Visability over and around the cowl

[herman pahls 9]

Recently I removed the Jabiru 2200 and Skyfox cowl and went back to the 582 and and Kitfox round cowl.

For the backcountry flying I do I prefer the 582 but I miss the visability I had with the Jabiru Skyfox Cowl which resembles the Avid cowl.

I was considering trying the Skyfox cowl with the 582 but the spark plugs will not allow lowering the cowl much.

This must be the reason Avid 582's are spark plugs down.

Would it work to use a Avid motor mount and cowl on a Model 1 Kitfox and do you Avid owners feel you have good visability for landing between rocks?

Does anyone know if the prop thrust line is lower on an Avid with a 582?

Thanks Herman

[akflyer 1427]

Recently I removed the Jabiru 2200 and Skyfox cowl and went back to the 582 and and Kitfox round cowl.

For the backcountry flying I do I prefer the 582 but I miss the visability I had with the Jabiru Skyfox Cowl which resembles the Avid cowl.

I was considering trying the Skyfox cowl with the 582 but the spark plugs will not allow lowering the cowl much.

This must be the reason Avid 582's are spark plugs down.

Would it work to use a Avid motor mount and cowl on a Model 1 Kitfox and do you Avid owners feel you have good visability for landing between rocks?

Does anyone know if the prop thrust line is lower on an Avid with a 582?

Thanks Herman

I know that the visibility over the nose on mine with the model C and the MK IV cowling is MUCH better than over the nose of my buddies KF I (we both have the Avid wide / Tall gear) Even when I had 24" goodyears and he had the Nanco tires, my visibility was about 100% better! The thrust line should stay the same or very close if you use the inverted mount for the Avid. I am 99% certain that the Avid mount and the KF I fuse will bolt right up.

[dholly 718]

I am 99% certain that the Avid mount and the KF I fuse will bolt right up.

I'm not so sure about that...

[akflyer 1427]

I'm not so sure about that...

I can check on Wednesday. The KF I was a direct copy of the avid and most of the parts will swap out on it.

[dholly 718]

Most parts, not all. Re: engine mounts...

The Avid A had a fixed engine mount vs. removable, and was set up for a Cuyuna engine. I don't think KF1 copied that. All later Avid and KF have removeable mounts. All Avid B-MkIV use the same firewall mount bushings and locations, with different mount configs for different engine applications. KF 2-4 use the same firewall bushings and locations, with different mount configs for different engine and cowl combinations. Ie., 2-pc vs. 4-pc round cowl, round vs. smooth cowl, 582 vs. 912 vs. Soob vs. ?? The bushing locations for the Avid B-Mk-IV are not the same as KF 2-4. Avid B-MkIV uses a 6-point mount vs. 5-point for KF 2-4. I *think* the KF 5-7 use the same firewall bushings and locations (edit: between themselves, I believe they are different than the KF 2-4), again with different mount configs for different engine and cowl combinations. For the KF7 only, there is also a early short mount/cowl version vs. current long mount/cowl version.

Edited 22 Jun 2012 by dholly

[herman pahls 9]

I appreciate this forum taking on my motormount/visability over the cowl issue.

My model 1-2 Kitfox has been updated to a model 4 engine mount so I am sure model 1-4 have the same attachment points to the fire wall.

I have a spare mount so if someone has an Avid 582 spark plugs down mount I would like to compare the distances between the 5 attach points on the firewall.

There is an Experimental Super Cub manufacturer in Wyoming that lowers the Lycoming 4 inches with a modified engine mount, most likely to improve visability.

I want to do the same and would like this forums advice.

Modifying or copying the Avid concept would be the easiest to implement since cowls and exhaust may be available.

I have heard that the Avid 582 installation utilizes a exhaust system that gets full power out of the 582 whereas the Kitfox exhaust has to be modified to fit with a power loss.

Is this true?

If I built my own motormount to lower the 582 with the spark plugs up, where would the already problamatic exhaust go besides out in the breeze which would be the simplest but not conventional?

Would lowering the thrust line of the prop compromise how the airplane flys?

Does anyone have photos of an Avid 582 installation showing the exhaust, motormount,cowl....?

Thanks Herman

[akflyer 1427]

http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/14-my-mod-c/

On the 3rd post, there is a shot of my engine and you can see alot of the mount. I get home tuesday night and I have a spare mount, so I will take it over to Bobs and hold it up to the front of his Mod III or IV and see how close it is to lining up.

[herman pahls 9]

Leni

Thanks for making the engine mount comparison with Bob.

The past post with photos you directed me to give a good idea the difference between the Kitfox and Avid 582 install and engine mounts.

The Kitfox engine mount attaches to the fire wall at 5 points all on the same flat plane, 4 of which look similar to the Avid and the 5th attachment clear at the bottom and middle of the fuselage seems not to exist on the Avid.

Your engine sits very low, but the gear box is still quite high.

This may be the reason Joey's gear box is in the breeze which would make for a smaller, lower and narrower cowl which would be easier to see around.

Joey; where did your cowl come from or is it a one off?

Anyone have photos showing the Avid 582 exhaust layout.

Thanks to all

Herman

[akflyer 1427]

Leni

Thanks for making the engine mount comparison with Bob.

The past post with photos you directed me to give a good idea the difference between the Kitfox and Avid 582 install and engine mounts.

The Kitfox engine mount attaches to the fire wall at 5 points all on the same flat plane, 4 of which look similar to the Avid and the 5th attachment clear at the bottom and middle of the fuselage seems not to exist on the Avid.

Your engine sits very low, but the gear box is still quite high.

This may be the reason Joey's gear box is in the breeze which would make for a smaller, lower and narrower cowl which would be easier to see around.

Joey; where did your cowl come from or is it a one off?

Anyone have photos showing the Avid 582 exhaust layout.

Thanks to all

Herman

Joeys gear box is out i nthe breeze because it is an E box. I should be able to find some more pics on my laptop when I get out of the office and up to the room in about an hour. The Narrow cowling was the same for the A-C models and then changed with the MK IV. I have a MK IV cowling for mine I have flown it with and the visibility is still WAY better than the KF, about the same configuration as the Jab. cowling.