How can i keep my kitfox from stalling & spinning in too ????

[rogerh12]

Howdy all;

I was on the NTSB web site, looking up the kitfox accidents and I noticed a shocking trend. Of the ones I looked at, almost 90% of the people killed in a kitfox where killed as a result of a stall and spin. This is shocking; I figured some, but almost all fatalities where stall and spin related. Though, I guess the bright side is that all the other accidents were survivable, as long as they didn’t auger in. So this leads me to a question:

My old Zenith 601 HDS was almost stall proof, it would just bobble the noise and descend tail low, and the ercoupe I leaned in would not stall at all, but of course both of these planes have limited up elevator travel, and no flaps, so maybe that helps.

How can I make MY kitfox 4 Stall and Spin proof? (or at least highly spin resistant). Are there some design changes? Rigging changes? Or maybe just flying it only in a particular manner (only 10% flaps max?).

[DBVZ]

It would be interesting to know how many of those were flown with the CG out of the box.

[Esser]

I have seen plenty of kitfox videos on the internet of guys using extreme climb out angles and Vx for really no reason. If you stall 150feet from the ground on climb out and drop a wing you don't have too much time to recover. And if you do try to pick up the wing with aileron instead of rudder the wing drop gets worse. I am guessing with flaperons that effect is compounded. Just my two cents.

[Dorsal]

I find the 7 stalls pretty gently but I do have an AOA indicator that gently reminds me if I am anywhere near a stall.

[sdemeyer]

I would have to say the Kitfox is no more prone to stall/spin accidents then any other aircraft. The NTSB reports are riddled with stall/spin accidents from SR22's to Powered Chutes. The way to keep that from happening is to pay attention, keep things coordinated and be wary of the "Impossible Turn" if you loose the motor on takeoff. I doubt there is any mechanical way to make the KF spin proof.

[rogerh12]

I think the kitfox protects the occupants so well that only the really high energy crashes kill the folks inside, the kind of energy developed in a spin. Other planes will kill you even in low energy crashes (like landing upside down) because of high landing speeds and no steel cage to protect the occupants, so I think that's why fatal crashes with the kitfox seem to all be stall and spin related.
Of course, in general aviation, statistically if a pilot suffers and engine outage and a death results, almost 70% of the time the death results from loss of control after the engine fails and not just because of the “loss of engine” specifically. I broke the prop of my Zenith once, and made a normal landing in a bean field, then again I did keep flying the plane all the way down.
Roger

[wadeg]

My rules:
1. Don't hang it on the prop on takeoff. Nobody at the field will live a life in awe of me climbing out steeply. The kitfox climbs incredibly just at 'best rate'.

2. Never go to my final approach speed unless I am on....wait for it...final! I want that little extra speed for the turns and it might be really handy if I hit a gust working low down or if I lost power. With the idle set right, the kitfox will slow down nicely after turning on final where it is the time to do so.

Nobody suffered as much as a cracked fingernail by carrying a little extra speed but sadly many have bought the farm doing the opposite.

Fly little bit faster and keep flying!

[akflyer]

Learn to fly the plane and you don't have to worry about it. You have to work at it to spin these planes. I have done some incredibly tight turns both cordinated and un cordinated and have yet to enter a spin. You can live in fear or live in confidence depending on how much gas you put throught the tanks!

[Esser]

If you are at all nervous about spins why not look up an instructor and do some spins? Up here in Canada spins are part of our license training and once you do a couple and recover from a couple it really takes the fear out of a spin. It also helps you identify what to look for just before you enter a spin and can stop a spin before it happens. But like it was said before. Keep your speed up and you are fine.

[akflyer]

Speed is not the answer... I can stall and spin my avid at 70 but I am pulling some g's to do it. Accelerated cross control stalls kill more cub pilots than anything else up here. If you take away enough elevator to make it stall/spin proof your just begging to stuff it in when your on short final and you hit that lil sinker. You planning on putting airbags in it too? Maybe a brs? Don't forget your to strap a parachute to yourself in the 1 in a million chance that you fold a wing inflight.

The kitfox and avid line are very easy to fly. Don't sweat the small stuff! Do a ntsb search on auto accidents and you will never leave your house!