109jb

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Everything posted by 109jb



  1. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    Tjay. I measured the width at the top of the seat back. It is 43-1/2 st that point
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  2. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    More fabric work tonight. My shop has a bunch of stuff and I keep a skid loader in there to plow, so I had to find a way to roll out fabric while keeping it clean. What I came up with is moving the skid loader out, sweeping the floor and then rolling out builders paper. I also used the builders paper to make a template for whatever piece I need and then roll out the fabric and cut out around the template. 
    So I didn't get any shots of the in-process, but I got the right side fabric on . Coming out good. I can say using the Stewarts process for attaching the fabric is sooo much easier than polyfiber. I did polyfiber on my Sonerai and while it works well, it is a pain to work with it. Messy, smelly, and a million clamps. On this fuselage side I used 2 clamps and only for initial positioning.
    TJay - I can't remember how wide it came out. I'll try to remember to measure it tomorrow night, but if I remember right I went 2-1/2 wider each side.



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  3. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    nope. I didn't change any of the basic fuselage structure. I only did the wide body mod and welded on some tabs and made the landing gear.
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  4. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    My Sonerai fuselage was covered with polyfiber and finished with polytone. For many reasons the airplane sat disassembled in a hangar and the polytone was badly stained by bird poop. I tried many things to get those stains out without any success. My yellow Kitfox that I sold also had stains on the polytone that would not come out.  On the Sonerai, having read the Wiener Dog Aero stuff, I decided to scuff the fuselage and paint it with latex. It came out great but i didn't get the airplane flying before my mother passed away. Because of having to deal with her affairs, my ailing father and other life stuff the airplane went back in the hangar. That happened in early 2017. The airplane got pooped on again and covered with dust but the latex washed up just fine without stains. Also the cost comes into play, and homebuilding is an adventure, so why not.; Here is a picture of the  Sonerai as it sits now. Looks great even up close. I would consider the gloss as good or probably better than polytone and that is as sprayed without buffing. The wings and cowl are painted with automotive urethane though.
     

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  5. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    Been working a lot on the airplane and not much picture taking.  I did get the wheel pants on, and tonight a milestone. The fabric covering has begun. I'm going to be using the latex finishing process shown here: http://wienerdogaero.com/index.php
     




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  6. 109jb added a post in a topic Avid Stretch (Mini Plus)   

    The "wing" across the fuselage is always counted in wing area calculations. Take my Sonerai as another example, but virtually all airplanes are the same. Sonerai has 54" chord rectangular wing,  18'-8" wing span. Wing area = 84 sq ft = 4.5'(chord) * 18.66. It doesn't subtract the 2 foot width of the fuselage which contributes 9 sq ft more to the calculation. The reason is because the fuselage of all almost all airplanes produce a little lift.
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  7. 109jb added a post in a topic rotax 582   

    I wasn't a 2-stroke fan on airplanes and then I bought an airplane with one. A 582 in fact.  I still prefer 4-stroke, but have no problem with 2-strokes anymore.  BTW, I've always had 2-stroke snowmobiles and several 2-stroke motorcycles over the years. The key i found is to do a few things.
    1. Warm up every time. Don't take off until water temp is at least 140
    2. Maintain proper jetting for conditions.
    3. Keep an eye on the temps, particularly EGT
    4. Use a thermostat
    5. Don't do descents where you push the nose over with significant power on it. This will cause the engine to lean out and EGTs will climb rapidly. Better to do a chop and drop.
    6. When doing the chop and drop as in #5, keep an eye on the water temp. If the temp drops too low, then level off, bring the power back in and let the temp come up.  Only really a factor in cold temps if you don't have what I'm describing next.
    7. I wound up removing the thermostat from the head and using an inline thermostat with a bypass through the cabin heater core. This worked great and kept the temps where they needed to be. When cold, coolant would only circulate through the heater core, but when it heated up it allowed flow to the main radiator.
    Basically they just aren't as tolerant of using them wrong, but if you know a few things you can keep them in line pretty easily.
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  8. 109jb added a post in a topic Rotax 582 RaDIATOR CAP Woes   

    Here is the same reply I posted on TeamKitfox a few minutes ago.
    When I had to replace the cap on my 582 powered kitfox, I just took the old one to an auto parts store and told them I wanted a 13 psi cap. Guy walked in the back and came out with a 13 psi cap. Now this was a sort of old time auto parts store with an older guy who actually looked like he knew how to work on a car, not Autozone or O'Reillys where the workers are high school kids who think working on a car means putting bullet hole stickers on it, or installing the largest speaker known to man.
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  9. 109jb added a post in a topic Avid stol wing   

