I still need float-rigging info

[av8rps]

Lynn,

I don't think that installation has anything to do with being a taildragger or a trike gear setup.

I'm guessing the reason for that is because those floats have the spreader bars closer together than most floats. A lot of builders as well as manufacturers don't really know what they are doing when putting floats together, so they put spreader bars too far back, too far forward, too close together, etc, etc.. if you compare the blue airplane to the others, you will notice there is a lot more float forward of the the front speader bar, besides the rear spreader attach being moved forward causing that rear strut to be more vertical. So something is different with those floats than most. At one point I do know the Czech's were building a 1250 that moved the step 6 or 8 inches back to offer more forward buoyancy for the Rans S7 guys, and I know the first sets did not have the spreader bars moved ahead to match the new step location. So I'm guessing those might be a set of those floats?

The Czechs did the same thing on their first set of their CZ 1300 amphibs. They made them initially for a specific airplane that had really closely spaced attach fittings that also were way far forward. They essentially couldn't give those floats away for install on other airplanes until Ken from Harbor sport aviation modified them and redesigned the landing gear so they could easily be mounted and used on other airplanes like the Rans, Kitfox, Highlander, etc. Ironically, after the spreaders and gear were fixed, they became one of the nicest floats out there.

[av8rps]

Hey Lynn, are you out there?

I never heard back to see how your float installation turned out? I figured by now (knowing how commited you were to making a Jab powered Speedster work on floats) that you must have it all figured out or you would have recontacted me.

Hopefully you are having so much fun on your floats that you didn't have time to write but now that float season is ending I'm hoping you may have some time to let us know your results.

Paul

[DesertFox4]

Lynn hasn't logged in since 2-1-15. Hope he is ok.

[av8rps]

Thanks. I'll see if I can track him down through some mutual friends.

[Lynn Matteson]

Thanks. I'll see if I can track him down through some mutual friends.

Hi Paul

Good to hear from you. I tried to answer last night with a text from my cell phone, but it apparently didn't go through. Rather than go into a lengthy discourse of what has happened with the floats so far, I'll send this and see if that works. If it does, get ready for a lengthy tale of some success and a lots of woe.

Lynn

[av8rps]

Hey Lynn, nice to hear from you!

I'd love to hear your success and your woes with floating your Fox, and I'm sure others here on the forum would too. So please, by all means share with us your experiences with putting amphib floats on your Kitfox 4 Speedster.

Paul

[Lynn Matteson]

Hey Lynn, nice to hear from you!

I'd love to hear your success and your woes with floating your Fox...

After I got the floats rigged (pretty much to your suggestions, Paul), I tried taxiing, and the plane wouldn't respond correctly to input from brake applications...this is an anphib, as you recall. It turns out that I had crossed up the brake lines during the installation, so I swapped the lines where they crossed and this small problem went away...duh!

We got all the weights recorded, balance was within specs, and my flight instructor took it up for a flight...perfect...no handling issues. He took it to the lake, made a couple of landings, then I got in with him for a test flight, and a lesson. With two of us aboard...me 165 lbs, him 235...the plane took forever....45 seconds plus...to lift off. Next we tried getting on step, lifting a float and popping it off the water. This worked, but he suggested that the step needed to go further aft, as he could feel the aft of the floats being "snatched" down upon landing, and that the sweet spot was too hard to hold when trying to get on step. We tried more landings and takeoffs, but it was always the same story....long takeoff runs.

He suggested that because of the short wings, lift was suffering, so I told him that I could add the previously cut off (prior to my buying the incomplete plane) wing section back onto the plane.
That job kept me busy for a couple of weeks, and when I had that little chore done, I tried a flight...not much better, I felt, but hard to compare with previous flights from my field because of the long wet Spring, and the soggy grass runway, now dried out and comparing those conditions with a now-longer wing and now dry conditions.

During the next few weeks, I got intermittent training in his J-3 on straight Edo floats, and was getting more comfortable with this whole different aspect of float-flying, but not ready to solo yet. This was partly due to the backwards layout of the Cub....tach reads backwards, controls are in opposite hands, can't see the carb heat knob, water rudder lift handle is to the side and slightly behind me...all hard for this 78-year old adjust to. : )

All that, and his available time is short, because of his job flying for a major airline, and domestic duties, none of which I have, so the frustration level on my part is raising.

A couple of times he would have me landing at his place, and would distract me with talk of something or the other and I'd be on final with the wheels still up...exactly what he wanted to see. So he'd have me go around, naturally, and by now I figured that a checklist would be handy, and also for me to call for a "sterile cockpit" which shut him up. Don't get me wrong....he's just trying to keep me safe...and we get along just fine. I also work on planes for him in my spare time at his place.

So eventually he flies it to a hard-surfaced airport near here, (I drive) and do multiple landings on that smooth surface and he finally ok's me to fly solo after he's convinced that I can call out all the checklist items....carb heat, mixture, landing gear position, rpm, water rudder position, etc. I do 3-4 solo landings and he ok's me to fly it home solo to my place....finally, after 5 weeks of installing the floats, having it flown for tests, and flying it with my instructor, I was released to fly it home solo and park it in my own hanger. Now I can fly it by myself again...from and to land only, mind you...but at least I can fly it alone again. And now is when I can get into trouble ALL by myself...and I do!

That's enough for this segment, I'll continue later or tomorrow...Oshkosh experience, coming up.

Lynn