Hi guys,

Last summer I bought a Kitfox IV and trailered it home from Yellowknife, NWT for 1600km. Someone had advised me to support the rear of the fuselage with blocks to prevent stress on the tailwheel spring with the wings folded. Unfortunately, due to the rough roads in northern Canada, when I got home I found that the tailwheel spring was fine, but the tubes along the top of the fuselage were bent. Now I'm wishing I were just replacing a tailwheel spring.

I was busy with other things over the winter, but now that the weather is getting nice, I'm getting the itch to get this Kitfox in the air so I would like to repair the fuselage.

I am am pretty mechanically inclined and have taken the Polyfiber covering course so I am comfortable with fabric work.

I have attached a photo of the damage. What would be the best way to fix this? As you can see the fabric has some holes already, should I just strip all of the fabric off and straighten the tubing and re-cover the whole fuselage? Or is there a way I can do this repair without doing a full re-cover?

Thanks,
Randy (Alberta, Canada)

See photo's below: