So a guy walks into a plane and .......

[Dorsal]

What can happen if you walk around the plane with your head down, flapperon took a piece of my nose clean off, had to bring it in and get it sewn back on :eek:

[War Eagle]

Yikes! Very sorry to hear about this accident.http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/images/icons/icon9.gif

That has got to hurt.

Glad it wasn't your eye or split your head open.

Hope you get well quick.

[Paul Z]

I have been lucky then, I have clipped the Flapperon 3 times with the top of my head. I bend over but the arthritis in my back I can not bend over very far. Thank goodness I am SHORT!

FYI, I have since bought some of the swimming pool noodles, they are bright orange, put a slit in it and then slide them on my Flapperons for bean protection!

[ken nougaret]

Wow! i see how this could happen. I've been used to a low wing for the past ten years but this is a goods heads up (parden the pun) as to what could happen.
Ken

[SkyPirate]

Ouch~!!! my TD tail being lower I can't even attempt to walk under the wings,,but I have walked right into the prop tip once or twice hope that heals up good Finn

[Dorsal]

Thanks for the thoughts, worst part is I missed a beautiful day for flying today. I had just pulled my plane out and was walking around it to put my car in the hangar. Have to get back up and clean the blood off the plane, had to put it away bleeding all over the horizontal stab :(

Chase, Wasn't even trying to walk under just wasn't looking were I was going, think I might have been looking into the hangar to make sure the snow shovel wasn't in the way of the car.

[Av8r3400]

Yeeowwch! Wow, that's a doozy. Glad you're okay, except for your pride. Better yet, I'm glad the plane is okay.

Now, the important part: We need to help Fin come up with a better story than this lame one of walking into his plane. It needs to involve at least six or seven burley biker types, a couple of switch blades and some kind of damsel in distress! :cool:

[cubtractor]

Holy cow!! That's got to smart. Glad you're going to be okay.

[HighWing]

Sorry to hear of your injury, but glad to see the reattached nose piece is pink and looking good.

My head is scarred from hitting the flaperons. I am always walking under the wings and have had close calls. This might be a good time to think seriously about a solution in my hangar.

[mr bill]

I usually wear a knit cap when around any Cessna, hadn't thought about flaperons. Foam water pipe insulation slit lengthwise and put on the trailing edge of a flap, aileron or flaperon will prevent some injuries.

[Paul Z]

So, you need to start working on the story about how it really happened. Let's see a young lady was being attacked by a guy with a knife, and aaa..... And
being the gentleman that I am, I went to her defense. Yea that's the ticket!

No, I was on a Bear hunting trip in Alaska, I was staring it down . . . .

I almost amputated my thumb once, that has got to hurt. The nose is one of the worst places to get cut. The cut hurts like the devil, the shots to annesticize the nose hurt like the devil, then once the annesticizia wears off, it hurts like the devil all over again. Aaaaah, that's the story, I've had a several skin cancers removed. WaLa, no more funny jokes and harassment.

I hope you the best. Don't forget the pain pills, and drink a beer or two, it will make the pain a lot less noticeable.

[n85ae]

If they ever spray my plane with Luminol it's going to look like the scene
of a mass murder, it has bitten me so many times. Doors and flaperons the
most.

I have a diamond shaped scar in my forehead from an F-4J Phantom Tail
but that's more a badge of honor than a wound, so I never bothered with
the usual anchor tattoo ...

Jeff

[Dorsal]

Thanks Paul, the anesthesia shots were brutal (I confess brought tears to my eyes). As for the lady in distress that would be the one that got the text message "not flying, in ER getting nose put back on". Still trying to figure where the burly bikers with switch blades come in. Turns out cutting off your nose to spite your face really is a bad idea, who knew.

[Av8r3400]

… I tell ya, it woulda killed a normal man. Probably twice over. :rolleyes:

… and he said, "Wrecked 'em, heck it dam near killed 'em." :eek:




I did something similar back in '97. Got in a wreck on my motorcycle and peeled the windshield off with my nose as I went over the handlebars. The top edge hit me right at the bridge of my nose, almost took the whole thing off. The 32 stitches and associated shots were murder, but paled in comparison to the later "reduction" appointment. This is when they take the freshly knitted bone fragments and move them around to make your nose functional again. I hope you don't need that…


(Okay I'll stop now…)

[GWright6970]

Wow.... I am VERY sorry to read this... hope you heal well real soon!

