Nose gear kitfox

[mechman]

Good evening, does anyone have a nose wheel configured kitfox that they have landed on Grass or dirt? nothing rough. How does it handle ? Is the nose gear heavy duty enough for grass and dirt? Just not sure I want to go with tailwheel all of my hours our in nose gear aircraft.

[Dave S]

Mike,

Our S7 is a trigear that we have been flying for a while. We operate the plane in and out of grass strips frequently with absolutely no problems. I have not used it on a dirt strip so can't say much on that but I suspect the prop on a trigear might be subject to at least some effects from plain old loose dirt. What constitutes a rough or smooth grass field is somewhat subject to judgment; however, I am not talking about bouncing off boulders on a sandbar.

I have flown other trigear aircraft on grass and I believe the kitfox is better at handling it than the others - the low touchdown and lift off speed helps a lot. Good soft field technique helps too - keeping the weight off the nosewheel as much as possible. I have operated out of one local grass strip which most people consider to be moderately rough which the plane handles fine.

[desertdave]

Nothing wrong with a trike landing on dirt. I did it a bunch before I converted my plane to conventional gear. Proper technique and a good flyover inspection and you should be good.

[mechman]

Trying to decide which way I want to go. I have flown various Pipers and Cessnas on dirt and grass. The nose gear on the kitfox just looks light. Sounds like you have had no issues. Thanks for the info.

[DesertFox4]

Go for it.
A couple off blacktop runway photos to show it is not just a hard surface wimp. Looking forward to some grass strip encounters. I flew my model 4 with a less robust nose gear for 13 years, into several Idaho backcountry strips with no issues.
Nose gear very robust but I’m always careful. I can hold the nose off until about 20 mph in the landing roll out. Rough surfaces I use a soft field takeoff technique. Get it rolling gradually to about 10-15 mph, full back stick, a quick jab of power and the nose comes up and gives me way more prop clearance than a taildragger can get during a takeoff run. Full power and let if fly off when it’s ready. Happens very quickly. BY the way, the main gear look small in the photos because I’m running 5” rims compared to most others running 6” rims.

25090

25091

25092

[Flybyjim]

I never really thought of painting a plane orange but your's looks very nice in this photo. What brand paint did you use, color name?

[DesertFox4]

Thanks Jim. I used Air-Tech out of Arkansas. My orange is a custom mix so not sure what to call it other than maybe "Don't Kill Me Orange". There is a number on the paint can but not sure if means anything. The white is one of their standard colors. The stripe is actually a custom mixed dark grey to match the upholstery.

[fastfred]

I land grass much of the time then the grass gets covered then we go to Ice and now I run skis.

[fastfred]

I have a weight question while the nose gear guys are watching.
On the ground the nose seems quite heavy for taxiing on soft surfaces . Has anyone ever put some weigh on he tail to counter some of this? The W and B stays in good shape with say 10 Lbs.

[airlina]

I land grass much of the time then the grass gets covered then we go to Ice and now I run skis.

Fred what kind of skis are you running? Bruce N199CL

[fastfred]

Datumair retraceables

[airlina]

Fred, those look great , top of the line retractable wheel skis . With our hit and miss winters now , I am looking to switch out my federal 1500's straight skis for wheel type skis so I'm not grounded when the snow melts and i need tires . Thanks Bruce N199CL

[fastfred]

They are cheaper than summits. 3 skis are less than 100 lbs. . they fly nice and still cruise at 104 on a normal day. I fly north and leave on pavement on most days and land in snow ten come back to pavement. They are very handy

[Flybyjim]

Thanks DesertFox, I am using Superflight and I ordered a few 1/2 pint samples to play with and I did get an orange, I like it more that I thought I might. Looks nice with a blue accent. I am partial to yellow and blue or yellow and black but the orange really stands out. Choices!

[Maverick]

BY the way, the main gear look small in the photos because I’m running 5” rims compared to most others running 6” rims.

Steve, why the 5" wheel?

[efwd]

Im pretty sure his answer is "weight". He spent a lot of time and $ to achieve the lightest build he could.