Willja67

Contributing Member
 View profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    174

  • Joined

  • Last visited


Everything posted by Willja67



  1. Willja67 added a post in a topic Kitfox 1 Overhaul   

    I'm guessing that's Oratex? How much are you spending on that?
    • 0


  2. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    ok i can see your point. Title changed
    • 0


  3. Willja67 added a topic in Kitfox I   

    Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc
    Edit: The original title of this thread was " not an airplane anymore". I'm building a custom cowl for it and Yammafox suggested i change the thread name to make it easier to find.  End edit.
     
    I'm a total freaking moron. The plane has been sitting on the trailer in my garage for the last month and i finally decided to do something with it.  As i was getting it off the trailer the tail wheel jumped the track and the aft fuselage smacked down on the trailer frame.  Fortunately i think it only got 1 longeron not any of the verticals but still it separated the fabric on the seam.   I guess I'm going to be recovering the fuselage now aren't I?
    Still getting over the shock of that. Probably want to puke soon. So as the title says it's not an airplane it's a project. 
    Even before my stupidity forced the issue that's the direction i was heading. After reading a bunch of comments about how squirrely the stock gear made the plane i had decided to buy a set of gear from Stace Shrader of Rocky Mountain Wings.  He makes and sells wider gear legs even for a KF1 and does it for $900 a set.  I'm going to have to have brackets welded to the fuselage for those gear legs anyway so i guess fabric repair was in the cards anyway. 
    One other thing I'm going to do is make a new  cowling for it.   I have a bunch of aircraft grade fiberglass for another plane I'm building and plenty of aeropoxy resin. Since the plane is going to be down for a long time anyway and money is on short supply i might as well do what i can.  Its probably going to look a lot like the -7 cowling just based on the fact that i don't want to modify the motor mount cowling attach points but i guess we'll see as time goes on.   
     
    Ok so here's the list of must haves before it can fly again:
    1. New gear legs
    2 fuselage repaired
    3 new prop
     These are things I'd like but not required:
    1. Gap seals on tail feathers
    2. Vg's
    3. Weight reduction if possible
    4 new cowling
    I also have the feeling that i was so eager to have a plane that i got duped. There is some rust showing through a lot of the tubes on the fuselage that i didn't look at when i bought the plane. I have a feeling I'm going to get very intimately aquainted with this plane before it flies.  So stay tuned and i gladly welcome your input on how to handle the fuselage repair.  I'm not a welder or metal worker btw so this is going to be a steep learning curve.  Fortunately there's some good welders in my EAA chapter.   


    • 99 replies
    • 14,557 views


  4. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    I was having some issues uploading yesterday and into today for some reason. So yesterday i finally opened up the nostrils. As you can see the left (airplanes left)nostril is smaller than the right. Pretty sure the engine mount has some offset built into it as the dimensions are constrained by the prop hub and the cowling mounts that are partof the engine mount. Anyway moving forward  

    • 1


  5. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    At the moment you know as much as i do by looking at that pic. I vaguely remember talk of a safety cable like is used on the stock setup, in which case you're right it's still an issue, but the answer for right now is i don't know. 
    • 0


  6. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Jim, this is more me trying to wrap my head around the dynamics of the 2 designs than doubts about what you're saying. 
    The gear I'm getting is a bungee gear as opposed to the spring gear you've got. If you bottom out that spring ie compress it totally and still have more energy to absorb that's going to go into the cabane then the fuselage. 
    The bungees get pulled apart and if you exceed their strength i guess they just break and the gear splays out? I guess it's all subject to if the bungees are stronger than the cabane. 
    • 0


  7. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Stace Schrader just sent me a pic of my new gear legs! 
    Trying to get fiberglass on the cowling asap  the weather is supposed to turn cold inthe next few days and my garage isn't heated. The foam on the top cowling has some "saddle" areas where it doesn't keep a nice curve so trying to build it up a little with spackle. 


    • 1


  8. Willja67 added a post in a topic covering   

    Just out of curiosity how much does their paint cost?
    • 0


  9. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Right side except for the nostril is done! And I'm very pleased with the result



    • 2


  10. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Got some sheetrock mud slathered on it

    • 1


  11. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Does good old number 29 mean the serial number of your aircraft? Ive got kit number 32.
    • 0


  12. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Looking good i think!

    • 2


  13. Willja67 added a post in a topic Buying my first airplane, looking at older Avid/Foxes, some advice needed   

    As someone who just bought an older Kitfox and got bit, be aware that you can ask people about something particularly if a service bulletin was completed with and they can look you in the eye and lie to you without batting an eye. 
     
    If you look for a kitfox here is the page of service bulletins make sure you're familiar with the ones that apply to the model you're looking at. 
    http://www.kitfoxaircraft.com/index.php/service-bulletin
    And last word of caution if you do buy one and trailer it NEVER EVER START UNLOADING IT WITHOUT UNFOLDING THE WINGS!!!!
    If you do and the tailwheel jumps the track there's a lot of weight on the tail with the wings back and it can smack down onthe trailer frame and do some damage.  Ask me how i know. 

    • 1


  14. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Got a little more done. Its not really visible in the pics but the white foam on the top center section of the cowl isn't holding the curve from behind the spinner to the firewall, it flattens out between the 2 blue foam "stringers". So obviously some more support of some kind is needed, but I'm tired so i'll figure it out later.



