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Got my Kitfox gear today!

17 posts in this topic

Posted

The guy that sold me this gear flew them right to my hangar in his Cessna Cardinal today. I got a pretty smoking deal on them. They are brand new never installed. The tires are 20X7 with the shaved knobbies. I'm going to toss them and get the 21" Kingfox tires. Upon some initial measurements the gear will bolt right on...Thanks Leni for that info. I think it's just slightly taller. The only mod I can see straight off is I'm going to have to move the little tab on the bungee attach point out to the ends. It's currently about 1" from the end. Brett said the Kitfox bungees are routed slightly different.

Now for my questions.....

First off can anyone confirm that a 21" tire is as big as I'm going to find for an 8" rim??

Second think it's easier to cut through that nuclear grey glue and wreck that pretty wood fairing or just cover them and paint them? I don't have any covering materials left over so that's gonna add another couple hundred bucks. The hangar next to me has a fabric guy but they are a biz and I'm sure their hourly rate is steep.

Are there any aerodynamic advantages to having them faired and covered at 90mph?

The parts are coming together. I'm hoping to be ready to start test fitting the gear here in a couple weeks.

On a side note logged a 1.2 after work today. I flew a 200lb passenger with about 15 gallons on board. Big hit in performance after being used to flying solo but would still fly circles around a 172 with two people in it.

Even the 20's on there dwarf my 8.00X6's that are on my plane now.

IMG_5672.jpg

Here is the business end. This stuff is all brand new with the factory plastic caps still installed. See the wood fairings? Think I should take the sawzall to them and then grind off whatever is left or is worth making them pretty and covering them at this point.

IMG_5673.jpg

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Posted

Cover them or you will loose cruise and climb. Round tubes are 60% more drag. Most guys reported that they gained 5-7 MPH in cruise when they did fair them. Climb will take a hit also. I did not fair my gear.... but when I took off the 24" tires and unfaired gear, went to 14' long floats that weight 100# more than my wheels and gear legs, I gained almost 15 MPH in cruise and about 150-200 FPM in climb.

:BC:

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Posted

From a lesson I learned on my gear, take them all apart and put some anti-sleeze on the axles where they slide into the gear legs. This will help aid future maintenance work.

I'll side with Leni, keep the farings and cover the gear legs. From what I saw on Brett's landing gear jig (he has one that now fits Kitfox, Avid and Airdale), the legs are actually slightly shorter than the Avid gear, but they make up for it with the larger tires.

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Posted

Joey-- I just responded to you over at Kitfox. You could have given me a call, I just had mine all apart to put on the skis and new axles.

  • Remove the socket head cap screws holding the rotor to the wheel
  • remove the bearing retaining cotter pin and nut
  • slide the tire/wheel/hub assembly off the axle, leaving the rotor in place on the caliper (my rotors are snug in the wheel-tabs)
  • the rotor can now be removed from the caliper and the rest disassembled

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Posted

None of the people who used to stock the Nankang N800 tires can get them anymore. Has anyone seen a source for these recently?? The tires that are on there are the 20X7's with all the tread shaved off.

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Posted

20 x 7 x 8 is what mine are, too. I've never had need for larger...

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Posted

Joey-- I just responded to you over at Kitfox. You could have given me a call, I just had mine all apart to put on the skis and new axles.

  • Remove the socket head cap screws holding the rotor to the wheel
  • remove the bearing retaining cotter pin and nut
  • slide the tire/wheel/hub assembly off the axle, leaving the rotor in place on the caliper (my rotors are snug in the wheel-tabs)
  • the rotor can now be removed from the caliper and the rest disassembled

Thanks! It was late last night when I was messing with them. I got them apart today. Whoever put the cotter pins in needed junk punched. They were AN pins and bent totally crazy. It took me forever to get them out. Anyways I think I'm going to test fit them and get going on getting them covered. I have some navy blue paint and silver left over from my wings.