I agree with Lowell...... and I think we all need to think about how we might prevent/lessen the opportunity for such an injury.... lots of foam pipe insulation?

I have the bottom of my butt ribs cased in it right now, as I have cut my scalp a couple times on the bottom of the butt ribs, installing the fuel system, etc...

Take care,
Grover

[Paul Z]

That's funny, I bet the Lady was not happy.

I've had work done on my nose, top of the ear, and the top of my head. I'm not sure, I really don't know which shot hurts worse, but I think it might be the nose.

I would suggest changing the story every week. There was a young lady in the Dallas area that got out of a Pits BiPlane and she walked into the turning prop. She had her hand cut off and lost an eye.

I must admit after having a biopsy on the nose, I'm glad it wasn't cancerous because that would have meant I needed to have another bout of shots in the nose.



Thanks Paul, the anesthesia shots were brutal (I confess brought tears to my eyes). As for the lady in distress that would be the one that got the text message "not flying, in ER getting nose put back on". Still trying to figure where the burly bikers with switch blades come in. Turns out cutting off your nose to spite your face really is a bad idea, who knew.

[ClickClickBoom]

Ouch! Sorry to see.
You should change your screen name to Tycho B.

[DesertFox4]

Dorsal, so sorry for your injury and pain. Hope you mend ok. Flapperon trailing edges are high in causation of fox bites. I think I'll get some of those foam pipe insulators and pad mine after seeing the results of a full blown fox attack. Glad they're not rabid. Usually.

Add the Go-Pro camera mount out on the lift strut as one item that will knock you to the floor if encountered at too high a speed. That one hurt for a week. :(

Get well soon Dorsal.

[Paul Z]

Dorsal,

I’m still grabbing my nose thinking about it. All I can think of was going to the Dermatologist. My brother had Squamous Cell Carcinoma on both sides of his nose, the reconstructive surgery was unbelievable. He said it was the worst surgery he had to survive. Hope you get past the pain soon, and I hope you don’t have a problem with the re-attachment! All I can say is OUCH!

Paul Z

[Danh]

Ouch !! Sorry to see
You get a Kitfox battle scar

[DanB]

I saw your nose and quickly decided to quit whining about my Fox Bite. Was at the airport a week ago, stood up with out looking and the flapperon dang near took the top of my ear off.
Hope you feel better soon.

[Slyfox]

dang! those flaperons are dangerous. I've had my share of banging them things as well. hope it heals ok. Or you just might have to call your nose a kitfox reconstruction.

[Jfquebec]

houch........tabarnak....:eek:

[Dorsal]

Cool, learning new Canadian slang, wish I had known it at the time, seems fitting.

[jtpitkin06]

It was about two years ago there was a thread on flaperon covers. Some nice ones were on display at the Kitfox booth at Oshkosh... Acrylic fabric with padded trailing edge.

I don’t know of anyone who has been around an airport for more than a year that doesn’t have a diamond shaped scar on the forehead from a Cessna aileron.

Makes me believe I should take a file to the Kitfox trailing edge to dull the “blade”. I don’t think installing a permanent vinyl welting on the trailing edge would affect the flight characteristics. the airflow is turbulent at the TE anyway. From the reports of how common it is to walk into the edge it seems like a worth while safety modification. Hey… it comes in colors, too!

John Pitkin
Greenville, TX

[Jfquebec]

Lol...it is a bad word...lol...:o. And it is french Québecois...

[Paul Z]

Dorsal

After having beaned myself on the top of my head (3 times), it was time to do something. I got them at summer clearance of $1.00 apiece an exacto cut down the seam. Note: I walk under the wing to get to the exit door. They really work well, I just went flying today, you can’t miss them, they are a very nice VERY BRIGHT PINK, offer a lot of padding, and no more sore Bean!. Just a suggestion!:D

I have heard of blood offerings to the tool gods, but I didn’t realize that when I purchased my Kitfox there were also blood offerings to the Kitfox gods.

