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Guy Buchanan

Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 1204
Location: Ramona, CA

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:55 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

All,

	

Short Version:



The Red and White Kitfox flew for the first time this Wednesday morning at 

0827 in Ramona, near San Diego. The flight was uneventful for everyone but 

me, the pilot. I noted the following:



1. I'm going to need a trim system.

2. I was getting a lot of exhaust inside. I didn't have the firewall sealed 

because of constantly removing the cowl so will do that tonight for 

tomorrow's flight. I bought some CO detectors too. I'm also pursuing an 

exhaust extension. Anyone know where I can get a cool slip joint for a 1.5" 

OD tube?

3. I have the typical yaw stability points +/- one ball either side of 

center. I have ribs in the vertical stabilizer, but they're very thin and 

only on the tubes. It's no big deal, but if anyone has come up with a 

no-drag way of eliminating it I'd be interested.

4. I get a discrete vibration out of the engine at some RPM's. I haven't 

dynamically balanced the prop yet, as I'm waiting to get the pitch set 

right. (I assume I set it so I'm at 6500 RPM flat out and fully leaned. 

(582) I'm not sure what altitude to use.)



Long Version:



First flight should have been last week. Many of you have seen that I've 

been poking around, looking for time in a tail-dragger K-IV. Well Lowell 

kindly volunteered to sacrifice his Kitfox if I could get up to Cameron 

Park. We had a date set for a couple of Monday's ago, but Lowell's last 

minute insurance inquiry confirmed what I feared. You see I had contacted a 

couple of K-IV owners in San Diego, and both had said that I had to be a 

named insured on their aircraft policy. Neither of the San Diego owners 

wanted to go that far, which I could perfectly understand.



Lowell, however, is exceptional. He offered to put me on his policy if I 

would pay the difference. (Let's see, he's got about 800 hours in a Kitfox 

IV. I've got 0, plus maybe 20 hours in a Decathlon. Ouch.) We sealed the 

deal and he went through all the hassle of putting both me and his flight 

instructor, Ken Couey, on his policy, so I could come up to Cameron Park 

and fly for one hour. Why all the hassle? Because of my insurance. I got 

quotes on $1M liability, (no hull,) from three companies:



1. AOPAIG wanted $767 annually. They required one hour of dual in the same 

make/model, then 25 hours of solo.



2. EAA wanted $797 annually. They required five hours of dual in the same 

make/model, then 5 hours solo.



3. AVEMCO wanted $576 annually. (I'll go with them next year.) 

Unfortunately they wanted 10 hours of dual in something tail-draggerish. It 

didn't have to be make/model.



I had only two hours of recent dual in a Citabria, and I really wanted some 

time in a tail-dragger K-IV before I flew mine. Robert Harris had 

graciously given me some time in his 0-200 K-V, even letting me scare the 

crap out of both of us on a couple of landings. And Alan Nephew had let me 

fly his K-IV, but it was a trike. I really wanted to know if I could land a 

tail-dragger IV.



So it was off to Lowell's for my one hour's dual. I booked the Bonanza for 

this last Monday, departing Ramona a half hour before sunrise. I had a 

beautiful clear flight up to Westover, where I picked up Ken Couey. Ken 

proved to be an affable companion, with an absolutely gorgeous GlasStar. 

(It's for sale!)



Many of you have been to Lowell's, where he hosts his annual Kitfox 

gathering. I couldn't go this year, and knowing Lowell's disappointment, 

and his generosity, I felt I should make every effort to visit. Lowell's is 

an interesting place. It's apparently the only community where you go 

bopping down the road in your airplane, amongst the cars and bikes, and 

pull up to the curb for a visit. When we showed up Lowell was waiting out 

in front of his house, and we pulled the Bonanza around the corner to park 

in the shade of a tree. Very surreal.



After a brief pre-flight Ken and I attempted entry. Unfortunately Ken 

weighs 200, and I weigh 200, and we're both about 6'. We fit, but only by 

emptying our pockets. From then on it was the battle of the knees, wherein 

I tried to wrest control of the throttle from Ken's left knee, while he 

tried to keep his feet off the rudder pedals so I could fly. We had a few 

tense moments but I assured him of my heterosexuality and calmed his fears. 

We flew on to Placerville, a beautiful airport on the side of a hill, where 

I demonstrated my landing prowess. Actually I did pretty well, causing only 

three sharp intakes of breath, one brief shout, yet not one expletive. (I 

said he was affable.) And I was efficient, getting three or four landings 

to every take-off!



Returning to Cameron Park Ken signed my logbook, and the three of us 

celebrated over large glasses of ice water. (Did I tell you it was over 

100F on the ground?) Ken and Lowell discussed plans for their up-coming 

Idaho trip, regaling me with stories of crazy airfields. They even invited 

me to come, knowing full well I'd be sweating my 40 hours down in San Diego.



