Allen Sutphin

There is a third party liability insurance available through the USUA that is pretty reasonable. For me on the Kitfox, it was around 350-400 a year for a million dollar policy. Of course one has to belong to the USUA to get it, since it is underwritten thru them. But I am not sure the difference between a third party insurance and an Avemco policy.

Thanks! It has been a trying adventure. Hopefully it will be worth it. Still a little more tinkering to do but it makes noise.

Book calls for 45 idle jet. I figured they were the same jet but this is my first 64 carbs. Thanks!

I think max is 1400 but I checked the main jet and it is 125 which is for the curved manifold. I now have the straight ones (I made) which calls for 135's so that's part of the issue. Plus most likely prop isn't loading the engine enough so need to add a tad more pitch also. Probably too little pitch is the reason it will idle at 1250 smooth.  I couldn't believe it when I went down to idle and it settled on 1250 and sat there purring. But at least I know I got the wiring correct and oil pressure came up to normal pretty quick. Always a little tweaking to do to get everything set just right. I'll wait till I get the new jets before I do anymore run-ups. But so far, NICE!

Anybody know offhand if Bing jets for the 64 carbs are the same as the 54 jets? Od course the numbers will be different but are the threads the same?

Well the HKS fired up and run! Smooth as silk. Did have some EGT issues to work out. But a smooth running engine. EGT's are running way too high. Since I changed the intakes and brought the engine to a higher climate, re-jetting might be in order. Easy starting. Smooth idle at 1250 RPM which tells me to add more pitch to the prop which goes along with high EGT's.

2 hours by yourself, that's a no-brainer!  It will take that long to get it tweaked the way you want it.

What insurance company are you dealing with?  I am either going with Avemco or thru the Ultralight assoc. I talked to my purposed instructor last night and he is booked up till late in the week. TW instructors are getting rare!

I had E-mailed him about that one over a year ago but never did hear anything back from him. If you would happen to go look at it, let me know and we can maybe meet and grab a bite. He is about 3 hrs from me.

Since there are no instructors around here, no EAA chapters or much other help, we're pretty much on our own, which is why I have to travel 5 hours to find an instructor. Of course if there was an EAA chapter, I wouldn't touch it anyhow. Everybody is going high dollar anymore.

Going next week to get a refresher tail wheel endorsement, for insurance purposes, and hopefully put this Kitfox in the air. Getting ready to fire up the HKS this weekend and do some final tweaking on it. Thankfully, don't have to involve the FAA anymore. Its been a trying project so far.

At the current prices of 20-30K kits, 25K for a flyable Avid/fox is not unreasonable, depending on condition. Most likely not a 1, 2, or 3. Probably a model 4. A Subaru is too dang heavy for the 1-3 models. My model 2 had a Subaru installed and it weighed 721 lbs empty. Even a 1-3 flyable is going for upwards of 20K. Compared to 20K  for a flying lawn chair with wings, and all the bugs you can eat. The days of the 10-12K Avid/Foxes are just about gone if not already gone.

Got the exhaust installed and mounted in the cowling. Baffles made and installed.  A couple little minor things to do and then add oil and see if it will start. Still have to do a new W&B and see how much weight she gained with the HKS over the rock crusher Hirth..If I have to add weight to the tail I'll use shotgun shot. Its easy to mold into different shapes to mount in the tail area. Hopefully very little weight , if any.

If one was a good scrounger, they could get it in the air for double the asking price. Trailer worth approx. 5-6K. No more kit builds for me. This one just about done me in. I've even considered  getting my IA cert back and going GA. Experimental parts are almost as expensive as GA parts lately.

I just reviewed my limitations and since the engine was still resip and fixed pitch it is not considered a major change. I do like the new system of having the AW cert printed on the operating limitations. That way there isn't a chance of them getting separated. But as in the past, different inspectors in different areas have a different understanding of the regs and how they apply. Since I have never bought one from a different area, the limitations have always been pretty much the same.

When I swapped engines from the Hirth to the HKS, FAA said it was not a major change or alteration and 5 hrs phase 1 was all that was required plus the logbook entry. I might have got lucky and they just didn't want to bother with me. I seem to have that effect on people!

Hope the condition insp goes well. Many of those poly header tanks weep. They expand and contract with the temps and seem to always seep. One reason I went to an alum header tank. A&P's can always find some little thing they don't like. We have a lot of pet peeves when it comes to airplanes. Mine, I hate zip ties around engine mount tubes. They cause corrosion to start on the tube. Has to do with the chemicals used in the zip ties. See we're all crazy!

Yokes are for eggs!

I just got an E-mail back from Randy Moore saying he could and would build a gear that would use bungee's instead of springs if its what the customer would prefer. Of course you would be responsible for the bungees and wrapping them. But for us with the original gear, that's not a big issue. Probably more than me that have been slapped with a loose end of a bungee cord at one time or the other. Talk about a hillbilly hill whipping, ouch!  Another option for gear changers. I think his gear runs around $1200 which is cheaper than some I've seen.

Generally, oil leaks are due to a gasket issue. No quick fix except to replace the gasket. Once a gasket gets oil soaked it will not reseal by tightening it up more. An oil soaked gasket is like a sponge. Cork type gaskets are famous for this.

Somebody refresh my memory, please. Who makes the gear similar to the Randy Moore gear that uses the bungees instead of the springs? I remember the group discussing it but that was longer ago than yesterday. The Moore type gear just doesn't give me that warm and fuzzy feeling. And I've always liked the bungee type gear.

A picture of my trailer, also. pretty much the same as Jim's.

In hillbilly land, that's living room quality!

Mine could have been straightened out, but from looking at the bare fuselage it doesn't appear to have been rewelded anywhere.  Using two laser levels, one on each side of the vertical, they both were equal distance apart on the crosstubes above the headrack from center.

I just about pulled the trigger on ordering a RMW kit but someone advised me to use caution when sending  them a big check. Probably better off that I didn't go with the RidgeRunner. I did order two tanks from him and didn't have a bit of problem.