folding the wings with fuel in the tanks

[Jerrytex]

I know that in order to trailer the Kitfox, one must empty the wing tanks and use all the support bars etc. If one was just going to fold the wings at the airport and store it in a small hangar with the wings folded, is it necessary to drain the tanks and support the leading edge? Anyone have any experience with this?

[SkySteve]

I used to keep my plane in a hangar where I had to fold my wings, and like you, I didn't want to drain the fuel. So I got enough clear tubing to run from one wing tank cap vent to the other wing tank cap vent, folded the wings and put the plane in the hangar. Seemed to work fine. The tube is a must or your fuel will run out the fuel tank cap vents every time you fold the wings.

[kmach]

Hi,
On my KF5 taildragger I fold the wings for storage .

I put a mark on my wing tank sight gauges that lets me know when the tanks are at approx. half full (wings unfolded ready for flight).

If the fuel is at this mark ,I know I can fold the wings without any fuel coming out the tank caps.

I came to this "safe to fold mark" by, when the wings were folded, filling the fuel tanks to 1 " below the top (room for temp changes) .

Then when I unfolded the wings I marked the sight gauges.

As far as braces, I just use the wing lock back braces that attach thru the fuselage carry thru tube in front of the vertical stabilzer . That keeps everything tight for rolling the plane in and out of my shop ,about 2 plane lengths in all .

I use a piece of yacht rope around the tailwheel for a tow rearwards , around the axles of the summit wheel ski setup for forwards , I was going to make a towbar but this works so well and is so simple that this is how I intend to do it long term.

Hope this all helps, Kevin