KF4-1200 is Mine! My NEW Plane! -to me-

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Originally Posted by rdooley79

I just sent the deposit and am planning when I'll head out to get my new plane!

http://s928.photobucket.com/user/rdooley79/story/39533

I wanted to get a second generation plane but didn't figure I could fine one that was nice that I could afford. I found this bird lurking on another forum and the owner hinted that he was thinking about selling it. I was able to get a goood deal on her. She comes with a trailer, perfect to bring her home with! The AFTT is about 500 and the Rotax 582 has about 130 since rebuild. The gearbox is the "C" with 3:1 and has been upgraded with the RK400 clutch. It has the upgraded Grove spring gear and wheels/brakes with McCreary Air Hawk tires. The intercom is a Flightcom 403 and a Microair M760 radio as well as a Narco AT150 transponder, not sure about the encoder. It has all the normal instruments and VSI. Seats have been died black since the pictures. There is also the heater mod made from an oil cooler installed. My wife is excited for heat!
I really like the Citabria style paint job. it's reported to be in good condition and shows well. The plane would sure look nice with a fresh coat of Carnuba wax and the landing gear polished up!

Next is to get to TN from CO and drag it home, safely. I'm super worried about transporting it on the trailer and damaging it somewhere along the 1500 miles to my airport! Should be o.k. the plane has all of the travel struts and supports and the trailer is built for the kitfox.

SO EXCITED!!!!!

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Hey Colorado, congratulations on your new find. Let me make a little suggestion regarding towing your plane home.
1. Have your wife sew you up a soft boot to cover the vertical fin to prevent the wings from chaffing the rudder.
2. Provide a secondary means of securing the wings (ratchet strap) to prevent inadvertent deployment.
3. Unless your door locks are a lot better than mine, provide a way to secure the doors from opening.
4. If you wind up in the rain, she'll leak like a sieve. Provide some means to make it a little mor water tight.

Other than that, have a good trip.

Cheers,

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Originally Posted by rdooley79

I saw your shop stool and it looks like a good idea. I'll see what is around to make something for the long term.

For the short term of getting it back safely, the inner tube idea is great. Maybe one of those big exercise balls, got one at home. Maybe a combination of inner tube base with the ball set in the middle hole, have a piece of carpet between the innertube/ball to have a nice soft surface and also to spread the load on the tail, use plastic to wrap it all together and to the tail making the whole arrangement part of the tail. Tape the whole arrangement to the tail, looots of tape wrapped around. Basically making a giant air bag for the tail to rest on. Then use straps to the tail wheel to keep the tail from shifting forward/backwards and side to side but leave slack to allow the tail to bounce. As long as the main gear is super secure about the tires and axles, leaving the gear to spring up and down. I may even let a little air out of the tires to make them more squishy.



If that was explained well enough, What do you guys think?

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another thought might be to give some sort of support for the wings other than the rear of the plane.

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Originally Posted by SkyPirate

Cubtractor " Mike" made an awesome control lock if you do a search for mikes posts from his profile you can find it , or if he tunes in and can post a pick of it here

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maybe just pull the stick back and use the seat belt.

just thought of something. use an old tire, no rim. that way you don't have to worry about the tube blowing out. should be enough shock absorbency to protect things

A good point was just made about a container. I brought my project Kitfox from upstate New York to Wisconsin in a 26' U-haul truck. 23 hour straight through marathon drive. My wife helped drive. (Yes she's an angel)

In order to make it fit, I had to remove the elevator, h-stab and one wing. (The truck door is too narrow to get the folded width inside.) I emptied the fuel completely, blocked everything real good and let her ride on the gear.

You could fly out, rent the truck and drive back. You could do this and tow the empty trailer behind.


Just another idea to confuse the issue. :o

I like that idea because you will have a smooth ride in the truck for the airplane and keep the plane dry and clean. than you will have the trailer at home for short trips to the airport, save on a hangar.

I considered something close to this. Doing some research and calling Penske, U-Haul, Ryder, Enterprise and Hertz I couldn't find a pickup truck for long distance one way travel. It did cross my mind to rent a cube van big enough to accept the wings off of the plane. Keep the body on the trailer and do it that way. That might be good.
I'm running out of time is the problem and need to get this show on the road. Just started a new job and don't want to be gone too long so they are expecting me to be gone Friday-14 and Monday-17th. This gives me 4 days to make the whole trip. I'll have my brother along to split the driving and blast through the night.
I think with the tail cushioned and the wings braced and locked closed with some straps as insurance. Lots of straps around the wheels bracing any direction the plane might want to shift. Use lots of foam padding between everything and then wrap it all up with plastic will work. I'll have to tell myself to drive 55-60 the whole time and to miss as many bumps as possible. Take it easy and don't get in a rush.
1500 miles at 55 :( 27 hours
I'd rather take the time pulling it back slow than doing even the smallest bit of damage to anything, scuff the tires would all. :D

I'm hoping to get some pics of the trailer so I can have something for my brain to chew on. It needs information! My brain is always going and "pondering"....

This is a great re-hash of the trailer topic. And we shall see what works, or doesnt work after 1500 miles. It's a kitfox community service project! hahaha

Keep the pics and info coming on how you trailered your ladies. This is awesome info!

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Originally Posted by avidflyer

Here are a couple of pics of Avids and the trailers I used to haul them home. I said in an earlier message that I hauled one Avid 300 and another one 550 miles. I forgot to mention this yellow one that I hauled 450 miles as well. Any way, the tails were supported in all three of those cases. And using the tubing that was put there to attach a trailering hitch to. If I'm thinking of the same damaged Kitfox that was mentioned in the last post, my memory is that it was tied down in such a way that maybe the bouncing and flexing of the trailer is what damaged it. But then again, I've been wrong before... (one time I had thought I had made a mistake, and then found out I hadn't! LOL) Take care, Jim Chuk

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I just talked to the seller and he explained the trailer in more detail, said he's getting some pics tomorrow when he goes out to make sure the tires are good and grease the bearings.

The trailer is a lot like Avidflyer's trailer.

plane faces backwards, wings are level, tail is raised and attaches to the hard points built in to the tail. The tail wheel is left to hang. The bracket is made of steel and is welded to the trailer. The trailer is a jetski trailer conversion to give you an idea.

It will pivot on the hard points in the tail and the gear and tires should spring up and down. The trailer tires should bounce as well. I think this is going to be just fine. I'll add all the foam and padding as described before but the mounting of the tail sounds good. Ill send pics tomorrow after I get them. *fingers crossed*

Does mounting it this way concern anyone?

Here are some pics of the control locks I made. I don't have any money in them as I made them out of pieces and parts laying around. If it's really windy, or in the case of towing the airplane, I use a bungy cord or a piece of rope to make sure the control stick lock stays in place.

Now that is nice!
Control locks with red "RBF" tags is cool.
How much do you trailer your plane?
Where have you taken it?
Is it as cool as we think it is or are you worried about the plane the whole time?

Nice pics!