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Thread: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2014
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    Reno, NV
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    68

    Post Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    Hey guys, I recently (5 months ago) purchased a series 5 kitfox as my first airplane. I was (am) a low hour pilot with no tailwheel experience at the time, but after tons of researching and reading I knew a Kitfox was the plane for me. I found the plane on barnstormers and was instantly attracted to its equipment list. It was powered by the 912ul with Xtra High Compression pistons so we think it was right around 90-95hp. It had the IVO in flight adjustable prop with constant speed controller so the airplane was a real performer at sea level. Unfortunately for me my field elevation is over 5000ft and hot in the summer so its not uncommon to see density altitudes well over 8000. I quickly got the itch to start upgrading the plane and am now well under way.

    Here I am, the proud new owner of what I am calling the FreedomFox


    All fueled up and ready for the 23 hour flight home from Memphis to Reno



    The first thing I ended up changing was the prop. Although I loved the performance of the IVO, it always had vibrations and the wiring wasn't perfect so I ended up with a fixed pitch much of the time (found the wiring issues upon removal of the prop... figures). I swapped to a whirlwind GA-70RW, I knew it was a little too much prop for the plane but planned on adding horsepower so I figured it was better to get the wide chord over the razor version. We pitched the prop for takeoff so I ended up losing a good 15-20mph in cruise, but man, this prop was SMOOTH!!!

    This whirlwind prop is just beautiful!


    The next thing that had been bugging me was the panel. It had tons of gauges which is nice but also had a Dynon D-6 which was a 6 in 1, so many of my gauges were redundant. Also, I was using an iPad Mini for navigation and where the mount was for the iPad had it covering much of my engine monitor gauges and breakers, which wasn't ideal. Luckily I have a good friend with a CNC router so I ordered some carbon fiber plate and got on my computer and started drawing. I ended up using a flypad mount on the left side to hold my iPad mini, and mounted my steam airspeed indicator in the back of the mount (iPad covers it but in the event of a power loss or if the Dynon dies I will still have airspeed).

    The old panel


    As you can see with the iPad mounted it turned into a vary clustered panel


    Out with the old


    The old panel cutouts helped for measuring all the holes to be cut in the carbon


    Ready to cut!


    Faces mounted up and ready to go in the plane, rim painted black


    New panel is in! Here you can see where I put the airspeed indicator incase of a power out


    With iPad mounted



    While saving for more upgrades I decided to sell my other toy, my 2014 polaris RZR XP1000 which I had dumped way too much money into. By selling it I was able to get on the fast track to building my plane into my dream plane.

    First thing I did was get on the phone with Hal and Jay with Zipper Big Bores and did a high compression big bore kit and slipper clutch. The plane already had a skytec starter so the slipper clutch was the only thing I needed to add aside from the big bore kit. Right away the performance was impressive. We had to add 2 degrees to the prop to keep it from over speeding, so I got back about 12mph in cruise. Also my ground roll was noticeably shorter and my climb was about 500fpm more I have been getting about 1000fpm with two guys and full tanks at a density altitude of 7000ft

    The new cylinders have a lot more fins giving better cooling properties


    Size comparison from the original 80hp bore to the new bore


    Pistons and cylinders mounted on the case


    The next step was getting some cruise speed back without losing my climb performance, so the best answer was to go with an Airmaster propeller system with the whirlwind STOL blades on it (the first prop I bought was the speed cut). So before I knew it I had just dumped another $8k into a prop! The Airmaster systems are all custom built per order so it took about 2 weeks for them to build my system and then another week to ship from New Zealand. Which was actually nice because it gave me some time to get a feel for the performance with the big bore before adding the air master.

    Out getting my tires dirty


    The Airmaster arrived last week and I was finally able to find time to install it yesterday. I am going to have it weighed for a new W&B. I figured there has been so much done to this plane since the last time it was weighed that now is probably a good time to do so, especially since I am adding 18lbs to the nose. The install went very smooth, I am absolutely blown away by the quality of the Airmaster, especially after having dealt with the IVO constant speed setup, this was the real deal.

    Constant speed hub


    The air master really looks good on there


    Fully feathered


    At the time of writing this I am waiting to get the plane in to get weighed before I go fly it. I am very excited to see the results. I will be sure to post my thoughts after I get it flying.

