Landing gear weight

[72chevy]

I think there is a great argument for the Shock monster gear, but it is a trade off with cruise speed for sure, you will loose 7-10 mph depending on tires. The gear is far safer and can make a bad grove gear landing look good. It allows for a greater angle of attack on take off and landing because of the higher stance, but hurts the visibility out the front. The TK1 gear legs move the wheels forward a couple inches which really improves the ground handling making it very stable.

The TK1 gear legs and Shock monster shocks are 1.6 lbs lighter than the Grove spring gear. You can shave an additional 4.12 lbs off by using the Beringer wheels and brakes. If you are interested in the Airstreaks in a 26" but plan on using the Kitfox at the LSA gross weight of 1320 lbs than look at the Alaskan Bushwheel Ultralights, the 26" is 3.5 lbs lighter per tire than the Airstreaks. the 29" Ultralight is 6lbs lighter per tire than the Airstreak 29."

Just some ways to save weight.

Not to derail but doesn’t moving the gear further from the CG make the plane less stable?

[redbowen]

Not to derail but doesn’t moving the gear further from the CG make the plane less stable?

It does move the CG aft on the ground which puts more weight on the tail, for ground handling this helps, it also allows for much more aggressive braking. In flight it does move the CG very slightly forward. It is very close to the datum so it doesn't have a noticeable effect. I was skeptical but it really does handle much better.

[Esser]

More weight behind your main wheels in theory should make the plane less stable with ground handling as the weight wants to swap ends. This is why tail draggers ground loop. The weight tries to swap ends. The more weight aft, the worse it it. I understand what you are saying about a longer coupled wheel base which does make the plane more stable. It's be interesting to find out where the sweet spot is.