Kitfox Series 7 Super Sport - Show Me Fox

[Jason Murphy]

Borrowed different tap from a fellow builder. Had the privilege of flying with them in their Kitfox STI for about an hour. It was a very pleasant day and a great experience. Big thank you for the kindness.

This tap I had borrowed worked much better than my previous tap.

I would tap and fit the fitting and advance the fitting by approx 1/2 turn each time. Dry fit and tapped another half turn until I was satisfied with the position of the finger screen.

Inspected the fuel quantity fittings and vent fitting. I found the orifice was partially or fully occluded. Removed all fittings for further inspection and cleaning. determined this was caused by using too much sealant on the internal threads of the fitting.

I placed sealant on only the first 3 or 4 internal threads and all of the external threads with sealant. Did not encounter this issue again. When placed the fittings back into the tank. Cleaned excess sealant from the fitting which had been wiped off when the fitting had been threaded into the tank.

Finished cementing PVC fixture for wing rotisserie. Offset the PVC Tee to the center of the chord of the wing with the goal of the wing rotating on the center of the chord.

Took 2” PVC pipe and used a dremel to cut 4 1/8” slits lengthwise in the pipe. Will easily slide inside of the tip end of the wing spar. These will be placed through a 2x4 and secured to the engine stand. This will allow me to rotate the wing and secure it in place with a pin on the engine stand.

[jrevens]

Jason - the correct procedure with tapered pipe threads is to apply thread sealing compound to the male threads only.

[Jason Murphy]

Prepared airplane to be moved with wings in place.

Fit transport kit to the airplane.

The rear lock back braces do not quite fit currently. Temporary secured them with a zip tie as I am only moving around my house.

I had to use a grinder on the front braces to prevent them from riding on the rivets. I will likely need to tack weld this in the future and powder coat the parts again.

After fitting transport kit moved airplane to bank parking lot next to my house.

The aircraft is leveled in pitch and roll.

Using a plumb bob index lines are made using the bolt of the Tailwheel and the center bolt of the engine mount. This is extended about 15 ft in front of the airplane. The approximate distance is measured to the approximate jury strut location.

A piece of tape is placed on the parking lot to ensure that I am looking at the struts from the same location each time.

The struts are located, adjusted to ensure there is no twist. Secured with clamps. Rechecked before drilling holes. The strut brackets are compared to the outboard wing and verified there is no obvious twisting. Lift struts are manipulated to ensure they are straight with a mason line which had been stretched on the front and aft lift struts.

They are drilled and cleco jury strut brackets.

As I was folding the wings I needed to do the final fitting for the cutout on the rear of each spar. As you have seen in my build log the space which I am workin in is tight to say the least. I had to fold and shuffle benches. Then fold and move the plane a few inches and shuffle equipment. This task took the majority of the afternoon. I will need to dress up the rough cuts in the rear of the spar. The carry through spar has been cleared by approximately 1/8”.

Folded the wings and moved airplane back into basement.

I need to bond the wing tank in place. I want to speak with Brandon to check and see if any additional things need done before removing the wing to finish up wing assembly tasks prior to covering.

I would like to complete as many build tasks as possible with the wing in its position of function.

[alexM]

I suppose you could set your butt ribs on the upper cabin structure, but you can (should?) do that later.

You should at least test fit them. You'll almost certainly need to trim the rear two fittings to eliminate interference, but don't do the final attachment until the wings are covered.

[Jason Murphy]

I suppose you could set your butt ribs on the upper cabin structure, but you can (should?) do that later.

You should at least test fit them. You'll almost certainly need to trim the rear two fittings to eliminate interference, but don't do the final attachment until the wings are covered.

… I hate to admit it… I need to find my butt rib brackets somewhere in the alley going around my house. I noticed that I managed to lose 3 of them on the trip around the house. I tried looking that night but was unsuccessful… I will look into eat fitting them. I was advised when I get around to fitting them they should be slightly proud of the wing to allow the wing to swing beneath it.

[Jason Murphy]

Installed solid rivets in trailing edge of flaperon per optional instructions in the manual.

Due to the footprint of the dimpling die and attempting to dimple a curved surface the dimple die left “smiley” marks on the surface of the flaperon.

The dimple die was chucked into a drill and turned down with a file to reduce the footprint. This helped mitigate the distortion to the metal.

In hindsight I wish I would have used either the standard rivet or a universal head rivet which did not require the surface be dimpled.

Drilled weep holes in the trailing edge of the flaperon. Located the holes by measuring the center of the hinge cutouts from the top and transferred these measurements to the bottom side.