After a brief tour of Lowell's Lancair project Ken and I climbed into the 

Bonanza oven and sweated our way back to Westover. (I kept thinking Ken was 

looking for traffic, but he was really just trying hard to not touch the 

seat!) I returned to Ramona, running the thunderstorm gauntlet over the 

Tehachepi, and began arrangements for first flight.



I wanted at least one kit builder for my ground crew, but everybody was 

either at Oshkosh or working. I have a new friend whose hangar opposes, 

who's finishing an RV-6. He really wanted to see me fly, as he's been 

watching in awe as I break in my tires and brakes. (I try to see how fast I 

can go without letting the wheels leave the ground. It's fun and exciting!) 

He offered to play hooky so I booked the field for today, Wednesday. My 

ground crew consisted then of my wife on camera, my father in charge of 

take-off roll distance, my kids for  distraction, and Ken on the radio, 

doing the real work of keeping me honest. Ken also brought a couple of 

builder buddies interested in the prospect of carnage.



I got to the airport at 7 and did a complete pre-flight. Everything was 

looking perfect until the distant sounds of spooling turbines arrested my 

heart. You see, Ramona's an air attack base, and San Diego's currently 

burning. (We do that every now and then to flush the illegal aliens.) First 

the spotter. ("That's OK, maybe they'll go out and see they're not needed. 

Right.") Then the S-2's, then the Ag-wagons. It was turning into a real 

party. I was about to cancel when Ken suggested calling the tower. I called 

Ground and explained that I wanted to run an eensy-weensy first flight test 

in the middle of cycling five fire bombers on 10 minute centers. To my 

chagrin they said "Sure! No problem!"



At 0830 I lined up, took two deep breaths, and while fighting for control 

of my bladder pushed the throttle all the way forward. The 582 responded 

magnificently and in 540' (according to my father's careful measurements,) 

was airborne. I did some quick stability checks, and climbed out at 65 

while watching temps. When the water got to 175 I pushed it over to 75, 

which held the temperature steady. I climbed to 2000 AGL, forgetting the 

checklist, the test plan, and damn near everything else in my euphoria. 

Shaking my head to clear out the joy, (and the exhaust fumes,) I ran 

through my stability checks, noting that my Kitfox flies sideways quite 

nicely. Just give it a little rudder and it settles into a nice, stable, 

one ball yaw angle flying straight ahead. So I then amused myself for a few 

minutes, kicking the tail back and forth while giggling with delight. 

Enough of that! I did some slow flight. I did some turns. I did some 

practice approaches. All boring. After about 40 minutes in the air I 

decided it was now or never; I'd have to land sooner or later, and luck was 

definitely going my way.



I had planned a long final, with a nice, stable approach. Of course I was 

silly high, and being the good, conservative, conscientious test pilot that 

I am, I slammed the plane into a wicked slip, (No! Go around, you idiot!) 

dropped about 500', lining up right at the numbers. I then proceeded to 

make the best touchdown I have ever, and will ever, in my entire life, and 

the one after, make. It was better than grease. It was sublime.



Ground sent me to the ground crew to celebrate. As it was morning we kept 

our libations simple. There was much back-slapping and hand shaking and 

"damn, that was great" and pictures of everybody in every permutation, all 

with the aircraft, and then we went home.



Now it seems a dream. I'll do it again tomorrow and it will get more real 

as the days wear on. I've also got some serious mods to do so that will cut 

into my flying. I've got a 40 hour test plan. I guess I'd better get to it.



PS Thanks, everyone, for all the help. And for those of you still building: 

it's worth it. Really.



Guy Buchanan

K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.

_________________
Guy Buchanan
Deceased K-IV 1200
A glider pilot too.

rjdaugh(at)rapidnet.com
Guest

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:01 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Guy,

Congratulations!  And thanks for the great write up!



Blue Skies,

Randy



Do not archive

.           

--

Graeme Toft

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 123

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:56 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Congratulations Guy, may you have many enjoyable hours of flying an fun in 

your fox. Well done.



Regards

Graeme ---

lcfitt(at)sbcglobal.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:34 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Guy,



I enjoyed the day.  Thanks for the report.  It looks like you are on your 

way.  See you next year.



Lowell



---

msm_9949(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:36 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Awright Guy !!!! Congrats!

   

  do not archive



Guy Buchanan <bnn(at)nethere.com> wrote:

  [quote]--> Kitfox-List message posted by: Guy Buchanan 



All,



Short Version:



The Red and White Kitfox flew for the first time this Wednesday morning at 

0827 in Ramona, near San Diego. The flight was uneventful for everyone but 

me, the pilot. I noted the following:



1. I'm going to need a trim system.

2. I was getting a lot of exhaust inside. I didn't have the firewall sealed 

because of constantly removing the cowl so will do that tonight for 

tomorrow's flight. I bought some CO detectors too. I'm also pursuing an 

exhaust extension. Anyone know where I can get a cool slip joint for a 1.5" 

OD tube?

