adding weight to the tail

[n85ae]

I have 15 pound of ballast in the tail, and it's secured by 8 mock Adel clamps that I made
out of 4130, pretty sure if the ballast tears loose I have very serious "other" problems

The ballast I have is a 2" square tube filled with lead and that I welded tabs onto

For my airplane with IO-240B it was well worth the effort to install it.

Jeff

[n85ae]

Here's some pics I made a long time ago about forming 4130 Adel's ... I omitted a few
pics but you get the idea. Basically I just beat a piece of 4130 around a drill bit the size
I needed using a plastic hammer, a vice and some imagination. Pretty simple project.

Jeff


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[JayHenry]

Thank you Jeff Awesome idea!

[n85ae]

Thanks! I have a few more pics of the sequence that I left out, but I figured you would get the idea from
these ones.

Bruce made some nice clamps as well, hopefully he's got a few pics. We were discussing the battery box
install as well at the time I made these since neither of us was very happy with the factory box.

Jeff

[airlina]

As per a few requests here are some photos of the "dutchman clamps" that I used for the battery tray adel clamp failure as previously post in this thread. For some poor quality photos of the before and after repair search this post on the forum: "SS with continental engine battery placement". The clamps are simply made from 4130 tubing that is sized by measuring the O.D of the structural tube you want to clamp on to, then going to aircraft spruce and finding the tube with an I.D. to fit around that tube. Two 4130 tubes are then welded perpendicular to the clamp tube to accept the AN3 bolts I used to clamp it together. I then spilt the whole shebang in half with a dremel fine metal cutting disc. They are incredibly strong and clamp tightly to the tube with no slippage. As you can see in the photos I added a tab to one and used it for my homemade trim assist kit. Also used for header tank , A/P servos and the battery tray fix. I've been told these were used on many WWII aircraft like the B-17 , so good enough for my Kitfox. Bruce N199CL

[JayHenry]

Another brilliant fix! Thank you for the pics.

As per a few requests here are some photos of the "dutchman clamps" that I used for the battery tray adel clamp failure as previously post in this thread. For some poor quality photos of the before and after repair search this post on the forum: "SS with continental engine battery placement". The clamps are simply made from 4130 tubing that is sized by measuring the O.D of the structural tube you want to clamp on to, then going to aircraft spruce and finding the tube with an I.D. to fit around that tube. Two 4130 tubes are then welded perpendicular to the clamp tube to accept the AN3 bolts I used to clamp it together. I then spilt the whole shebang in half with a dremel fine metal cutting disc. They are incredibly strong and clamp tightly to the tube with no slippage. As you can see in the photos I added a tab to one and used it for my homemade trim assist kit. Also used for header tank , A/P servos and the battery tray fix. I've been told these were used on many WWII aircraft like the B-17 , so good enough for my Kitfox. Bruce N199CL

[brilenz]

I have 15 pound of ballast in the tail, and it's secured by 8 mock Adel clamps that I made
out of 4130, pretty sure if the ballast tears loose I have very serious "other" problems

The ballast I have is a 2" square tube filled with lead and that I welded tabs onto

For my airplane with IO-240B it was well worth the effort to install it.

Jeff

Is this snuck in and secured thru the rear inspection plate? My thought was to run a string from up front down thru the rear inspection plate and zipline a dive weight or two down to the rear and somehow secure them in place to the frame...logistics are still not perfected in my head yet...

I like the 2" tube idea though.....

[n85ae]

I think I had the Horizontal Stab out, and a combination of through the Battery panel, and from the
top. The IO-240B build has a big battery access panel right under the Horizontal stab. Not sure about
other models.

I would not think of any weight in there unless it is SECURELY tied down. I know at least one kitfox
<builder name shall remain secret> that was doing spin testing and the entire battery box tore loose ...
So I would say you want something very strong holding it.

Vortex generators might help, but proper balance is probably the better choice. I can tailwheel first
N85AE without any difficulty, and never have Elevator authority issues and I have an IO-240B

Is this snuck in and secured thru the rear inspection plate? My thought was to run a string from up front down thru the rear inspection plate and zipline a dive weight or two down to the rear and somehow secure them in place to the frame...logistics are still not perfected in my head yet...

I like the 2" tube idea though.....

[brilenz]

that's my next project both stab and wings