Kitfox Aircraft Stick and Rudder Stein Air Grove Aircraft TCW Technologies Dynon Avionics AeroLED MGL Avionics Leading Edge Airfoils Desser EarthX Batteries Garmin G3X Touch
Page 4 of 8 FirstFirst 12345678 LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 78

Thread: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

  1. #31
    Administrator DesertFox4's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    3,562

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    I like it John. Was very impressed with a friend's new install of a G5 in his model 4-1050.
    Nice layout on that panel. Everything you could need.


    DesertFox4
    Admin.
    7 Super Sport
    912 ULS Tri-gear


  2. #32
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Morris, IL
    Posts
    484

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Well I finally got some other things done and started to work on the Speedster rebuild. I got the airplane moved to the front heated side of my barn from the rear cramped cold-storage area. In the background you can see another project that I need to work on and will be doing so concurrently with the Kitfox.

    20200912_140431.jpg

    I also have started repairs to the cowling that was damaged during the nose-over. I probably should have just bought a new lower-forward cowl that was the most damaged. I made a jig to hold the cowl in its proper shape using the cowl from my flying Kitfox. I started by glassing patches on the largest cracks so that the cowl would again hold its shape well enough to chase down the other smaller cracks.

    20200914_102108.jpg

    Once that was done it was chasing the smaller cracks, and there were a lot of them. Here are a couple pictures of the inside and the outside of the lower front cowl after all of the glassing was complete. Every crack got a minimum of 2 layers of biderectional cloth inside and at least one, or two layers on the outside. The outside layers will get sanded back to fair the shape, but at least one external ply will remain after sanding.

    20200917_194701.jpg
    20200917_194712.jpg

    The upper front cowl is getting the same treatment but there is far less damage. What is pictured here is the extent except for one crack that still needs to be repaired on the top by the camloc fastener.

    20200917_194743.jpg
    20200917_194800.jpg

    Its amazing how long this takes. I probably have 20 hours into these repairs on the cowl alone and I still have to fill and fair the exterior. The good news is the rest of the cowl only has a couple small cracks.

    The wings are fine and I really just have to decide what to do about the fuel tanks on them and recover them. However, I have wing pieces from another Kitfox IV that was damaged but there is enough of the spars and ribs intact to make extensions. At this point I think I am going to make removable extensions to extend the wing by one bay each side.

    The fuselage is straightened and all looks fine except I need to replace 2 diagonal tubes that were bent beyond the point of straightening. Other than that, some of the tubes in the aft fuselage are showing some rust peaking through the powder coat. Nothing major or needing tube replacement, but I may sandblast the entire fuselage and epoxy prime and paint it. Before that I will weld up most of the holes that were drilled for rivets. I just don't like this practice and in most cases is not necessary.

    More to come but probably slowly.
    John Brannen
    Morris, IL
    Sonerai IIL (Single Seat)
    Kitfox 3/4 1050 - Rotax 582 (Back Flying and sold)
    Kitfox IV 1050 - Rotax 582 (sold)
    Kitfox IV 1200 Speedster - Rotax 912 UL (project)
    Piper Twin Comanche (Sold)
    Glasair 1 FT (Waiting to start)

  3. #33
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Morris, IL
    Posts
    484

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    So I'm starting to work on the fuselage, removing coating on tubing, reinforcing the main landing gear area, adding some tabs, etc. One of the things on my list of modifications is to reinforce the tailwheel mount. I want to get this done before epoxy priming and painting the fuselage. Does anyone have a picture of how they have reinforced the tailwheel mount to give me ideas?




