where one can get the swages for the bungees?
    • 0


  7. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Avid MK IV on barnstormers.   

    Mine's not an airplane, its an off road vehicle, taxes are cheaper. Well occasionally its on a road, when nobody's watching. Landed my old model 4 on a county road several years back and the state got a little peeved. It ended up being a precautionary landing and they calmed down. They said I'd have to go get the trailer, so I started walking away, till they left. Guess what happened then? 
    • 0


  8. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Kitfox or Avid   

    If its the speed wing model, probably not a good match for our strips around here. We go for STOL not speed. Most of our strips are 1000' or less. Average being around 800'. I could use my challenger 2 w/503 on a 500' strip, but it had a little bigger wing, same weight, just more wing. But it was a ride in rough air!  Better than exlax.
    • 0


  9. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Kitfox or Avid   

    Is it the one in Kentucky? I was born in Ky and I don't know if they will let me back in. Maybe a disguise?
    • 0


  10. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    At this stage I don't want to do any welding on the seat structure. Its painted, covered and everything installed. Screwing up a landing will definitely bend something. Might look of optional methods of reinforcing the structure without welding. Better plan is to do away with the safety cable and go with a different device. I don't think the bungees themselves would bend the seat structure. A hard enough landing to bend the structure is called a crash landing in my world. I have seen bungees get weak, elongate, and lose their tension, but never seen any break completely. The safety cable is there as a last ditch effort to save your backside. If one does routine carrier landings, replace the bungees yearly or every two years for around $40 or so. Another price of bush flying. And those guy can generally land an airplane. But then some can't seem to find the ground in a tricycle gear. Go figure!
    • 0


  11. Allen Sutphin added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Kitfox or Avid
    Got a friend here in WV looking for a Kitfox 2 or 3 or Avid b or c model. Needs to be legal and flyable. Minor work not a problem but flyable. If you know of any available, post a message. He is willing to travel but would like to stay east of the Miss.
    • 5 replies
    • 824 views


  12. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Avid MK IV on barnstormers.   

    Yea! somebody scarfed that one up quick. Deals like that one don't happen very often. I'd say it never left the state, bought by someone local. We'll probably see it posted again soon for double the price.
    • 0


  13. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Leveling wings for mounting flaperons   

    Some aircraft the wing will not be level with the fuselage due to how much incidence is in the wing. One would level the fuselage in doing a weight and balance calculation. In flight you are flying the wing and the fuselage is along for the ride. Some aircraft have a nose down attitude in flight and even climb slightly nose down because of the wing design. I would follow the manual unless I was 100% sure it was incorrect. If the fuselage was pre-welded in a jig then the mounting points are most likely correct and the wing will not be level with fuselage.Check out a few pictures on the net and compare the angle of the wing to the fuselage. Its hard to give a definite answer so follow the manual.
    • 0


  14. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    The type of flying you describe shouldn't be that dangerous to the standard gear with proper landing attitudes.  You can destroy a gear on pavement with improper landings. I like the idea of getting rid of the safety cable and using a cross bungee.  Spending time refining one's skill is never wasted. To me, a young whippersnapper with the ink still wet on his instructor's license is not a tail dragger instructor. I want my instructor to look like he's been there and done that, and has the grey hairs to prove it. You can usually tell after talking to him (or her) after 5 minutes.  You know, one who can walk the walk and talk the talk.
    • 1


  15. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Avid MK IV on barnstormers.   

    The airframe stuff isn't bad for a few of us, we can build new stuff. One good thing about the older Avid/Foxes is they can be rebuilt from raw material from a supplier such as AS&S. Engines, is a different story. Most have to buy that from somebody and pay the price. A 12K Mark 4 is worth that in parts alone plus all the other goodies you get with it. It won't last long. A real Super Cub, I couldn't pay the insurance and taxes on it, let alone the upkeep. I can't see paying alimony to an airplane. Ex-wives are bad enough!
    • 2


  16. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Avid MK IV on barnstormers.   

