Nov 28, 2022     Sticks, Capacitor, Heater and Tail Light - (22 hours)       Category: Controls

Been working some of the things I needed to complete in order to continue with putting the firewall on full time and starting with the firewall forward stuff. I finished installing the tail light and successfully tested it with a battery and the wires that run to the front. I started the heater installation but decided to do it a little different and not use the Adel clamps but rather built some aluminum cross mounts. The good news is that the install looks like it will be just fine but the bad news is that I am waiting for a couple longer bolts to mount the fans since my way makes the bolts Kitfox supplied about a half inch too short. I liked the idea where Dustin put a valve on the water line to the heater so you can shut it off in summer so I got that installed as well. I bought the 40Amp external alternator for my install and figured I would also put in the 22,000uf capacitor to make life a little easier on the voltage regulators. Built a mount for the cap and plan to put it on the firewall. Got my stick grips mounted to the control sticks and wired them into a Y cable which will allow me to run a single set of wires up to the instrument panel for the different buttons on the stick.

  Jul 31, 2022     Left Wing and Trim Boose - (9 hours)       Category: Controls

As usual, work has managed to get in the way to any real meaningful progress on the Kitfox but finally got back to the shop. Finished all the plumbing and wiring in the left wing and got it fully covered. So now the left and right wing are completely covered. I am still on the fence about stitching the fabric to the ribs. I have read where the Oratex adhesive is more than sufficient and other places where it's just a good idea. Doing a bit more research and have a call into Lars (Mr. Oratex himself) to discuss that. I also installed the trim booster brackets between the elevator pushrod and the flaps. Added in the kit hose clamps after Hysoling the bracket and safety wired the screws. This mod helps with the back pressure on the stick during landing/approach. There is a spring to be installed between the bracket and the fitting on the flap control. Right now I am leaving that off as words of wisdom from the factory suggest that it's better to wait till after the final rigging of the controls to where you want them in flight test before adding in the spring.

  Jun 01, 2022     Elevator Rig - (7 hours)       Category: Controls

Rigged the elevator today. Book called for 20 degrees down elevator and 39 degrees up. I set mine up for 18 degrees down and 41 degrees up since reports from other pilots indicate that the Kitfox STi runs out of nose up authority on landing. Figured 18 down was more than enough to get the nose down on takeoff and 41 was just a little more I might like on landing. Set the control stick as required by the instructions at 80 degrees with the elevator in a neutral state. Installed the stop on the pitch servo for the autopilot so that at full elevator deflection, the arm just misses touching the stop by maybe 1/32nd of an inch.

  Dec 20, 2021     Center Console and Rudder Cables - (14 hours)       Category: Controls

Got the top of the console cleaned up and painted. Really like the clean look of the solid rivets over the pop rivets. Installed the sides to the console but used rivet nuts along the top rather than the sheet metal screws. Seemed to work out just right. Once I had that in, I started on installing the rudder cables using the nicopress swedges which was a new experience for me. Never done that. The cable install itself went well. Used two different colors of shrink tubing so I can tell quickly which cable I have hold of (red-port/black-stbd) (didn't have green tubing for the stbd). Installed the cotter pins around the pulleys to preclude derailing of the cable as well.

  Dec 13, 2021     Rudder Pedals - (11 hours)       Category: Controls

Floorboards are in so it was time to install the rudder pedals. Got the position dialed in on the fuselage by centering the center pivot/bearing and then working on the ends where I found the least resistance to the pedal movement. Clamped that down and then checked the overall assembly to see if it was straight across or a bit cattywompus (technical term). Turns out it was fine - maybe a 1/16" out of line which I attributed to the bearings on the center and end brackets. Drilled the holes for the end brackets and then clamped in the forward floorboard and match drilled it up from the bottom. Temporarily installed the pedal assembly and then shimmed using 3/4" dia fender washers under the brackets to improve the pedal movement. The right side took no shims, the center took 1 shim and the left took 3. Finalized installing the bearing brackets and then located and installed the two brackets for the master brake cylinders using a 1/8" drill to get the proper separation between the bracket and the rudder tubes. Ended up with some very smooth rudder pedals which is great. Lots of putting in and taking out of the assembly to get it dialed in.

  Nov 30, 2021     Controls, Flap Detent and Floor Boards - (10 hours)       Category: Controls

Been working the control linkages for the elevator and ailerons and am happy to say the controls feel smooth as silk. Completed fitting the floorboards so they are ready to be coated. I am using a water-based poly on them that is pretty hardy as far as wear, easy to clean up and most importantly - doesn't stink up the shop!! Am ready to start on the center console and my first step was assembling the flap detents. Again reading the forum, many have added two additional flap positions to their detent and that seemed like a good thing. (C'mon you can never have too many positions - right?) So I added the two and assembled it ready to install on the console.

  Nov 22, 2021     Controls and Things - (18 hours)       Category: Controls

Been away at work and time on the plane has been scattered some. I got the top cap on the vertical and stab/rudder coated with Hysol, sanded and primed. Finished fitting the control shaft bearing and pressed in the second shaft to help with the distorting of the bearing when you torque it down (which worked really well) and started assembling the other control assemblies. Made quite a dent in the box of powder coated parts!!.

  Nov 11, 2021     Control Shaft Bearing - (3 hours)       Category: Controls

One of the royal pains in dialing in the controls is getting the control shaft bearing to work correctly on the control shaft. The issue is that the kit has you drill a 3/16" hole through the bearing and then run a bolt through that and torque it. When you torque it, the bearing has a propensity to deform and that in turn screws up the smoothness of the controls. One guy on the Kitfox forum had a suggestion and I really like it so that's what I did. It involves installing a metal tube into the bearing on both sides with the tube sized to the bearing height (I did mine to 0.002" of the bearing height), drilling out the ID of the tube to accept the bolt and then torque down the bolt when installing. While I haven't installed it into the fuselage yet, I did fit the first side per the instructions and built the second tube so that when I do install the bearing, it will be all set. Yeah I know - doesn't seem like much but it was a good day to build an experimental aircraft where you can do stuff like this.

  May 20, 2021     Rudder Pedal Blocks - (3 hours)       Category: Controls

While I was waiting to get my kit I did a lot of reading on other builder's logs. One idea was to add a block to the bottom of the rudder pedal to keep from inadvertently applying the brakes with your size 10s while having happy feet with the rudder. I liked that idea a lot and am waiting for some parts to plumb my fuel tanks in using PFTE fuel line so thought I would build the blocks up and attach them to the pedals. Am a long way from installing the pedals but it was just one of those things I wanted to do and this seemed like the right time.