Hope the pain is starting to taper off. I’m still cringing with the thought

Paul Z

[FoxDB]

Paul Z,
They also work well for sealing ill fitting sliding hanger doors.

[Dorsal]

Good idea, that along with paying attention where I am walking :o

[Paul Z]

Dorsal, I bet you have a problem I'm not afflicted with. I am a whopping 5'7", other than having scoliosis in the spine and not being able to bend over well, I just have to lean over a little to get under the Flaperon. Also, I have a Tri gear which picks up the trailing edge probably 8 inches. The Noodles work well and you can see them a lot easier than the edge of the Flaperon. One word of advice keep your head up, and scan the horizon for those pesky Flaperons. :). Have a great day!

[Dorsal]

Thanks Paul, will do (get my stitches out today)

[Paul Z]

I am really glad to hear that! If they are removing the stitches, the pain has subsided, it is healing well, and you won’t loose a piece of your nose!


Thanks Paul, will do (get my stitches out today)

[Peter B]

I've sewn up lots of things in the ER -- but never a Kitfox bite! I should be finishing up with my wing painting before long . . . and then mounting the flaperons. Having now seen the damage they can inflict, I will take appropriate precautions to hopefully avoid any similar mishaps.

[SkyPirate]

Ok so i go to the airport today, thinking about Dorsals nose as i walk around from the tail to the nose of the plane, glancing at the flaperon as i go by, ... I did this twice during pre flight,
My battery is down, i didnt have the jumpers in my truck so I went and picked up a battery tender, installed it, plugged it in, since i have to wait for the tender to charge the battery, i figured i'd start measuring fuel lines and coolant hose for replacement, well, i must have jinxed myself, as I' m walkinging from the hangar back to the front of the plane, i have the tape measure in my hand , i look down to make sure i have the standard tape measure and BAAAMMM! I luckily had my hat on and the bill of my hat has saved my face but knocked my glasses off lol the first thing i do is check my nose lol whew everything is intact, i ran right into to the wing tip, then i grabbed a chair and set it a foot past the wing so i wouldnt do it again lol so ... I was thinking of you today Finn :)

[Dorsal]

Wow Chase, glad you had the hat on!
I did make it up to the hangar yesterday, had to let the plane know I wasn't mad at her and it wasn't her fault :rolleyes: Cleaned most of the blood off and had a good flight :)

[SkyPirate]

I didnt get in the air but i did run her up to temp, and I left the tender pluged in, suppose to be in the 40's and 50's this coming week with some good cross winds forecasted so i hope to do some stol crosswind landings

[Paul Z]

Every time I go to the airport lately the Winds are tearing it up. I listened to the AWOS the winds were at 12, gust to 20, so I got my plane warmed up via my space heater, did the preflight in the hanger, put batteries in the Zulu, and got ready to fly, I opened the hanger door, pushed the plane out. Gus t to 20 my a**, I tuned in the AWOS again, gust to 25. The time before the winds were Gusting to 30+. Hopefully today the winds will die down!Right now winds are 10, over at Dallas Executive (AKA Redbird) it is 20, DFW 20, and if I go north to Gainesville 25, and some up to 30.

[SkyPirate]

I have turb. & ice 0 to 20000 , no flying today

[Slyfox]

Every time I go to the airport lately the Winds are tearing it up. I listened to the AWOS the winds were at 12, gust to 20, so I got my plane warmed up via my space heater, did the preflight in the hanger, put batteries in the Zulu, and got ready to fly, I opened the hanger door, pushed the plane out. Gus t to 20 my a**, I tuned in the AWOS again, gust to 25. The time before the winds were Gusting to 30+. Hopefully today the winds will die down!Right now winds are 10, over at Dallas Executive (AKA Redbird) it is 20, DFW 20, and if I go north to Gainesville 25, and some up to 30.

Paul,
I know your pain. this is what I got. http://w1.weather.gov/obhistory/KSFF.html

but, I'm grounded anyway. I flew my fox Saturday for about 1.5 hrs. had a great time. but on my way in the IVO decided to give problems. wouldn't flatten out. prop is off now and the motor is being sent back to IVO. been over 400hrs. needs a nice oh on the motor, new brushes, heck I'm even going to put a new contact thingy that goes through the hub been 1600hrs on that one. good time to be down with all this bad weather. suppose to be like this all week.