    De-registered and no airworthiness is a huge red flag. I for one would not buy an previously finished airplane that didn't have an airworthiness. You will have to get a new airworthiness certificate and probably have to try to get a brand new one as if it was a different airplane. Bottom line is the path is not guaranteed and some research is warranted. I would call the local FSDO and see what they say as far as options. The final alternative would be claiming it as a "built from parts" airplane but I'm not sure that always works and is certainly not guaranteed.
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  10. 109jb added a post in a topic Kitfox 4 rebuild   

    Thanks Jim.  At this point I think I'm going to stick with the round cowl. I've already repaired the cowl damage and made a new firewall and instrument panel which I believe would have to change for the smooth cowl. Also the engine mount would need some modification. At this point it is the desire to get it back in the air as soon as possible. I'm shooting for this spring to fly and I think I can make it if I stick with the round cowl. Just have to do a little door stuff and then it is ready for fabric on the fuselage. Wasted about 3 weeks figuring out my Garmin autopilot issues. Turned out to be a bum autopilot controller. New one is on the way under warranty and should get here by the time I get the doors squared away to test it before covering.
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  11. 109jb added a post in a topic Kitfox 4 rebuild   

    I saw that $125 panel on TeamKitfox as well and thought the same. My panel was $57 which included laser cutting, material (0.062" 6061-t6), and shipping to my door.
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  12. 109jb added a post in a topic 582 heater core installation and pre-heaters   

    https://www.amazon.com/Kats-16400-Lower-Radiator-Heater/dp/B00F8KTD1Y/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=1+engine+heater&qid=1607775989&sr=8-4
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  13. 109jb added a post in a topic Locking tail gear   

    As in locking straight ahead with no steering ability like the Haigh tailwheels on Pitts airplanes?? You don't need that on a Kitfox.
    The Matco, Maule, and homebuilder tailwheels are the most popular and lock to the steering arm except in full rudder deflection. This provides steering connection via springs to the rudder, but unlock for full swivel and tight turns with full rudder deflection. The engagement to the steering arm is automatic based on rudder deflection.
    The Haigh is full swivel with no connection to the rudder  and there is an arm actuated by a push-pull cable that locks the tailwheel straight ahead. So it is locked straight ahead or full swivel like a shopping cart wheel. Below is a picture of a Haigh tailwheel. As I said, not needed on a Kitfox but I'm getting ready to try one on my Sonerai.
     

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  14. 109jb added a post in a topic Grove gear benefits over bush gear?   

    Grove was my first thought on my Kitfox 4 build and I inquired a few places about used ones since so many are going to the cabane gear these days. Ultimately I opted to build a cabane type gear to get a bit wider stance, take the loads where I think they belong (Link to my landing gear thread), to get rid of the bungees penetrating the floor, and because I could build a set a good bit cheaper than any other option. This is what I came up with and it cost me less than $300 in materials.  I'll point out though that this isn't tested but I see no reason it won't work. Attached is a pdf of how I built mine but it isn't a recommendation, just a look at how I did it. If you decide to use, it is at your own risk. 

     
    Cabane Landing Gear for Kitfox 4.pdf
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  15. 109jb added a post in a topic Locking tail gear   

    Matco worked very well for me on my previous Kitfox. They are reasonable in price and are for leaf spring like the airplane is built for.
    Another highly respected tailwheel is the "Hombuilder's tailwheel" sold by Aircraft spruce. They have leaf and rod style versions available.
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  16. 109jb added a post in a topic Grove gear benefits over bush gear?   

    Grove will be a bit heavier. They cost quite a bit too. Probably are a bit less draggy, but Avids and Kitfoxes aren't exactly clean airplanes.
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  17. 109jb added a post in a topic Fuselage landing loads (Kitfox IV) and cabane gear   

    the pipers use shock rings and the way they go on the tubes have to be 90 deg apart.
     

