Handling

[jack111]

My Kitfox Classic 4 is just about unmanageable during fast taxi trials. I feel it is a real accomplishment when I stay on the runway.
I have a belt reduction Great Plains VW engine rated at 100 h.p. for take-off turning a 72 inch Sterba wooden prop. It also has a Grove main gear.
I took instruction from "Stick and Rudder" and Paul's Kitfox handled like a dream
Any suggestions how to tame this beast will be appreciated. Jack

[CoClimber]

I am probably the last person that should be replying to this but I have just been studying tailwheels. If you have the Maule, try removing the cam. This will prevent the wheel from free swiveling. It has been known to release too soon and the airplane will be unmanageable if that happens. Good luck.

[jonstark]

An aircraft as light as a Kitfox IV is going to be a handful trying to control during high speed ground runs. I avoided it and merely taxied (a lot) at normal speeds making S turns along the way and intermittent stops.
You might want to check your wheel alignment.
...and stay in the grass!

jon

[jack111]

I am probably the last person that should be replying to this but I have just been studying tailwheels. If you have the Maule, try removing the cam. This will prevent the wheel from free swiveling. It has been known to release too soon and the airplane will be unmanageable if that happens. Good luck.

Co Climber Thanks but I have already disabled the castering feature on the Maule tailwheel. I should have mentioned that in my initial post. Jack

[HighWing]

One more thought. The Maule tailwheel that came with the early Kitfoxes was regularly abandoned by the builders. The Issue then was mostly tailwheel shimmy. I went to the 6" double fork Home Builders from Spruce. I also have about a half link of slop in the chain/spring link which was the talk of the day when most of the guys were building IVs. I have been chastised by A&Ps (One a Stearman expert) for that, but it is what works for me.

[Smiffy]

Hi Chaps

Could I ask your opinions on the following please.

Main legs.
I'm currently putting a mk2 back together and having stripped and rebuilt the under carriage legs, I've measured the tracking. I've got 0.5 deg toe-in on the port wheel, and 1.0 deg toe-out on the starboard wheel. Bearing in mind the mk2 has the earlier solid axles with no option to shim them, should I be concerned with this alignment?

Maule tailwheel
I've noted the comments earlier about removing the cam plate to prevent unlocking. Mine doesn't unlock on full rudder anyway, I'm just wondering how it affects taxiing when you need to turn tight on the brakes. Oh, it has all been stripped, cleaned and greased and unlocks fine on the bench, it just doesn't have enough lock on the aeroplane to unlock it.

Haven't taxied it yet, just finishing final assembly, but hopefully being inspected this month.

[jmodguy]

Smiffy
Your gear still needs aligned. Find a long bar that will fit the axle and someone/something to hold the tail and tweak the gear until alignment is proper.

[DesertFox4]

Might be an alignment problem with the main gear. Grove sells shims to solve alignment issues. http://www.groveaircraft.com/accessories.html
A couple degrees out and the ride can be exciting. Did a quick search and found many threads on fixing this. Below is a link to a thread with a photo tutorial on checking alignment then fixing misalignments.

https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/thread...tutorial/page2

[Dusty]

From memory of an earlier plane I had with a maule, the trick was to use a flat screwdriver and unlock the tail wheel manually before backing into the hanger.A modified sack barrow is Also a handy tool.

[av8rps]

A Kitfox is not a difficult tailwheel aircraft to fly. I'm stating that for any of those out there reading this forum that have an interest in a Kitfox but have never actually flown one. I've been flying these airplanes since 1987. They are great handling aircraft both on the ground and in the air. But, like any airplane if something is wrong with it, normal good handling characteristics can be compromised.

Also, I personally do not think there is anything wrong with doing high speed taxi down a runway. If one is afraid to high speed taxi, what are you going to do the first time you feel the need to wheel land? Or maybe one day you just land a bit too hot and you find yourself (mistakenly) having to transition from a high speed taxi until you can get it slowed down. Or when you need to "Land long". Maybe it is just me, but I always high speed taxi an aircraft before I fly it for the first time (as in a 1st flight of a homebuilt) as I want to know what to expect BEFORE I find myself in the air. I need to know how to handle the aircraft in a high speed mode for the 1st landing IF I NEED TO DO SO ON THAT 1st FLIGHT. Again, maybe just me? I guess I'm pretty old fashioned as I still like to stall any airplane I fly on a regular basis...and I keep hearing that there are those that don't think we should be doing stalls? Oh well, to each their own.

I too would suspect that Maule tailwheel as they typically give the same symptoms. I had a Model 4 that had horrible ground handling problems. It had been ground looped and damaged 7 times before I got it. The Maule tailwheel was the biggest culprit, but one of the main landing gear legs was also tweaked out more than a half inch. So it was a monster. But easily tamed by straightening the alignment of the gear, and putting a different tailwheel on it.