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Thread: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

  1. #41
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Got some better pictures of my new gear and also did some weighing.

    • The stock Kitfox 4 landing gear weighs 7.5 pounds per side for just the gear leg uncovered.
    • A wheel, tire, brake and axle weigh 16 pounds per side (Carlisle 16x6.5-8 4 ply on there now)
    • So the total for the stock gear is 47 pounds



    • My new gear, each leg + the shock strut weighs 8 pounds per side
    • The cabane weighs 4 pounds
    • Same wheel, tire, brake and axle, so 16 pounds per side
    • Total = 52 pounds


    So it looks like I'll gain 5 pounds for the gear itself, which I think is worth it. I will be going from the 16x6.5-8 tires to the 21x12-8 tires so that is an additional 8 pounds for the pair (10.7 pounds vs 6.7 pounds per tire difference). So my total landing gear weight will be 60 pounds.

    I read in another recent post that the Grove gear is about 35 pounds just for the gear leg. My gear without axle, tire, etc works out to 20 pounds so I'm very happy with that.

    20201025_150006.jpg
    20201025_150019.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)

  2. #42
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    I guess the grove gear for a kitfox 4 is about 25 pounds. The 35 pounds is for 5 through 7 series. Still happy with my 20 pound gear though.
    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. #43
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Progress is being made. I fabricated a new firewall today. The old one was badly mis-shaped and consequently did not seal to the cowl really at all. In order to make sure the cowl was holding its proper shape I had to make a new windshield and cleco it in place. I then cut a 1/4 plywood blank for the top of the firewall that was a bit undersized and clamped that in place. With the cowl on I used a 1-3/4" diameter cable pulley and with a pencil ground to fit in the pulley bore I ran it around the inside of the cowl. This gave me a line 7/8" offset from the cowl. From there i was able to cut the cowl exactly 3/8" undersize which allows for the bulb seal that I am going to use for the edge seal. The bottom part of the firewall is basically straight cuts so I jus winged that. I didn't build the firewall like the plans say because I don't like the idea of drilling into the fuselage tubes and riveting. I had welded on about 20 tabs for attaching the firewall and welded up all the holes from the previous firewall attachment. It attaches to tabs on the top horizontal tube, center horizontal tube, and the tube under the rudder pedals. The engine mount will also clamp it. This way, I can also get to the nuts underneath for the rudder pedals by just taking the screws for the firewall off from underneath. I'm terrible about taking progress pictures so i only got the close to final result.

    20201110_191235.jpg

    I also got the ELT and antenna mounted. Not a big deal but I decided to mount the antenna inside the fuselage and here is how it came out.

    20201110_191245.jpg

    I also got the autopilot servos mounted and made some temporary pushrods to get things figured out. Everything looks like it is going to work well. Here are a couple pictures of that too.

    20201110_191251.jpg

    20201110_191308.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)

  4. #44

    Join Date
    Dec 2019
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    Idaho
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Quote Originally Posted by 109JB View Post
    Finally got some time to mess with this one and got the Rotax 912 running today. I know the guy this airplane used to belong to and it was a afternoon flight in late August last year when the engine quit when he was at about 1,500 ft agl. I didn't really do anything to get it running. I just ran a hose from the pump inlet to a gas can on the ground, put some run out blades in the prop hub and it started pretty much right away. The only things are:




    1. The temp and dew point (23/15 deg C) are right in the middle of the "moderate icing at cruise power"/"Serious icing at descent power", so I guess it is possible it was carb ice, but this Kitfox has the short filters back at the firewall which everyone say are not ice prone. I guess the reasoning is that with the carbs back there they are drawing in warm air from inside the cowl. I wonder about that theory though.


    2. The other thing I notice is that this airplane doesn't have a fuel return line as called for by this Rotax Safety Notice. I wonder if this could have been a case of vapor lock.


    Anyway, I'm happy it runs and for the price I paid I'm really happy. To let the cat out of the bag, I paid $5100 for the whole airplane and it looks like the only real problem is the little kink in the fuselage. It has a newish Garmin SL40 comm radio, a Terra transponder with encoder, and a flightcom intercom. I figure those are worth about $1500 all together.

    Here is a short video of the run today with flopping windshield and all.

    Did you fly that beast home with all the bent tubing etc? I like the floppy windscreen. Duct tape might have been appropriate

  5. #45
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Quote Originally Posted by VictorV View Post
    Did you fly that beast home with all the bent tubing etc? I like the floppy windscreen. Duct tape might have been appropriate
    Fortunately it was only 20 miles from my house and I won the auction for it. Trailered it home.
    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. #46
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Working on the panel now doing a test fit of components. I had the panel laser cut by sendcutsend.com. The harness for the G5 and autopilot components is completed except for final install and hookup to power. Harness for the intercom and com radio is also complete as I am using the old harness from before disassembly because it is in good condition and well made. That saves some time. On the left side of the panel is the G5 efis, a digital tachometer, a display for a home-brew engine monitor, and a tablet. Behind the tablet is a hole for a glove compartment. On the right side of the panel is the radio stack with transponder, com, and autopilot controller. Above those is the trim indicator and the intercom. Far right is a backup airspeed indicator, another display for whatever, the hobbs and the ELT panel. Switches across the bottom. I still have to fabricate a tablet mount , then pull it apart and put the matte black vinyl overlay on it. Even this simple of a panel is a lot of work and it ain't done yet.

    20201119_210016.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)

  7. #47
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    I did some more work on the panel tonight. It has been overlaid with matte black 3m vinyl and is getting populated. The white in the middle is the glove compartment that will reside behind the tablet. Still have to mount a few things including the tablet mount but it is getting there. Also waiting for the AC switches for the ignition. For the switch labels I cheaped out and printed vinyl labels on my printer. Not perfect but pretty darn good and really easy.

    20201122_234022.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)

  8. #48
    Senior Member 109JB's Avatar
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    Morris, IL
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Took the last couple weeks building off to go get this:

    AP-redacted.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)

  9. #49
    Senior Member rv9ralph's Avatar
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    Aug 2014
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    Greenleaf, ID
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    618

    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Cool.. Congrats.

    Ralph

  10. #50
    Administrator DesertFox4's Avatar
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    Default Re: 109JB's Kitfox IV rebuild

    Congrats John!👍👍👍


    DesertFox4
    Admin.
    7 Super Sport
    912 ULS Tri-gear


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