struts

[HansLab]

All,

I'm preparing my lift struts for assembling by mounting fairings onto them.
My wings are in a hangar some miles away, the fuselage is in the shop near my house. Now when I assemble the whole lot it has to be right in one shot: there is no room in that hangar to leave the plane with wings-open.

Therefore I want to make the 'cut-away's' on the backside of the fairings (needed because otherwise the fairing will enter the fuselage when folding the wings, in an unpleasant way) before I assemble - without having a wing to fit if the cut-away is away enough - or too much..

Is it possible for you guys to help me with this one , again, by measuring the length of the cut-away from the attach-bolt to the end of the cut-away?

I would be very helped!
Tx in advance,

[t j]

Here's a thread a while back about the lift strut taper on a model IV.
http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=3537

[Dave S]

Hans,

One thing you might consider is leaving the lift strut fairing off until after the wings are mounted.

I measurement could be provided from another plane; however, the measurement is not necessarily going to be the same as another plane due to manufacturing tolerances. Addittionally, the correct profile of the cut is not necessarily going to be easy to get right unless a person is doing the trimming while swinging the wing......the fuselage side can have a little different contour depending on welding/shrinkage which can affect the fuselage tubes as well as condsideration for how the builder installed side stringer may affect the profile.

I'd suggest leaving the fairing off until after the wings are installed.

FYI - there will likely be a need to trim the inner edge of the last rib 1/16 to 1/8 inch or so to clear the read carry through spar when the wing is folded back.

(Spoken by a person who built a KF in a garage with a 9X7 foot door)

Attached photo provides an idea how much was cut off the Port side lift strut fairing.....the starboard side ended up with a slightly different cut profile.

Sincerely,

Dave S
KF7 Trigear
912ULS Warp Drive
St Paul, MN