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  18. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    Yeah.  Been fighting getting the rudder pedals to swing smoothly. Too much drag in my opinion. They rotate and are probably smooth enough but won't fall on their own like I think they should. In the picture there is nothing holding that pedal vertically other than the drag on the pivots. I dorked around with it so much that I've now decided to do a little mod to make it better than the factory design. Not really anything wrong with the factory design, just that the original builder of this airplane did a shoddy job on it and the brackets are a bit cockeyed making the bolts not in line with the pivot tube. When I got it the bolts were loose and it was pivoting on the bolts in the aluminum  brackets rather than on the plastic bearing. The build manual says not to do  that. I'm going to put a full length stepped shaft down the middle of the pivot tube so that the bearings stay  inline. Hopefully that will take care of it. Might have  to egg a few holes where it bolts to the fuselage even though I loath egged holes. It'll work though. 
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  19. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    got the laser cut instrument panel that I ordered from sendcutsend.com and couldn't wait to test fit the stuff in the panel. I highly recommend sendcutsend. You simply upload a cad drawing of what you want, pick the material, pay, and about a week later a perfectly cut instrument panel appears on your doorstep. This panel cost $53 delivered.
    Wiring is progressing. The airplane had good wiring for the com and intercom, so reusing that. The harness for the G5 and the autopilot stuff is almost done. Still a lot of wiring to do still though.
     

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  20. 109jb added a topic in For Sale and wanted, you got it, I want it   

    WTB Matco MC-3 brake master cylinders

    I am working on my Kitfox 4 project and plan to replace the internal reservoir brake master cylinders in favor of a remote reservoir system. I currently have a set of MC-3 master cylinders for the right side and would like to get a matching set for the left side. matco no longer sells the MC-3, which has a 1/2" bore and now sells the MC-4 which is a 5/8" bore. I'd like to find a set of the MC-3 master cylinders. Perhaps some of you that have upgraded your brakes would be willing to part with your old MC-3 cylinders. Let em know.

    Thanks,

    John Brannen
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  21. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    I'm using Garmin. It will have the following components:
    Garmin G5Garmin GMC 507 autopilot controllerGarmin GMU 11 magnetometerTwo Garmin GSA 28 servosI found that the G5 can be used as the encoder for a transponder,  so it  will feed altitude info to the GTX 327 transponder via serial data out. The serial data input and output can be set for different tasks and I will  use the serial input for inputting navigation data from an Android tablet running Avare or Naviator. This will give GPS steering for the autopilot.
    The G5 can replace the airspeed, altitude, vertical speed indicator and skid/slip ball, the weight gain will be minimal. Probably a pound or two, and that  will be saved because  I can lose the blind encoder since the G5 does that  too.
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  22. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    Progress is being made. I fabricated a new firewall today. The old one was badly mis-shaped and consequently did not seal to the cowl really at all. In order to make sure the cowl was holding its proper shape I had to make a new windshield and cleco it in place. I then cut a 1/4 plywood blank for the top of the firewall that was a bit undersized and clamped that in place. With the cowl on I used a 1-3/4" diameter cable pulley and with a pencil ground to fit in the pulley bore I ran it around the inside of the cowl. This gave me a line 7/8" offset from the cowl. From there i was able to cut the cowl exactly 3/8" undersize which allows for the bulb seal that I am going to use for the edge seal. The bottom part of the firewall is basically straight cuts so I jus winged that. I didn't build the firewall like the plans say because I don't like the idea of drilling into the fuselage tubes and riveting. I had welded on about 20 tabs for attaching the firewall and welded up all the holes from the previous firewall attachment. It attaches to tabs on the top horizontal tube, center horizontal tube, and the tube under the rudder pedals. The engine mount will also clamp it. This way, I can also get to the nuts underneath for the rudder pedals by just taking the screws for the firewall off from underneath. I'm terrible about taking progress pictures so i only got the final result. I also got the ELT and antenna mounted. Not a big deal but I decided to mount the antenna inside the fuselage and here is how it came out. I also got the autopilot servos mounted and made some temporary pushrods to get things figured out. Everything looks like it is going to work well. A couple picture of those are attached too. 



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  23. 109jb added a post in a topic Rotax 582 mod 17 spark plugs   

    ever mind. I missed the mod 17 part. Don't know what they use
     
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  24. 109jb added a post in a topic Another Kitfox IV rebuild project   

    So I took a few minutes today to weigh my new gear and the stock Kitfox IV gear. The stock gear legs are 15 pounds for the pair, uncovered, no axles, brakes or wheels. The new gear is 20 pounds, also no axles, brakes or wheels. So looks like I'm about 5 pounds heavier than stock, but 4.3 pounds lighter than a Grove gear which the website says is 24.3 pounds.  I'm happy with that.
    On another note, i finally got the fuselage all sandblasted. Weather was not cooperating, so I had to hang plastic sheet in one section of my barn to get it done. I also got the primer coat on tonight, but didn't get any pictures with the cloud of paint mist. White urethane will go on tomorrow I hope. I really hate painting tube structures and will be glad when its done.
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  25. 109jb added a post in a topic New Machine   

    Awesome Allen!! Get back in the air dude!
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