Drilled the 11 no 40 holes in the flaperon balance weights. The center aft hole had been drilled by the factory already. It was slightly off center. Rather than attempt to repair or fix it i simply accepted it for what it was.

[bbs428]

A mix of premium auto body filler will make those smiley faces, dimples and other annoying imperfections disappear Jason!

Just scuff the surface lightly with some scotch bright to give the filler some "tooth" to hold onto and clean before applying.
I used "Evercoat" but any of them will work just fine. Be aware of the color you're painting the as some can be translucent so even the lighter color body filler will show through as a shadow. You need to seal those flaperons no matter what topcoat you use. I find a white, two-part epoxy primer works the best for reds, yellows and whites. Grey can be used with the other darker colors.

Trying to find missing parts/hardware will suck the life out of you - I know all about that!

Onward and upward!

[Jason Murphy]

A mix of premium auto body filler will make those smiley faces, dimples and other annoying imperfections disappear Jason!

Just scuff the surface lightly with some scotch bright to give the filler some "tooth" to hold onto and clean before applying.
I used "Evercoat" but any of them will work just fine. Be aware of the color you're painting the as some can be translucent so even the lighter color body filler will show through as a shadow. You need to seal those flaperons no matter what topcoat you use. I find a white, two-part epoxy primer works the best for reds, yellows and whites. Grey can be used with the other darker colors.

Trying to find missing parts/hardware will suck the life out of you - I know all about that!

Onward and upward!

Thank You for the encouragement! I was pretty bummed with the first few. I should have seen it coming, the bad part is I even thought about it before hand. After the 3rd or 4th time turning down the dimple bits they were looking pretty good on both sides of the flaperon. That is an area which will definitely require touchup. Right now I am thinking my base coat will be white or silver. I have been looking at paint schemes that have been used in the past. I am definitely wanting to pick a scheme which matches my ability to paint (no prior experience, much like everything else in this project).

I am telling myself that I need to make up some test frames to spray a few coats of paint with before I cut loose on my airframe.

[Jason Murphy]

I feel as if I have been getting a good amount of progress made. My boxes of parts are beginning to dwindle.

Finished installing flaperon balance weights. I needed to tweak the strap on the balance weights so it would better conform to the shape of the flaperon.

All prep work has been completed flaperon has been scuffed with scotch brite. Holding the weights on with clecos for now until I am ready to permanently install them.

Began fitting the pitot mast. It appears the mast has been welded into the base crooked. The CNC cut base should be correct. I will determine a method to ensure the pitot will be correctly aligned. I plan on attempting to fit this mast to the pitot tube. If I am unsuccessful I will order the Garmin mast which has been pre drilled to fit the Garmin Pitot Tube.

Borrowed a scroll saw from Stephen J to make flaperon tips and flaperon clamp.

Shaped a flaperon tip from balsa. Used scroll saw to remove large amounts of material. Used trial and error to fit flaperon tip. I will need to use filler on the underside.

Visited with Paul H. used his table saw to rip 2x4s to make 2x2s Created extra material to ensure I have sufficient quantity of material to make flaperon clamp.

I am guessing that I will need to source some material for the fuel placard. The manual indicates that material should have been supplied in the placard kit however the inventory sheet from the placard kit only indicates a template was included.

Seeking clarification on the placard kit and pitot tube.

[Jason Murphy]

Not much time to work on things today. Running errands with the family. When I returned I was able to make a flaperon tip from a block of Balsa for the left flaperon.

I am taking a page from BBS428’s playbook and I would like to give them a similar profile to the Hoerner wing tip.

I am a little concerned about the trailing edge as I don’t have much material back there and I just don’t know how durable the flaperon tip will be. I could get a little exotic and wrap the tip with fiberglass to strengthen everything up. However I have zero experience with composites and this is probably a pretty technically difficult part with its numerous curves.

I received my second shipment of avionics from Stein Air today. They have been great to work with up to this point. I test fit my Garmin Pitot tube and found there were dents in the pitot tube mast. I swear I don’t know what Kitfox does with their parts. 2 of the 8 spar tubes I have had dents in them and now this. My tail access panels and kick panels had wrinkles in them. I plan on picking up some sheet aluminum and remaking the kick panels.

I also received a response about the mystery missing aluminum sheet for the fuel placard with the same part number as the fuel placard. “The aluminum sheet is either in the wing kit or the tank kit..... Not in the placard kit.” I have kept all my aluminum together and it’s definitely not there so I will just plan on making them from the leftover. This wouldn’t have shown up on inventory because the template has the same part number.