    Next thing on my list is 26in bushwheels!

  2. #2
    offroute's Avatar
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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    Really nice Trent. I'm jealous that the S-LSA status prevents me from doing the Airmaster...

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Mt Beauty, Australia
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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    Hi Tent - Great post! And you have been busy in 5 months! I looks like you are achieving your dream of the dream plane! I have just mounted the Airmaster also and have the same impression of the quality of this gear - it will be a little longer until I try it out though so I'm really looking forward to your posts re performance. Great job on your panel - While love the quirkiness of the 'hidden ASI (a bit like a hidden spare key), I am a little baffled as to why you didn't mount in permanent view? Love to hear your thinking on that one.

    Thanks for a great story so far - you certainly don't appear to be daunted by any of the 'big' tasks! Hope the W&B goes well and look forward to more stories.

    cheers

    r
    Ross
    Mt Beauty, Vic
    OZ
    Sold to Richard and Scott Taubman in OZ, 2019. Kitfox SS7,Rotax 912is Sport, Airmaster CSP 75" blades.
    Landcruiser and Cub off road camper (doesn't get any kudos on this forum!)

  4. #4
    Senior Member HighWing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    Trent,
    I like your planning and work. I learned about the Airmaster several years ago and if it was in the budget and if I was still Class IIId, I would have one for sure. The Zipper? Seriously thinking about it as well, but age and some physical issues makes me wonder how long it would be in my own hangar.

    we are almost neighbors, but I am on the wrong side of the big hills.

    Thanks for the posts and pictures. Looking forward to updates as well.
    Lowell
    Lowell Fitt
    Goodyear, AZ


    My You Tube Channel

  5. #5

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    Dec 2014
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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    Thanks for the compliments guys! I was able to weigh the plane today and it weighed in just 6lbs over the original certified weight, must be the weight saved from getting rid of some gauges and the lithium battery. I did a quick test flight today, I still have a bit of adjusting to do on the Airmaster but my immediate opinion is that this prop is amazing! I put it in cruise and with the throttle about 2in out from full I was indicating 100mph, and the density altitude was at 8000ft today. I have never seen my airspeed that high!

    Quote Originally Posted by rosslr View Post
    Hi Tent - Great post! And you have been busy in 5 months! I looks like you are achieving your dream of the dream plane...
    The dynon has airspeed, altitude, heading, turn coordinator, vertical speed as well as artificial horizon, so I use that as my primary gauge for airspeed

  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    A plane that nice with all those upgrades needs................ bigger feet!

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    I know... I know... I'm saving my pennies! That's the next thing for sure

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    Got my bushwheels in! I decided that the 26" airstreaks were the perfect match. So far I am super happy with them, about 7.5lbs heavier per side than the aero classic 21" tires that I had on.

    Right away I can tell you that these tires are amazing! First two landings were on pavement just to get a baseline last night after I installed them. I could tell they were softer and I could definitely tell that the handling was a little different due to the extra clearance and the softer tires. Then this morning my wife and I flew up to a nearby reservoir and did the first off field landing with them followed by a nice little hike to enjoy our day off on the 4th of July. All I can say is wow... I see why there is so much hype bout the alaskan bushwheels, they soak up the bumps so nicely and roll over anything in their way. I can only imagine how smooth this thing would be on 29s! (I didn't want to carry the extra weight or lose the cruise speed otherwise I would be on 29s right now).

    The plane is pretty much just what I would ask for, I am battling some high oil temps right now during climb out so my next step is moving the oil cooler or possibly going with a larger one. Then it time to go see where this plane can take me!

    Quite a bit of difference in size, the "21s" were actually about 19" when I measured, compared to the true 26" bushwheel




    Much better proportions


    First time landing off field, WOW they are worlds smoother, just suck up all the bumps


    My wife enjoying the cool weather after our 4th of July hike

  9. #9
    Senior Member Slyfox's Avatar
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    felts field, spokane
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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    nice looking airplane. did you loose any top end speed with the bigger tires?

  10. #10

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    Default Re: Making my series 5 into my dream plane

    I did, not as much as I would have expected though, it looks like I lost about 5-7mph.

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