Sky Star Series 7 Builders Manual

[Ozfox]

I have recently purchased an early Sky Star series 7 Kitfox and doing a refurbishment and upgrade but do not a builders manual.
Does anyone have one I could obtain or put me onto a site where I could purchase one?

[DesertFox4]

https://kitfoxaircraft.com/

[Ozfox]

Desert fox 4. Thank your for your suggestion. I have been using the current Kitfox manual guide but there are some differances
1the control system to the elevator is different to current series 7
2 My horizontal stabiliser can be trimmed as per the current model7 but also has trim tabs on the elevator
3 I wished to confirm the various arms to redo the weight and balance.
Thanks
Ozfox

[Eric Page]

Kitfox Aircraft sold me a Series 5 manual as a PDF document on a flash drive. I presume they have other earlier manuals as well.

[alexM]

I don't know the revision dates but if the elevator control system is different you probably don't have a series 7.

A few years ago I saw a Kitfox at an air show which had elevator trim tabs the jack screw on the stabilizer. That owner had recently pinned the trim tabs and restored operation of the jack screw. I'm not sure how long those trim tabs were a thing.

[Dave S]

Alex,

There have been a few variations of trim mechanisms on the kitfox. The early S7s came with a manually controlled trim tab on the elevators; and, no jackscrew - in place of the jackscrew, there is a tube with rod ends used to rig, not trim the HS. The S5s had the jackscrew, and, since John M picked up the company they went back to the jackscrew on the S7s which John M explained to me was to provide a bit of additional elevator authority because the solid elevator resulted in a little less blanking out of the airflow compared to the trim tab version. The manual trim tab vs electric jackscrew is an either or - not both.

The manual trim tab has a couple advantages, IMHO, even if not in anyone elses Humble Opinion: 1) no electrical stuff to crap out, 2) Instantaneous trim change - a person can throw full up to full down or back in the blink of an eye with the drag adjustable lever. Folks with a back country mission trying to eke out the last bit can probably benefit from the jackscrew system. In my case, I elected to keep the manual trim tab system and have done just fine with fields of 800 feet, in spite of the fact that I had to donate the first 250 feet to the tall corn at the threshold.

FWIW - I have the trim assist kit which Kitfox sells; and, from what I have observed, it functions the same on both the jackscrew and manual trim tab versions. A useful addition.

[alexM]

Alex,

There have been a few variations of trim mechanisms on the kitfox. The early S7s came with a manually controlled trim tab on the elevators; and, no jackscrew - in place of the jackscrew, there is a tube with rod ends used to rig, not trim the HS. The S5s had the jackscrew, and, since John M picked up the company they went back to the jackscrew on the S7s which John M explained to me was to provide a bit of additional elevator authority because the solid elevator resulted in a little less blanking out of the airflow compared to the trim tab version. The manual trim tab vs electric jackscrew is an either or - not both.

The manual trim tab has a couple advantages, IMHO, even if not in anyone elses Humble Opinion: 1) no electrical stuff to crap out, 2) Instantaneous trim change - a person can throw full up to full down or back in the blink of an eye with the drag adjustable lever. Folks with a back country mission trying to eke out the last bit can probably benefit from the jackscrew system. In my case, I elected to keep the manual trim tab system and have done just fine with fields of 800 feet, in spite of the fact that I had to donate the first 250 feet to the tall corn at the threshold.

FWIW - I have the trim assist kit which Kitfox sells; and, from what I have observed, it functions the same on both the jackscrew and manual trim tab versions. A useful addition.

Good input Dave, thanks. I'm a big fan of manual trim myself. I'm also a fan of the horizontal stab doing the trim instead of a tab. My Citaria cruised with significant down elevator (normal because they're just overpowered Champs). A moving stab would be less induced drag.