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New guy from IL

11 posts in this topic

Posted

Hello all,

I'm a relatively new member here and earlier this year bought a Kitfox IV 1050.  I had some fixing up to do on it because the fuselage bent during trailering it home.  That is all fixed now though and the airplane is flying, well it has flown twice for about 2 hours total.  I've been dormant wrt fling for several years so am working with an experienced kitfox instructor to get back in the saddle. I figure I have at least a few more hours before I'm comfortable.  I actually bought the airplane beginning of August, but had to fix the trailering damage, add brakes to the right side, fix a bunch of little things...  Anyway, here are a few pictures. One is a picture o

 

 

20190822_101147.jpg

20190822_101157.jpg

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Posted

Very nice!!!

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Posted

That was a popular paint scheme, looks like my old KF3!

image.jpeg

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Posted

Nice looking plane.  I escaped Illinois a few years ago......

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Posted

I finally was able to get checked out in my Kitfox today. It was a bit reminiscent of my first solo 37 years ago with the instructor telling me to pull off to the side and let him out. Felt really really good especially since I have basically been out of flying for about 10 years.

 

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Posted

Congratulations on your second/first solo.

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Posted

 

Been doing some flying and put a couple videos on YouTube.

 

 

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Posted

John, after having it for a few months now, what are your initial impressions?

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Posted

Nice plane! Welcome to the forum. Great group of people here. Good for you, getting it all straightened back out and up in the air again. Merry Christmas!

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Posted

John, after having it for a few months now, what are your initial impressions?

I love the airplane.  Mine is a Kifox IV 1050 with a Rotax 582 for power. The logs say it is 560 lbs empty, but I haven't re-weighed it yet.  I've only got about 15 hours in it so far. I've been very busy with work and have had a few things that slowed me down. I've been working on "fixing" things too.  Nothing that is really "wrong", but stuff that isn't up to my standards.  

As for actually flying it, here are my impressions:

  • I love the performance that can be eeked out of 65 hp. The takeoff and climb performance is great as is the landing performance.  That said, I'm at 600 ft MSL field elevation, so those at higher altitudes may disagree.
  • Mine is definitely pretty close to neutral in yaw. It isn't difficult to keep the ball centered, but does require constant "butt awake" time. I have read that enlarging the rudder improves this dramatically. I plan to do this mod but may not happen until next spring. I'm planning to go about 8" taller and 2" wider on the rudder. I'll add an aerodynamic counterbalance horn on top so I don't have to modify the vertical stabilizer. 
  • I have the stock landing gear running the 8" Douglas wheels and 21X12X8 smooth ATV tires and it seems fine. Maybe a little narrow but pretty well behaved. Just make sure you don't land in a crab and all will be fine. I may build a new gear but his one is fine for now. I'd guess the ATV tires make it behave a little better than if it had smaller tires. I also have the 6" solid tire Matco tailwheel and I am looking at converting over to an 8" pneumatic tire. I'm a former machinist and have a shop, so  will probably make a new fork that will accept the larger tire. 
  • I added dual brakes and they are weak. Mine currently has the stock rudder pedal geometry, so this will be getting changed. I added dual brakes, and should have fixed the geometry then, but I didn't think it could be as bad as it is. I can't hold more than about 3/4 throttle. The good news is you can't lock the brakes, but you also won't be getting much brake help if it starts going a bit sideways. My recommendation would be to ditch the MC-1 master cylinders and go to MC-4's so that the geometry can be fixed. I'm going to do this mod soon. There are plenty of threads about improving brake effectiveness but it boils down to the geometry between the pedal and the master cylinder. 
  • Many have said that the elevator on these earlier IV's isn't powerful enough but I haven't had any problem. As I said I have the 582 which is one of the lightest options, so I think those running out of elevator may be the ones with heavier engines on the front and hence a more nose-heavy airplane.
  • As for flying, I've been doing a lot of takeoff and landing practice. I started off approaching at 60 mph with 0 deg flap. I've now worked down to 50 mph approach with 1/2 flaps and that seems to work much better.  I've mostly been 3 pointing it but it seems to wheel land fine. I'm just rusty having been out of flying for too long. 
  • She ain't gonna win any races, but then again I don't think anyone who buys one is buying to go fast.
  • I like to fly for fun and have stayed away from strong winds. About the most I've had it out in is maybe 15 kts quartering headwind.  It seems to me that the airplane handles the wind while flying fine, but it is so light that taxiing may be more of a problem sometimes.  I certainly would not take this airplane out in the kind of wind I've had my Sonerai in.

Bottom line is that it is a fun, well performing, fair weather airplane as far as I am concerned. It will definitely get into places other airplanes can't/shouldn't.  

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Posted

Thanks for your report. That all sounds great. You certainly out some thought into your post as well. 
I hope to be able to echo your flight report on my model IV 1050, very soon! 

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