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Trailering my new Kitfox 1 project

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Posted

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So I just got back from a 1250 mile roundtrip to pick up my Kitfox project down in Burley, Idaho. I'm still in a haze since I slept in my truck for two nights and am running on 5 hours of zzz's in the last 3 days. This forum has been such a help in my research on hauling the fox that I wanted to recount my tale so in the future it may be of help to someone else.

I only had access to a 12ft utility trailer so I figured the only way to make it work is remove the elevator and stabilizer to gain truck turning clearance. 20171220_093238_24320786477_o.thumb.jpg.

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As you can see the tailwheel sat in the spare tire and I also used an office chair (with a hydraulic support) without it's back supporting the aft end of the fuselage to share in the load. I had help from the seller and his friend so in 3 hours we had the wings off along with the tail surfaces.The wings and flaperons were wrapped together in bubble wrap then shrink wrap. I tried to avoid the wrap from disintegrating in the wind by putting a couple tarps over the whole plane to take the brunt of the wind. The lift struts kind of surprised me because the secondary support struts are welded so it took up much more space than I figured. Them and the control surfaces rode on the floor of the trailer with a couple straps to hold it down. 

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I set my max speed at 65mph and it was pretty interesting since the speed limit for I-84 in Idaho is 80mph. I don't think I've been passed as much. The tarps for the most part did their job in buffering the wind but as you can see in my after pic I lost quite a bit of wrap and tarp, mostly near the rear of the trailer.

The 10 hour trek back home was relatively uneventful. I made checks every fill up and 100 miles or so. So here it is now at my school in Moses Lake, WA. I'll get it unwrapped once school starts in a week, but I'm just relieved that the fox and I made it home in one piece. Thanks everyone for the help, have a Merry Christmas!

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Posted

Glad you packed good and had a good but tiring trip.  Got your Christmas Present home safely - Happy Days!   EDMO

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Posted

Nice work hope you enjoy the build as much as i have

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Posted

Now the fun begins!

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Posted

Is this the same bird that had the left Gear out from under it?

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Posted

sweet! Post lots of pics of the bird when ya unwrap it and start working on her!

 

:BC:

 

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Posted

Is this the same bird that had the left Gear out from under it?

Yep, the fuselage is bent in a couple places near the gear attachment. It's my biggest concern going into the project, along with any damage in the gearbox/engine from the prop strike. I'll just have to see how it all pans out as I go.

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Posted (edited)

If the tubing is not wrinkled, a block of wood that's radius to the tube and a big hammer works well.  The old FAA videos showing how to straighten a tube are pretty funny, but works well!  I straightened a lot of tubes on mine, only the wrinkled ones had to be cut out and replaced.

:BC:

Edited by akflyer
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Posted

If the tubing is not wrinkled, a block of wood that's radius to the tube and a big hammer works well.  The old FAA videos showing how to straighten a tube are pretty funny, but works well!  I straightened a lot of tubes on mine, only the wrinkled ones had to be cut out and replaced.

:BC:

 

Plan on reinforcing all those bent tubes.  EDMO

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