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Posted

I talked to a couple of pretty experienced Kitfox guys today that said it was not worth the time to cover them and a heat gun would remove the fairings in short order. Hmmm wish I could see some hard numbers. I have some silver and some blue paint left over from my wings but I'd still probably have a couple hundred more bucks into this project by the time I got done if I cover them....hmmmm what to do.

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Posted

I talked to a couple of pretty experienced Kitfox guys today that said it was not worth the time to cover them and a heat gun would remove the fairings in short order. Hmmm wish I could see some hard numbers. I have some silver and some blue paint left over from my wings but I'd still probably have a couple hundred more bucks into this project by the time I got done if I cover them....hmmmm what to do.

Joey, You can always cover them later and that way you will know if you picked up any extra speed or climb. Randy

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Posted

I talked to a couple of pretty experienced Kitfox guys today that said it was not worth the time to cover them and a heat gun would remove the fairings in short order. Hmmm wish I could see some hard numbers. I have some silver and some blue paint left over from my wings but I'd still probably have a couple hundred more bucks into this project by the time I got done if I cover them....hmmmm what to do.

Do what ya want, but this is very well documented on damn near every aircraft out there. Cubs, Avids, Kitfoxes etc, the drag is way more than you would think. The unfaired gear and the larger tires will make you pay a speed and climb penalty. I am going to cover mine before I put them back on.

:BC:

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Posted

I talked to a couple of pretty experienced Kitfox guys today that said it was not worth the time to cover them and a heat gun would remove the fairings in short order. Hmmm wish I could see some hard numbers. I have some silver and some blue paint left over from my wings but I'd still probably have a couple hundred more bucks into this project by the time I got done if I cover them....hmmmm what to do.

Joey, I have a friend that builds Super Cubs and he said you will gain MPH and lift by covering the landing gear. I was thinking about not covering mine but now I am.Leni must know what the heck he's talking about. Good Luck Randy

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Posted

I came up with a new idea today. Is it the fairing or the covering that provides the aerodynmic benefits?? Someone showed me this plane today.

.watermarked_0d1a629a214cd0d93dde3e23c4d7342c.jpg

He just covered the fairings. I like this look. Now for the kicker..Leni feel free to make fun...I saw some of your old posts on "the list" about this very topic. When if I covered the wood fairing with Ultracoat/Monokote the stuff that model airplanes are covered with?? I have worked quite a bit with it. It shrinks up tight and is pretty strong.

It looks like he faired the front legs too. Mine don't have that part.

IMG_5672.jpg

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Posted

I would try the Monokoat on the gear, why not. It's not structural or lift critical, only a faring.

If you can do this cheaper, why not? :buttrock:

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Posted

If you are going to try that, use super coverite. It is fabric and will last alot longer! You can cover a tennis ball with it if you take your time and work the wrinkles out with the iron. I would be willing to bet that the ultralight covering is about the same weight as the super coverite. You can get it in colors that will come damn close to matching your current covering too.

Monocoat will shred on the first flight or first ding, the coverite is good stuff cause when you crash a model with it, it turning into its own hefty two ply and keeps all the powdered pieces in the covering making it easy to toss it all away in one shot :lol:

I would cover the whole damn gear leg in it because you dont have the fairing on the front leg.

:BC:

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Posted

How about adding a few tabs and putting an aluminum panel on each side of the gear instead of cloth covering. I think Highlander LLC or something like that has an extended gear that uses that approach.

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Posted

Brett at Airdale is sending me 3 more ft of the wood fairing so I can fair the front legs. Leni I will plan on using the Super Coverite. I've heard it's good stuff. All the giant scale guys use it.

EDIT just ordered a roll of the Coverite Fabric..Looks like killer stuff.

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Posted

Hi Joey,

I have heard and read exactly what Leni said about the drag of uncovered gear, so I covered mine; 2 sets now. Personnaly I thought covering was the easy part; but I fabricated my own fairings, routing out the grooves for the gear tubing, gluing and shaping the trailing edges. Your gear legs look all ready to cover, and fabric is cheap. The paint is what is expensive. You will still have more drag by fairing the front and back tubes than covering the whole gear leg but it will be better than not fairing them; sort of in between.

Randy

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