John's Build

[jrevens]

I'm thinking that there must be others who have long legs and big feet like me, and perhaps have had a little bit of difficulty staying off the brakes completely - for instance while landing. Seems like my feet would creep up the pedals when I really didn't want them to, and the brakes on this airplane really work well! I have the pedals at the best angle I can get while still having adequate firewall clearance, but the angle of my feet on the pedals was just not optimum for me. So I made a couple of blocks out of 1/2" Delrin plastic. This really made a great improvement in my handling of the airplane and comfort, and I positively stay off the brakes when I don't want them. I think it was John Pitkin who suggested moving the rudder pedal assembly aft to get a better angle on the pedals, and that probably would have given the same result (more eloquently). However, I can really feel where my feet are now, and it just feels so much better. Most of you guys are probably better pilots than I am, and don't have a problem like this, but man was I having a time with mine. For this, and a couple of other reasons, my airplane wasn't handling on the ground like Paul's up in Idaho did. In 45 years of flying, the bulk of it in tailwheel aircraft, I had never ground-looped an airplane, but I did with this one and it was very humbling and embarrassing. All's good now though. Havin' fun!

[jrevens]

One other little thing I did recently was to make a little hanger assembly for my headsets that clamps to the rear spar carry through tube. I've seen lots of cool and simple ways that builders have accomplished the same thing (better), but I made this before really paying attention to how others have done it. The cubby holes in the baggage sack are an excellent storage space for the headsets, but it's difficult for me to reach into the one behind me after I get in. I know that others have stored the pilot's headset in the passenger cubby, and vice versa, but I had already wired my jacks, and my headset cords weren't long enough to comfortably reach across. This works good... reach in and hang the headset up before I get in, then store it nicely in the cubby hole when done flying.

[David47]

Hey John, I haven't ground looped an airplane yet, but I've been within a gnats whisker of doing it. And yes, it's a humbling experience ... I think at some stage most t/w pilots will get that adrenalin rush when they either come close or "execute the manuever" !

On the delrin blocks, great idea. My feet also creep up the pedals and I have to consciously bring them back down. Will shamelessly steal the idea ...

[efwd]

Hey John, if your gonna do it, do it well. I hope when I do it (like you) I don't damage anything either. Great to hear your having a good time flying.

[jrevens]

Hey John, if your gonna do it, do it well. I hope when I do it (like you) I don't damage anything either. Great to hear your having a good time flying.

I wish that were true Eddie, but I did do some damage during my "incident". I was hoping I hadn't, but upon getting out of the airplane I saw that I had... it's all good as new now.

[Rodney]

Just wanted to say "Thank You" for your fix for the rudder pedals. I have had a terrible time staying off the brakes during roll out after landing. Seems like a horizontal roller coaster ride.

I'm in the process of converting mine to a tailwheel so I will absolutely install these pads before flying. I may use Southern Red Oak - if that's ok.

I also just finished up replacing the hinge material on my turtledeck with the one you used. I don't know where you found that, but talk about some tuff stuff - wow. What a great suggestion.

Again - thanks for sharing all your valuable improvements.

Regards
Rodney

Oh - and thanks for the help on the ground plane issue on my ELT.

[jrevens]

I'm getting very comfortable with my Kitfox now. I find it will walk right past 5500 RPM in cruise if I let it. Seeing 115-120 mph at 5400 rpm (ground speed, no wind, 6000 - 7000' msl). I flew it up to 15,000' msl over the mountains yesterday. At 15,000 the VSI was still showing approximately 250 fpm. It was a nice cool day... around 24 deg. F at altitude. I think I probably need to increase my pitch slightly. It seems to really jump off the ground quickly as it is, and my field elevation is approx. 5100' msl.

[fastfred]

John how thick did you make these things for the foot pedals?

[HighWing]

Seems like my feet would creep up the pedals when I really didn't want them to, and the brakes on this airplane really work well!

I too found that the pedal angles offered by the factory didn't fit my feet, and after riding the brakes and burning pads - and Nylaflow tubing, decided to do essentially what John did, but different. My pedals were steel, so
after doing some cutting and bending at the cylinder attachment brackets, I did an addition that essentially did what John's pad does.

[Esser]

Very Nice John, I was thinking of adding a little strip on my floor boards so that when my heels were on them, I would know my toes were off the brakes. I also did move the Rudder pedals aft during my build and find my set up more comfortable.