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Thread: Strut speed fairings.

  1. #31
    Senior Member HighWing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Quote Originally Posted by av8rps View Post

    Here's the million dollar question? Did you think your speed mods were worth the effort?

    Paul
    Paul,
    Thinking about how to respond to the comments, the above quote sort of leads into my thoughts. I have an addiction, I must confess. I am a garage rat, tinkerer, tool guy, or whatever other moniker can be used for a guy who is always in the Hangar - Shop - or if not there, trying to think of one more thing to do. The pic is my first real project other than the push carts as a kid. Yes it works. It is .25 Cal. as that was the largest drill bit my dad had in his toolbox.

    Deringer.jpg

    So in that sense, yes they were worth the effort. But in a practical sense, I don't really know. Sadly, my current Model IV hasn't been flown very much since Phase I. My initial intent for the mods was to hopefully keep up with the buddies who mostly went to the ULS while I stuck to the 80 HP UL in the Kitfox that was to replace the one destroyed in 2007 with my emergency landing. During the time I was building N338S One of the guys got married and quit flying, another sold his IV, another went to a Glastar which sort of paced him out of the group. This resulting in the group sort of vanishing. The side by side flights were gone.

    I have not played with prop pitch since first flight. My airspeed at 5500 rpm at about 2000 ft. is about 105 mph. I can climb from our 1300 ft. strip here at 1500 fpm. so I could play with the prop and likely get a few more mph without compromising too much in climb. I do have cabane gear with fairings on the gear legs and have wanted to fair in the cabane and spring struts. The plan has been to have them rotate as was suggested in a previous post.

    Being the tinkerer, I have been thinking for a long time about wheel pants. I have the Nankang tires and have thought of something like what we see on the Ercoupe - a fairly tight fitting cone behind the wheel. I still need to use the tire surface as my step to get in and out of the airplane and this would work to keep the tire surface uncovered. With that would be hubcaps similar to what I had on the first IV,but an integral part of the Pants on this one. With the pants and a faired cabane, I might get a bit more speed.

    I also took a look at the wing to fuselage junction and am going to play with that as well. When I decided to build in 1992 it just opened so many doors.
    Lowell Fitt
    Goodyear, AZ


    My You Tube Channel

  2. #32

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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    My fairings are extremely light, just insulation foam board cut with a hot wire and covered in model aircraft fabric. I don't think that weight is playing a big role in the position of the fairings.

    At the inboard ends the front and rear fairing are attached to each other in order to create a nice finish.
    Because of this, and because of the jury struts sticking out halfway the struts only the outboard half of the fairing is able to rotate to some degree in flight.

    Both the left and right fairings have the same position in flight, and do not really change angle in relation to the aircraft during climb cruise and descent. After landing they assume their "logical" position again.

    Anyway, I don't think the position of these fairings matters that much. I just think that on a draggy airframe large gains can be made with simple streamlining.

    Jan

  3. #33
    Senior Member av8rps's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Lowell,

    Thanks for taking the time to explain all that. I admire your tinkering trait as I like to do the same, but I always seem engaged in other more domestic tasks, so my tinkering on my plane typically is limited.

    I am really impressed with what you've done with yours, and even though you don't have specifics, just by seeing what you've done I'm sure it is gonna be a lot "cleaner" than a stock Kitfox. So keep tinkering

    Paul

  4. #34
    Senior Member jrevens's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Quote Originally Posted by av8rps View Post
    Lowell,

    Thanks for taking the time to explain all that. I admire your tinkering trait as I like to do the same, but I always seem engaged in other more domestic tasks, so my tinkering on my plane typically is limited.

    I am really impressed with what you've done with yours, and even though you don't have specifics, just by seeing what you've done I'm sure it is gonna be a lot "cleaner" than a stock Kitfox. So keep tinkering

    Paul
    I agree with you, Paul. The more you see and learn about Lowell, the more impressive it is... he is truly an innovator and craftsman of the first order. I suspect that he (like others on this forum) has created and accomplished a lot in his life, aside from his beautiful Kitfox creations. The little flint lock Derringer (his first "real" project) was an early indicator of that, I'm sure.
    John Evens
    Arvada, CO
    Kitfox SS7 N27JE
    EAA Lifetime
    Chap. 43 honorary Lifetime

  5. #35
    Senior Member av8rps's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Yeah. It's just too bad he is so modest that we have to basically pry all his great ideas out of him.

  6. #36
    Senior Member
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Well, I am scheduled to begin my tailwheel training with Stick & Rudder the 18th of January. Sure hope the weather clears up a bunch. I will stop by the factory to see how they do the SLSA fairings. Thanks for all the input. You people are awesome. Purged my 912 oil today and found a small leak at the oil cooler. Ran out of time so hopefully tomorrow I will fix that and will be ready to do my first start. Getting butterfly's in my stomach..so close.
    Stan Inzer
    912 ULS
    Dynon Skyview 10"
    N599KF

  7. #37
    Administrator DesertFox4's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    That's great Stan. First start is BIG!! Wish I was there too. A while before I get to first start up.
    Have fun with Stick & Rudder. Fun folks. Hope weather is on your side.


    DesertFox4
    Admin.
    7 Super Sport
    912 ULS Tri-gear


  8. #38
    Senior Member jiott's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Here are some shots of the factory SLSA's several years ago.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Jim Ott
    Portland, OR
    Kitfox SS7 flying
    Rotax 912ULS

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