Cowling

[Allen Sutphin 705]

Anybody tried fitting an Avid cowl to a Kitfox airframe?  Or even modifying an existing Kitfox cowl to more of an Avid look. In fear of having one's bag split and your leg stuck through it, the Avid cowl is more streamlined and sleeker looking plus it seems to give more visibility over the nose. In reality the Kitfox cowl is big as Trump's ego and isn't needed to be that big around the engine. Maybe reworking the Kitfox original cowl to a little more streamlined. I, personally, don't like working with fiberglass at all. It ends up looking like I took a bath in resin just after patching a small crack. My Kitfox cowl is in perfect condition so I hate to start cutting and slashing, but its from an NSI powered Fox and is rather huge.

[1avidflyer 1983]

I think the front of the cowl will work fine, the back part of the Avid cowl probably wont mate up well to the windshield and such.  I have a MK IV cowl that will most likely go onto my Kitfox 4 project, and I have worked with if some. I'm using a 912 engine though, and the prop shaft is pretty high on the engine.   I agree that the Kitfox cowl blocks way more forward visibility then the Avid one does.   But another thing to consider is how much room from the center of the prop hole in the cowling to the top of the engine.  Avids mounted their 2 stroke inverted, and Kitfox went with spark plugs up. You may need a taller cowl to cover the engine with a plugs up engine.  My friend mounted his Hirth engines inverted with no issues.  JImChuk

[Allen Sutphin 705]

I flew an inverted 503 for a couple hundred hours and never had a problem. I just like the plugs up mounting better for several reasons. So I'll work with the original cowling and see what takes place. Thanks.