    Thanks,

    John Brannen
    John Brannen
    Morris, IL
    Sonerai IIL (Single Seat)
    Kitfox 3/4 1050 - Rotax 582 (Back Flying and sold)
    Kitfox IV 1050 - Rotax 582 (sold)
    Kitfox IV 1200 Speedster - Rotax 912 UL (project)
    Piper Twin Comanche (Sold)
    Glasair 1 FT (Waiting to start)

  4. #34
    Senior Member Eric Page's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2020
    Location
    Toledo, WA
    Posts
    863

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Quote Originally Posted by 109JB View Post
    Does anyone have a picture of how they have reinforced the tailwheel mount to give me ideas?
    See the last photo in this post.
    Eric Page
    Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
    Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
    ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
    Map of Landings

  5. #35
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Morris, IL
    Posts
    484

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Page View Post
    See the last photo in this post.
    So it basically just needs a gusset? I was thinking it needed something else. If that's all, I'll do it tomorrow.

    Thanks.
    John Brannen
    Morris, IL
    Sonerai IIL (Single Seat)
    Kitfox 3/4 1050 - Rotax 582 (Back Flying and sold)
    Kitfox IV 1050 - Rotax 582 (sold)
    Kitfox IV 1200 Speedster - Rotax 912 UL (project)
    Piper Twin Comanche (Sold)
    Glasair 1 FT (Waiting to start)

  6. #36
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Bryan, Texas
    Posts
    558

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/thread...3606#post83606


    It's actually a thicker plate on the bottom, and gussets.

  7. #37
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Morris, IL
    Posts
    484

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    I've been working on getting things welded on the fuselage in preparation for finishing sandblasting.

    Here I finally replaced the kinked tubes from the nose-over damage. Ultimately decided I couldn't get them straight enough and just replaced them. Those were the only tubes that had to be replaced due to the damage.
    20201012_161553.jpg

    Here is my mockup of the autopilot servo mounting.
    20201005_075335.jpg

    And then the brackets welded in for the actual mounts. Also in this picture is my mod to the elevator bellcrank to eliminate side-to-side play.
    20201012_161629.jpg

    Also did a cockpit widening modification.
    20201012_161608.jpg

    Added a bunch of tabs too. I think I finally have it to a point where I will finish sandblasting and epoxy priming and painting the fuselage.
    John Brannen
    Morris, IL
    Sonerai IIL (Single Seat)
    Kitfox 3/4 1050 - Rotax 582 (Back Flying and sold)
    Kitfox IV 1050 - Rotax 582 (sold)
    Kitfox IV 1200 Speedster - Rotax 912 UL (project)
    Piper Twin Comanche (Sold)
    Glasair 1 FT (Waiting to start)

  8. #38
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Morris, IL
    Posts
    484

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Its either raining or the wind is blowing 20 mph so I can't sandblast. So I decided to start welding up my cabane landing gear. I got the two legs done to the point where they fit on the fuselage. Still need to cut the front leg tubes and put the axle mount tube in.


    20201018_211446.jpg
    20201018_193819.jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images
    John Brannen
    Morris, IL
    Sonerai IIL (Single Seat)
    Kitfox 3/4 1050 - Rotax 582 (Back Flying and sold)
    Kitfox IV 1050 - Rotax 582 (sold)
    Kitfox IV 1200 Speedster - Rotax 912 UL (project)
    Piper Twin Comanche (Sold)
    Glasair 1 FT (Waiting to start)

  9. #39
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Morris, IL
    Posts
    484

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Got the new gear almost done. Just 4 straps to weld over bushings. Came out good.

    20201023_195625.jpg
    John Brannen
    Morris, IL
    Sonerai IIL (Single Seat)
    Kitfox 3/4 1050 - Rotax 582 (Back Flying and sold)
    Kitfox IV 1050 - Rotax 582 (sold)
    Kitfox IV 1200 Speedster - Rotax 912 UL (project)
    Piper Twin Comanche (Sold)
    Glasair 1 FT (Waiting to start)

  10. #40
    Senior Member bbs428's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    SW Missouri
    Posts
    649

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Interesting thread. Love the instrument panel.
    All the fixes and tweaks are coming out real nice.
    Somebody said that carrier pilots were the best in the world, and they must be or there wouldn't be any of them left alive. — Ernie Pyle

    Brett Butler
    Flying: 1998 Model 5 Outback, 912ul Zipper 110hp, G3x avionics, ss7 upgrades

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •