Cockpit height

12 posts in this topic

Posted

Has anyone ever raised the cockpit height? I'm 6'1" and recently finished the floor area. I slid a piece of plywood in and sat my bony butt down, only to find my head will be bouncing off the aft carry through tube. Will raising the cockpit height 3" put the h,stab in the wing turb? Of course I'll have to redesign the turtle deck a bit and lengthen the flaperon horns.  This being my first build, I'm a little wary of wandering too far from the plans. or am I worried about nothing?  As always, Thank You for any advice,

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Posted

The seat will put your butt lower then the tubes the plywood was resting on.  Also, some have raised the skylight for more head room.  Avid actually sold a skylight that had bubbles in it for more head room.  That will be far easier then raising the tubing on the top of the plane.  JImChuk

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Posted

Hi Jim. Thanks for replying. to clarify, I sat the ply on the lowest point, not the crossmember, my head was hitting the aft carry through. I've already calced for bubble top and at this phase of the build, raising the height won't hurt my feelings. I know I'll have to lengthen lift struts, change turtle deck and readjust flapper horns, I'm worried I've missed something, (aerodynamically speaking).

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Posted

Mikeysuds,

I certainly believe you. I am 5' 11" and my headset touches the plexi forward of the aft structure, if I don't hunch over. At the same time, my seat sling touches the control tubes below!

Raising the roof 2" would be great.

Nick

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Posted

BTW, I'm building a clone, A Raven. I've already changed the VS to look more like a Kitfox tail, sort of a P-51 look. The plans are from an older model Avid, "A" I think. Whatever they pirated. I'm using Raven plans with Mohawk plans and relying on the interweb for reference. I've never read or heard of anyone raising the cockpit/cabin. If I lower the seat, my skinny butt will be hanging out, full moon out tonight! So my only alternative is to raise it up. Any advice?

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Posted

Mickey,

One of our brothers here is raising the roof, literally, including the structure. He has some videos of it, too. Any help, folks?

Regarding the vertical tail and rudder, please be sure you make generous area for the rudder, that is why the Mk IV has the lollypop tail, more rudder area to ward off ground loops.

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Posted

Hey Mikey call me tomorrow (615)294-0214 anytime after 7am. I made it fit (6’3”)me, there are some tricks. Take me 3hrs to type them. Bryce

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Posted

Thanks Bryce. I'll give you a call after 4:00p EST.

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Posted

Regarding the Raven plans - I bought them as a reference for my Kitfox project. I was told by an experienced builder and inspector who was familiar with them, that they are inaccurate. I don't know what those errors are but I am told that you can't build directly from them. 

I compared one or two tube sizes on my aircraft and they didn't match but then my plane is a Mrk 4.

They also appear to use a first generation control system which some people replace with a newer style. 

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Posted

Hi Jimbo. Thanks for the input. Aside from the Raven plans, I'm also using the Mohawk plans. I'm supplementing with  interweb info.

Many moons ago I was a mechanical engineer, which means I'm sort of a jerk of all trades. The lion's share of my experience is structural, so I see many areas 

in need or reinforcement and refinement including the controls. As far as being inaccurate, man, you nailed that one! Most of the mistakes I found when I redrew everything in Autocad.  Others I'm finding at assy.  Thank you again Jimbo,  A little common sense goes a long way.

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Posted

So I'm considering building a fuselage from scratch. The Mrk 4 Kitfox I bought had been in an accident and poorly repaired then sat for a decade collecting corrosion. I'd be interested in hearing more about your build. Thinking I could use a couple of extra inches as I'm 6'2. 

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Posted

Jimbo... I just got her on wheels,  Pretty good considering I've been working on it for only 15 months. I raised the cockpit 6 inches and radiused the over head 

bracing  so it will follow the curve of the wing. (a little more headroom). I redesigned the controls relocating them under the pilot's seat which is from West Marine. 

Very comfy for my boney ass! The seats adjust back and forth about 6 inches and flip up from the rear for quick inspection of the flight controls which include

cables actuating the rons. The cables are too beefy but have 8 inches of travel, More then I need. I'm 6'1" so this setup allows for decent seats and headroom.

I'm due to take more pics, so I'll download some soon.

 

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