What are your favorite Kitfox mods?

[3kdscf]

Please note that even the simplest, most innocent looking modification can have catastrophic consequences. The reason the Kitfox is so reliable and safe is because it was carefully engineered, tested, and then verified with thousands of Kitfoxes flying hundreds of thousands of hours. Make any mod at your own risk! Having got that disclaimer out of the way, What are your favorite Kitfox mods?

I will start! I have 600hrs on my series 6 and have made a few mods. If you have Kitfox 1-6, the absolute best mods are the ones used on the Kitfox 7! I have a series 6 and but used the series 7 firewall forward. The other series 7 mod I added is the amazing door latch that secures both the front and back edges of the door frame. If you want ideas for mods, just find a series 7 to gawk at!

Here are my personal mods:

1) Air Vents. I live in the desert where we have two temperatures - broiling hot and freezing. I had the vista vents at first because I liked the fact that they were adjustable but what I found was that they simply did not provide enough air. I simply drilled out the vista vent and then riveted a big air scoop to the outside to cram air into the cabin. I routinely fly in 115F weather and these vents keep me from swimming in my own sweat. In the winter, I use a 2.5" expansion pipe plug available at plumbing supply stores to shut off all the air.

2) Panel Access Doors. I'm an engineer and constantly upgrading my panel and this requires easy access to the back. I have the series 7 firewall forward which means the boot cowl attached to the fuselage and a removable glare shield. The removable glare shield makes it a bit easier but what I have done is to add reinforced doors in the boot cowl so I can easily reach thru and access every part of the back side of the panel while viewing thru the windscreen. In under 5 minutes I can have the glare shield off and be comfortably working on the back of my panel.

NOTE: there was an old thread from 2011 but a lot has changed since then so I started this new thread. If you want to view the old thread ... https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/thread...st-Kitfox-Mods


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[bbs428]

My favorite mod is the folding turtleback by John Evans. Adds a lot of value and is very practical and easy to do.

[Av8r3400]

These tail mods.

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[FoxbuilderWill]

My favorite mod is the folding turtleback by John Evans. Adds a lot of value and is very practical and easy to do.

I'm aware of the piano hinge down the middle longitudinally and the plastic hinge to open the rear half. Is there another version? Sorry i haven't followed your build thread closely enough to have seen it if it's in there.

[3kdscf]

My favorite mod is the folding turtleback by John Evans. Adds a lot of value and is very practical and easy to do.

I am also very interested in this as its a pain in the butt to access the back baggage area. The only thread I could find is this one, is this the https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/thread...ged-turtledeck

[jrevens]

I had pictures and a description of what I did in my builder’s thread “John’s Build”, but it seems as though a large portion of my posts are no longer here… at least I can’t find them. Very disappointing.

[bumsteer]

John

I did a search for "John's Build" and your builders log is toward the bottom of the first page. Looks like it's all there.

Rick

[jrevens]

John

I did a search for "John's Build" and your builders log is toward the bottom of the first page. Looks like it's all there.

Rick

Thanks Rick... sometimes I wonder how I find my way out of bed in the morning!

3kdscf ... you can find my original posts of how I did it in my "John's Build" thread, posts #274 & 275.

[3kdscf]

Thanks Rick... sometimes I wonder how I find my way out of bed in the morning!

3kdscf ... you can find my original posts of how I did it in my "John's Build" thread, posts #274 & 275.

Thanks! If anyone wants to look at John's hinged turtledeck, here it is! What I love about this modification is that it lets you seal the gap around the flapperon control horn without having to undo the seal every time you want to fold the turtledeck. Only the aft portion lifts up making it *much* quicker to open and close.

https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/thread...ll=1#post70368
https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/threads/5198-John-s-Build?p=70369&viewfull=1#post70369

[avidflyer]

Here are a few things I did on my Kitfox 4 rebuild. I widened the fuselage at the doors by 4" by adding 1/2" tubing to the outside of the door openings. When you go to install the doors, you rack the door frames (bend) to fit the new opening and then install the windows. I also added .040" thick steel sheet under the doors as a way of strengthening that area which can be bent with pretty hard landings. I copied Larry with his Mangy Fox in this addon. The other thing I did is the access door to the oil tank in my smooth cowl. My tank is recessed into the firewall by about 2" and this lets me check or add oil. The front has a sort of tongue and groove setup and the rear camlocks hold it and the cowl down at the same time. Works for me. JImChuk