Karmy Flying Adventures

Arlington Airshow

Andy — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:00:30 +0000

It’s that time again, part of every summer for the last 15 years… The Arlington Airshow has become part of our family’s summer tradition. We go for the entire 5 days, camp with our friends and talk airplanes 24hrs a day!

This was the first year I flew the Kitfox up to the show and when I got there I was invited by John and Debra to park my plane in the factory vendor booth. That was nice of them, and make it nice and convenient to have the plane closer to the campgrounds. I talked with many potential customers and was able to show off the plane as a “builder” completed version.

Ranger Creek Airstrip

Andy — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:00:46 +0000

Ranger Creek is a nice airstrip run by the State of Washington aviation department. It’s located in the Cascade Mountains near Mt Rainier. The approach is interesting as you overfly the field headed east into a box canyon, turn around and drop down low over the river which goes right by the airstrip. It’s important to watch your speed as there are downdrafts and winds in the canyon if the weather is anything but calm. Best to arrive early in the morning for the smoothest visit!

Emily visits the Beach

Andy — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:25:46 +0000

There’s just something fun about landing on the beach and playing in the sand when you’re a kid! Coaplis WA is a unique place where the runway is on the beach and you can simply land and jump out of your plane onto the sand.

Landing on the Beach!

Andy — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:44:48 +0000

Who would have thought that Washington has an official state run airport located on a stretch of the washington beach? The place is called Copalis Airport and is located about 10 miles north of Ocean Shores. You simply overfly the beach, look for people and animals, then swing around and land on the beach. Pretty neat way to get to the coast and walk the beach.

Dynamic Balancing

Andy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:44:11 +0000

Next up is a quick maintenance task to do a dynamic balance on the prop. There is this neat little device called the DynaVibe which allows you to do a very good dynamic balance on your prop / engine combo. You mount an accelerometer on the engine, a photo-cell and tape on a prop blade, then run the engine at cruise RPM to determine how much out of balance it is. Then you add some weight to the spot it tells you to, and run again. This will tell you how much you moved the numbers and in what direction so you can adjust the weights to correct the balance condition. You lather / rinse / repeat this cycle until you get the prop balanced.

I started out at .35 IPS (Inches per second) that means that the engine was moving 1/3 of an inch every second, glad I have rubber engine mounts. When all was said and done, it was at 0.01 IPS! That’s basically none. It’s amazing that it really makes a difference. The plane is so smooth now. I had to add 0.24 oz to one side of the spinner back plate to balance it.

Morning Flight (Video)

Andy — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:20:33 +0000

Weight & Balance

Andy — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:04:55 +0000

It’s time to find out the damage. Have I made it lighter, or heavier? All those good ideas add up and the day of recogining comes when you roll onto the scales. No matter “WHY” you added those items, they will all show up in the final weight. Now keep in mind that I got this plane as a tri-gear, with wheel pants, dual alternators, dual batteries, etc etc etc…

The grand total = 837lbs! I was really hoping for closer to 800, but hey wach-u-gonna-do? The original W&B I have from the builder lists 833. That was without wheel pants as a tri-gear. Makes me wonder if the scales were calibrated. Oh well, at least it didn’t gain too much!

Wing Folding

Andy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:36:39 +0000

Well, Since it’s one of the key “features” of the Kitfox, I figured I best try and fold the wings and make sure everything was rigged properly. Also, I had to replace some fuel lines so I needed access to the end of the fuel tanks. Final results, yep, they fold. It’s amazing how easy it is to do it.

Fuel Return Line

Andy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:45:22 +0000

So one of the recent additions by Rotax is the recommendation to have a return fuel line from the engine to the tank to ensure cool fresh fuel gets to the carbs. There are a couple of ways that you can plumb that line, but they all share a common requirement. You must put a restrictor somewhere in the line to ensure there is more fuel pressure going to the carbs than going down the return line. This takes the form of a “Pilot Jet” that is installed in either the Banjo bolt, or in the actual fuel T. In my case I was removing the 2 port fitting to go to the 1 port fitting. All I had to do was remove the pilot jet from the 2 port fitting and install it into the banjo bolt. Look at the attached pictures for details of how the jet fits into the system.

Then the actual return line is simply a section of 1/4″ fuel line that runs back to the top of the header tank behind the seat. This gives a slow trickle of fuel back to the tank when the engine is running.

New Panel

Andy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:19:29 +0000

Here’s the latest update from this weekend. I now have the panel installed and all of the main power & electrical system wiring done. Still to go is headset wiring, engine monitor wiring, complete fuel system rebuild. Good times!

Here’s the main power distribution center. Fuse panel, crowbar overvoltage module and relay for alternator feed, filter cap, etc.

Here’s the back of the main panel location, with the switch panel & wiring routing. I used some adel clamps attached to the bottom edge of the panel to create a nice wire chase path. Keep them from being zip tied to the tube structure under the panel.

Here’s a neat idea for your GPS antenna farm. Since the glareshield is fiberglass, they work just great mounted just underneath the dash cover. Keeps them out of the way and securely mounted.

I used a Brother label maker to create the panel labels. The key to making them look nice is to use the black border function. When cut out carefully they blend in great on the light colored panel.