Does your Kitfox spend much time outdoors?

[dynomike]

one thing nice about the lsa crowd is the variety of plane configurations. Hangers here in northwest Montana run 200 a month for a t hanger on our city airport. I have my t-bird amphib hangered with a challenger 11(a pusher) and my avid with a challenger 11 and gyrocopter .split up that's 100 and 67 for the other.

[t j]

Except when flying, does your Kitfox sit out side for any length of time? I have my own grass strip and a nice barn to keep it indoors, but I would have to fold and unfold the wings every time I wanted to fly. I received a flyer from Bruces aircraft covers Friday and that got me thinking about leaving it out in the summer.

If you are going to just fold the wings it takes only about 5 minutes. Loading and securing it on a trailer is a lot more monkey motion. It is also real easy to fold...and spread...the wings and you don't have to drain the wing tanks if the tail is elevated a little.

Here's a photo of an idea. Using a "tail wheel trailer" to make folding the wings easier and then pulling it into the barn easy too.
tail wheel trailer.jpg

If you don't have room to tow it into the barn with a tractor or something you could use a trailer hitch dolly. Cheap from harbor freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-d...lly-69898.html

[beeryboats]

I've only had the chance to fold/unfold the wings a couple times so far, so it's really a challenge for one person. Give me time I guess. Part of my issue rolling the plane around with the wings folded is the tailwheel. I keep having to crawl under the tail to pop the release so it will caster 180deg.

[Slyfox]

my wife just went by and saw the post here. she said of course yours does, when you go fly.

[t j]

I've only had the chance to fold/unfold the wings a couple times so far, so it's really a challenge for one person. Give me time I guess. Part of my issue rolling the plane around with the wings folded is the tailwheel. I keep having to crawl under the tail to pop the release so it will caster 180deg.

Some kind of dolly under the tail wheel helps a lot to move the plane with the wings folded. My model four tail wheel weighs 175 pounds wings folded.

Off pavement tail wheel scoop. Swing the wings back then just scoop up the tail wheel and pull it into the shop. The shovel will pivot any direction under the tail wheel to swing the tail around.

[ackselle]

Beeryboats....you'll get faster at folding/unfolding with time. I can roll my IV out of my shed with folded wings, unfold, put turtle deck on all in about 5 minutes.....I ALWAYs do a thorough inspection before flying, warm it up, do the normal run up, and I'm flying. It's much easier to fold the wings after flight....I don't think it takes any longer than 2-3 minutes, and I've got the plane back in the shed...... After I put her away, I always check the oil (burp the 912), and I put a bungee strap around the flaperon controls sticking into the cabin so the flaperons stay upright and don't damage the tail feathers.

Tom...... You tail wheel shovel is brilliant!

Cheers,
Ackselle

[Jerrytex]

I made a tail stand with caster wheels for my 4. It made moving it in and out of a shared hangar a breeze. Like you mentioned, it is hard to get the tailwheel to to caster with all the weight on it. This takes the tailwheel out of the equation and also makes folding the wings very easy.

[Av8r3400]

I have a buddy with an Avid Flyer who made a very similar stand to yours, Jerry. Since his is a gravel floor hangar on a grass strip he used 6" pneumatic casters from Harbor Freight. His also hooks to the trailer tongue mounting points.

With the big tires in it, it even works well in the winter snow....

[rbsj3]

I got a "Tailwheel Transporter" from a guy in Chandler, AZ (see their site) it works great, even in muddy conditions. The handle should be longer and a bit lower to miss the droop tips, but once you press down on the handle and the tailwheel raises, it is easy to navigate into and out of the garage.

[beeryboats]

I checked out the tailwheel transporter videos, and it looks like a great gizmo for when the wings are folded out. But my issue is that with the wings folded the rudder can't turn full travel and release the tailwheel pivot lock. I have to crawl under the tail every time I need turn the tailwheel 90 degrees to spin her around.