[Paul Z]

At least it looks better today!

[HansLab]

Walks a Guy into rudderhorns: I now have a quite familiar place on my forehead where I keep hitting it against the rudderhorns when the wings are folded and I need something out of the cockpit :-(
The logbook, my wheelchocks, anything and I keep hitting my head on that same spot. No stitches yet, but uncomfortable.
Now I put on a clamp with a Remove Before Flight flag - but I already hit it, again..

[SkyPirate]

Sad thing is , this all just proves we are creatures of habit :)

[Paul Z]

In golf they talk about muscle memory, repeat an action frequently to get your muscles to repeat the action. So I guess you are working on you muscle memory.:confused:

[HighWing]

Well, no stitches but a big scab on the top of my head prompted me to try an idea I have been thinking about for years. I am a shop junkie and my shop is behind the airplane so stooping for the flaperons is a many times a day routine until now. When weighing my first airplane I noticed the head room much better with the tailwheel on the table in the level flying position. This prompted the idea and this is what I did. After trying it a couple of times I decided it needs a limit switch on the high end as the remote controller only gives a nimimum one second pulse that moves the cable about three inches. Not quite fine enough. And the remote needs modification as the up and down buttons look identical and it is too easy to hit the wrong one. The limit switch will help cure that.


Before)

6381

Up the ramp) The winch control is a cordless remote switch

6382

After the lift) Th etop of my head will brush lightly the underside of he flaperon - I'm 5'10"

6383

Ramp overview) It is welded up from one inch eighth inch wall square tubing, with guide rails of half inch .049 4130,

6384

Wheel clamp detail) The clamp essentially captures the axle and is screw tightened.

6385

Winch) Horbor Freight 2500 lb. ~ $49 on sale.

6386

Nose) I can pin the castoring wheels to guide the ramp as it moves. The rails are adjustable in the event I go to a wider pheumatic tailwheel.

6387

[ken nougaret]

Lowell, i like it a lot!

Ken

[Dave S]

Lowell,

Great job on the tailwheel lift....although I have a nosegear KF, and my identical height (5'-10") keeps me pretty clear of the flaperons....I can see some utility in a similar device to hook to the tailskid of a trigear when the wings are folded.

During construction I fabricated a cheap/simple tail dolly which held the tail up far enough to keep the prop out of my garage door with the tail still clear of the garage door for the numerous trips in and out of the garage during that stage of construction. (door was 7 feet, plane 8 feet at the tail when level)

For what it is worth, I usually get my KF bites :eek: from contacting the front corner of the pilot's door with my solar collector :rolleyes: when the door is open. So far the blood loss due to the sharp corner has been relatively minor.

Do like the clever tailwheel lift:)

Sincerely,

Dave S
KF 7 trigear
912ULS Warp

[GWright6970]

Lowell,

I love it!!!

PURE GENIUS..... brilliance at work!!!

Cheers, Grover

[SkyPirate]

"Slick"!! I made a similar system for a vet buddy of mine in a wheel chair, its a 12 volt remote control tree stand, weighs 60lbs total and it will lift him 16' straight up, i used skate board wheels on 3 sides of each track so the platform doesnt rock one bit, he can also use the tree stand to lift the deer to clean it and load it in the truck

[jrevens]

That looks just great, Lowell. I love the way you think! Nice job!

[HighWing]

I appreciate the thoughts.

Two things prompted a minor modification. I found that I needed to add a little precision to the lifting part to keep the tail wheel from being sucked into the pulley. I added a limit switch that controls a separate solenoid for a more instant off of the winch. Then I left the airplane on the lift over the weekend intending to see if the clutch in the winch would slip and let the wheel sag down. The short answer on that is no, however I did find that on Monday, the cable ferrule was almost buried in the pulley. Apparently a "remote" remote control - garage door opener? - was able to trigger the winch and raise it up.

By putting a limit switch controlling a second solenoid, I was able to take care of both issues. It will now stop precisely where it should and once on the limit plate, the power is off to the winch regardless of what happens to the winch controller.

6408

Then I needed a switch to bypass the limit switch when lowering the tail back down.

6409

[Peteohms]

Low cost solution.