    Whatever one decides, its a great deal. I've got sticker shock from just buying the needed stuff for my model 2. Like I said before, any flying Avid/Fox that is legal is worth 15-20K at the least. And that price is increasing every month. Engine parts, engines and all the assoc. stuff is getting outrageous. Find a good deal now  days, you better have the money in hand, and ready to give it away. A Avid/Fox at a good price is getting rare to find and some are buying them up quick. A poor man's Maule, Super Cub, or mini bush plane is like gold now days. Try to dicker and you just might lose out. Some of you that have reconditioned an older plane know what I mean. Scrounging is now an art form.
    • 0


  17. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    Rough off field landings are hard on the whole airframe. Trent Palmer and the Flying Cowboys make it look easy and impressive but they don't tell how many times they have damaged the airframe. A light Avid/Fox and reasonably good landings isn't that hard on the gear.  Maybe everyone is a closet bush pilot but that can get expensive real quick. I like to watch the video's too, but also understand what else is involved in that type of flying.  #1 is a pocket full of money. A few hundred dollars spent with a good tail dragger instructor might be a better investment. A safer one at least.
    • 2


  18. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    You could cut off the bungee bar, widen the gear to your desired width, and then reweld the bungee bar back to where it is parallel with the lower seat truss bar. you would lose a little height depending on how wide you want the wheel width. but the bungee arrangement would be the same. For me, 6" wider wheel span isn't going to be a major difference in preventing a ground loop. I am a rudder walker on final. By that I mean I start tapping the rudder back and forth a small amount on final. It gets your feet and head in the same game so when you touchdown your feet and head are already working together. Really helps after flying around for a while or returning from a trip where you've sat on your butt and not used your feet for anything but to scratch your ears.
    • 1


  19. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Wider gear using stock legs.   

    My straight forward opinion is to add length to the bungee tube so it fits up tight to the bottom tube and add the width to the gear legs so the original angles stay the same for strength.  Dropping the bungee tube down would widen the gear but cause some other problems in the process. Your idea would most likely do what you want with less work but I can't say what a hard landing would do or the long term issues. If I was doing it your way, I'd do it and then spend a few hours in taxi test and a few crow hops before doing any carrier landings. A spare gear to play with would be a plus. Dig out the trig tables and you might find that to widen the gear 6" you are dropping the bungee tube down quite a bit.
    • 1


  20. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Brakes   

    They can be widened without adding length or taller without widening or do both. Depends on what you plan to do with the plane. I don't plan on doing any serious bush flying outside of the usual mountain strip so the monster gear isn't really necessary.  A tad higher would be ok for extra prop clearance.  May not look as tough as the monster gear but whatever skins the possum.
    • 1


  21. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Brakes   

    That sounds like what you are describing. Thanks. Really don't want to put out 1K for a new brake system. Same for 1K-2K for a new bush gear.  Most all the pictures of the Kitfox 1, 2, and 3 all show the original gear. Not saying new isn't better, just too pricy for what it is. A torch, $100 worth of tubing and a couple weekends work is much better.
    • 1


  22. Allen Sutphin added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Brakes
    Would anybody take a guess at what kind of brakes were on the original Kitfox 2 in 89'? They were hyd w/matco master cyl's. They are on the original 8" wheels and the smooth 20" tires. Can't find any name or numbers on the brake housing. Not a disc brake in the normal sense, but an internal disc brake. Maybe Tracy O'Brian or Black Max?  BTW, they work good.
    • 7 replies
    • 557 views


  23. Allen Sutphin added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Covering
    Started covering the fuselage today. You know, turning expensive fabric into worthless scrap if you make one wrong cut.
    • 2 replies
    • 844 views


  24. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Prop for a 532 in the Rockies.   

    There are some pretty smart fellas on this site. Most have made the same dumb mistakes as others and not afraid to admit it either. I sure have made my share in my homebuilding career. Experience is a great teacher, sometimes tuition is costly, too. Most homebuilders will have a master's degree in "going dumb" on occasion. No offense, but if you haven't made a few errors, you haven't built anything.
    • 2


  25. Allen Sutphin added a post in a topic Guy Jumps Out Of Kitfox Before It Crashes And Walks Away   

    Scary thing is, there are stupid people everywhere. Just read the comments!
    • 0