Getting an old kitfox IV speedster up and running!

[av8rps]

That is a great story about wanting to get your Grandfathers Speedster going again, and flying with him. That looks like a great little Kitfox.

I really like how the Speedster flies, it is really a sporty, fun flying airplane. It is a very nice handling tailwheel airplane. If it doesn't feel that way, there is something wrong with the tailwheel set up (which can be a common problem, so again, if it feels difficult and hard to control, it's most likely the tailwheel set up, not you).

For cruise, a nicely set up Speedster with reasonable streamlining efforts should easily get 120+ mph for cruise. I flew the factory glow in the dark green 912ul Speedster with a crappy wood prop on it that was over pitched, and we were seeing nearly 135 mph TAS at 5300 rpm. I think it would have done better with a bit less pitch, as it couldn't even hit 5500 rpm wide open (which means it wasn't developing max HP). My experience with a 912 has shown that you will have the prop set best if you set it up to get about 5600-5700 rpm when wide open straight and level. Obviously your mileage may differ, but generally I think you will find those numbers to be pretty good.

Note; With the prop set as I suggested you will probably get less climb rate than TommG is seeing with his. But based on what he posted, I think he could add some pitch to his prop and actually get higher cruise with just a little less climb. He also is not using wheel pants, so that's also a few MPH less.