Congrats grasshopper.
You have been trained by the best. Phase one testing will be much safer for you and your new Kitfox.
Stick & Rudder Kitfox training is a wise investment and your insurance carrier will agree.
Congrats grasshopper.
You have been trained by the best. Phase one testing will be much safer for you and your new Kitfox.
Stick & Rudder Kitfox training is a wise investment and your insurance carrier will agree.
DesertFox4
Admin.
7 Super Sport912 ULS Tri-gear
Congratulations Eddie. You’ll feel more confident now for your first flight.
David
SS7 Builder
Got to go out to the desert backcountry stuff yesterday. The high terrain is covered in snow still. Sure was valuable information to acquire. I really didnt imagine that landing on slopes, narrow unimproved surfaces etc etc would be that involved. Just not knowing field elevation and runway length and the slope really makes things challenging. Sometimes running along these surfaces made me think I was 4 wheeling in a truck. Man, was it fun getting mud on the airplane.
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My manual instructs to swag the rudder cable around the bushing after attaching the bushing to the rudder control horn. I notice that some pics show that there are little links in use. presumably to allow for adjusting the cable tension. Before I do this, can't I expect the cable to stretch ever so slightly from use. Im supposed to have 1/4 inch gap between the firewall and the rudder. If the cable is made slightly long then that 1/4 inch will be gone and if the cable stretches a bit after flying awhile then the same will happen. I like the idea of an adjustment. How are you guys accomplishing this connection?
Eddie
Hey Eddie, I opted to change the kitfix design And go with AN Shackles back there. I have AN turnbuckles that I might add later if I need to adjust anything or tighten it up anger.
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Josh Esser
Flying SS7
Rotax 914iS
AirMaster Prop
Edmonton, AB, CWL3
Eddie, I've put turnbuckles on all my rudder cables (I have dual controls). Did that for two reasons: Initial instal where I can adjust any differences between lengths (shouldn't be but there always is) and second, because temperature changes can affect cable tension. We get some hot days in Aus (40+C) as some of your states do, so I wanted the option to tweak cable tensions. Not sure whether I'm going to use the Kitfox supplied links or "D" shackles as Josh has.
David
SS7 Builder
This turnbuckle thing keeps coming up year after year and IMHO it seems like extra work for reasons that don't make much sense to me. If it floats your boat and you are cool with it then it certainly doesn't hurt anything. Cable tension is set ONLY by the springs on the rudder pedals, so you could adjust your turnbuckles to their full range and not affect cable tension hardly at all. Seems to be a lot of worry about swaging the cables and getting them even. Believe me its not that hard to swage them close enough that your feet will never notice any unevenness in the neutral position, so the need to "tweak" the adjustment is just not necessary, unless you deliberately want to be sloppy in your swaging. As far as cable stretch goes, the tension (controlled by the fairly light springs) is so light that I doubt you would ever measure any stretch; I certainly haven't noticed any in 600 hours. Change in cable length due to temperature change also is not enough to worry about; even if it were are you going to "tweak" the adjustment twice a day for cool mornings and then hot afternoons? Also I hope your not thinking that cable adjustment will give you rudder trim. In neutral the rudder trails in the slipstream and any trimming must be done with a tab on the rudder itself.
Jim Ott
Portland, OR
Kitfox SS7 flying
Rotax 912ULS
You are so right Jim. I went through the entire thought process on this when I was doing my build. Initially it was kinda like "as an A&P surely I can make this better" and "all of the other (certified) planes I have worked one have turnbuckles". When I understood the simplicity of the Kitfox rudder cable system I realized there was no need for any "improvements".
When I put my rudder on I found that there was a slight difference in alignment of the pilot to co-pilot rudder pedals with the rudder centered. I decided to rig it such that the pilot's pedals were centered with the rudder in neutral. No one has noticed anything from the right seat.
Lastly on the topic of cable stretch with temperature changes. This is something I teach as an A&P instructor. It has to do with the difference in expansion of the different types of metal of an aircraft. Aircraft with an aluminum fuselages have this issue because the airframe expands & contracts at a different rate then the steel cables. On the Kitfox (or any steel tube airframe) this isn't an problem because the airframe and cables are both made from steel. There isn't any difference in the amount expand & contract.
Phil Nelson
A&P-IA, Maintenance Instructor
KF 5 Outback, Cont. IO-240
Flying since 2016
Thank You all for your replies. I hadn't considered the spring load at all. Totally makes sense. Swagging today. So thankful for this forum.
Eddie
Great information from Jim and Phil. Agreeing with Eddie, this forum is a wonderful resource. Even better, as I trail a few months behind Eddie, he keeps asking the questions for me!
Carl Strange
Flying
SS7, 912iS, Oratex, G3X