    • 0


  15. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    You may be watching the beginning of an epic fail here as I've never seen anyone build a cowling this way and I've frequented some forums where it's discussed in depth. I don't think it will, but i can tell you that it's not going to be the highest quality you'll ever see. The white foam is a little too flexible to really do some top notch surface finishing. But then again most guys going for a top notch cowl would make a male mold, pull a female mold off it and finish that to perfection, then use that to make a vaccum infused final product. I'm going to smooth this as much as possible in place lay up my fiberglass and then hopefully it'll be good enough to do a little filling and sanding and be the final product. It won't be show quality but hopefully it'll be a 10 footer.
    • 1


  16. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Ripped all the white foam off, tweaked the blue foam a bit and used the previous white pieces as templates and I'm pretty happy with the lower cowl now. At some point in the near future i'll start plastering it with drywall mud and sand it smooth. Obviously gotta get the top done first. 
    I was a little surprised when measuring that the left "nostril" was a little narrower than the right. The size was dictated by the cowling mount portion of the engine mount. I guess that's due to the engine offset. I would have expected though that the center of the prop would have been on the centerline of the plane with the rear endof the engine kicked out not the other way around. 
    Got a line on a decent looking wood lathe that I'm going to go look at on Monday and if it's any good I'm going to learn how to use it to make a custom spinner.


    • 1


  17. Willja67 added a post in a topic Fuselage Reinforcement   

    I also saw one of your builds where you bonded wood to the side of the cockpit frame to accomplish the same thing, what are the pros and cons? Being a carpenter by trade I'm definitely favoring the wood extensions. 
    • 0


  18. Willja67 added a post in a topic Fuselage Reinforcement   

    i saw the pics of your build TJay and it looks like you did the same thing. What thickens steel did you use for those gussets?
    I know your plane is not really a KF1 anymore, more like a KF2++++ but curious what your empty weight is? Also saw your vertical tail extension and haven't gone through all your posts to see if it was stiff enough? I saw a comment about possibly needing to reinforce it. Since I'm going to more than likely be recovering my plane my plan right now is to use some type of wood and square up the tips of the vertical and horizontal stabs and then cover over that.  Then at some point in the future do like the Mangy Fox and add larger control surfaces with balance tabs on them. So just wondering if the tail especially the vertical is strong enough for that?
    • 0


  19. Willja67 added a post in a topic Fuselage Reinforcement   

    What thickness of steel are you using here? I read elsewhere you've got a KF4, so maybe my -1 wouldn't need steel as thick since its a lighter plane? Just trying to save weight.  I've got some bush gear on order and after seeing this thread and damaging the lower longeron on my plane getting it off the trailer I'm thinking I'm definitely going to have to recover the fuselage. 3 upsides: 
    1. The fabric paint job is really heavy so i might actually come out even or maybe a lb or 2 lighter (if i only replaced the fuselage fabric)
    2. I can widen the fuselage a little at the cockpit.
    3. I'll get the chance to inspect things better.
    The huge downside is that it'll take a long time to save the money up to do it. 
    • 0


  20. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    I did watch the video and was impressed at how good/ informative it was.  Fortunately I've got a very skilled gentleman lined up to help, ie do most of it. I would need to practice quite a bit before i risked makingit worse. 
    • 0


  21. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Thanks. It's Dollar Tree foam board otherwise known as Rediboard. Its 20 x 30 x 1/4" thick with paper facings on both sides. The RC guys like it for making their models.  To get the paper off just soak it with water left it dry THOROUGHLY, then the paper usually comes off in one piece.  I've been using packing tape along the edges that i want to be a little stiffer. Overall it is pretty easy stuff to work with. 
    • 3


  22. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Going slowly but still going

    • 3


  23. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Just had a huge load taken off my mind about this plane. Every Saturday guys from my EAA chapter meet for lunch and there's a older gentleman that has a reputation as a magician welder and as someone who's seen, done, flown, and worked on just about every kind of plane you can imagine. He said he'd weld the brackets for the new gear on my plane and said he has a tool designed for straightening bent tubing "that makes it a snap". I've been stressing a little about getting that bent fuselage tube fixed and getting the brackets welded on and he made it all sound so simple.  I'm a carpenter by trade and any metal work beyond really simple stuff is intimidating to me. 
     
    The gear will probably be here in the next month. That gives me a deadline on getting the cowl done and making some modifications to the trailer, both to make loading and unloading easier and prevent or significantly minimize the risk of damaging the plane a second time. I know what's been said about unloading the plane with the wings folded but the pic below shows the main culprit. That's where the tail wheel jumped the track.  Haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do yet but definitely something. Probably put a plywood deck on there so even if the tailwheel jumps out it has a place to land.

    • 0


  24. Willja67 added a post in a topic Repairs & Mods: custom cowl, new gear,etc   

    Well as I've never even flown one i guess there'll be nothing to get used to. 
    Got a little more done tonight. I think it looks like I might be on the right track:
     


    • 1


  25. Willja67 added a post in a topic ISO GSC Spinner   

    Are you looking to sell that spinner? If so what diameter and how much?
    • 0