3. I have the typical yaw stability points +/- one ball either  side of 

center. I have ribs in the vertical stabilizer, but they're very thin and 

only on the tubes. It's no big deal, but if anyone has come up with a 

no-drag way of eliminating it I'd be interested.

4. I get a discrete vibration out of the engine at some RPM's. I haven't 

dynamically balanced the prop yet, as I'm waiting to get the pitch set 

right. (I assume I set it so I'm at 6500 RPM flat out and fully leaned. 

(582) I'm not sure what altitude to use.)



Long Version:



First flight should have been last week. Many of you have seen that I've 

been poking around, looking for time in a tail-dragger K-IV. Well Lowell 

kindly volunteered to sacrifice his Kitfox if I could get up to Cameron 

Park. We had a date set for a couple of Monday's ago, but Lowell's last 

minute insurance inquiry confirmed what I feared. You see I had contacted a 

couple of K-IV owners in San Diego, and both had said that I had to be a 

named  insured on their aircraft policy. Neither of the San Diego owners 

wanted to go that far, which I could perfectly understand.



Lowell, however, is exceptional. He offered to put me on his policy if I 

would pay the difference. (Let's see, he's got about 800 hours in a Kitfox 

IV. I've got 0, plus maybe 20 hours in a Decathlon. Ouch.) We sealed the 

deal and he went through all the hassle of putting both me and his flight 

instructor, Ken Couey, on his policy, so I could come up to Cameron Park 

and fly for one hour. Why all the hassle? Because of my insurance. I got 

quotes on $1M liability, (no hull,) from three companies:



1. AOPAIG wanted $767 annually. They required one hour of dual in the same 

make/model, then 25 hours of solo.



2. EAA wanted $797 annually. They required five hours of dual in the same 

make/model, then 5 hours solo.



3. AVEMCO wanted $576 annually. (I'll go with them next year.) 

Unfortunately  they wanted 10 hours of dual in something tail-draggerish. It 

didn't have to be make/model.



I had only two hours of recent dual in a Citabria, and I really wanted some 

time in a tail-dragger K-IV before I flew mine. Robert Harris had 

graciously given me some time in his 0-200 K-V, even letting me scare the 

crap out of both of us on a couple of landings. And Alan Nephew had let me 

fly his K-IV, but it was a trike. I really wanted to know if I could land a 

tail-dragger IV.



So it was off to Lowell's for my one hour's dual. I booked the Bonanza for 

this last Monday, departing Ramona a half hour before sunrise. I had a 

beautiful clear flight up to Westover, where I picked up Ken Couey. Ken 

proved to be an affable companion, with an absolutely gorgeous GlasStar. 

(It's for sale!)



Many of you have been to Lowell's, where he hosts his annual Kitfox 

gathering. I couldn't go this year, and knowing Lowell's  disappointment, 

and his generosity, I felt I should make every effort to visit. Lowell's is 

an interesting place. It's apparently the only community where you go 

bopping down the road in your airplane, amongst the cars and bikes, and 

pull up to the curb for a visit. When we showed up Lowell was waiting out 

in front of his house, and we pulled the Bonanza around the corner to park 

in the shade of a tree. Very surreal.



After a brief pre-flight Ken and I attempted entry. Unfortunately Ken 

weighs 200, and I weigh 200, and we're both about 6'. We fit, but only by 

emptying our pockets. From then on it was the battle of the knees, wherein 

I tried to wrest control of the throttle from Ken's left knee, while he 

tried to keep his feet off the rudder pedals so I could fly. We had a few 

tense moments but I assured him of my heterosexuality and calmed his fears. 

We flew on to Placerville, a beautiful airport on the side of a hill,  where 

I demonstrated my landing prowess. Actually I did pretty well, causing only 

three sharp intakes of breath, one brief shout, yet not one expletive. (I 

said he was affable.) And I was efficient, getting three or four landings 

to every take-off!



Returning to Cameron Park Ken signed my logbook, and the three of us 

celebrated over large glasses of ice water. (Did I tell you it was over 

100F on the ground?) Ken and Lowell discussed plans for their up-coming 

Idaho trip, regaling me with stories of crazy airfields. They even invited 

me to come, knowing full well I'd be sweating my 40 hours down in San Diego.



After a brief tour of Lowell's Lancair project Ken and I climbed into the 

Bonanza oven and sweated our way back to Westover. (I kept thinking Ken was 

looking for traffic, but he was really just trying hard to not touch the 

seat!) I returned to Ramona, running the thunderstorm gauntlet over the 

Tehachepi, and  began arrangements for first flight.



I wanted at least one kit builder for my ground crew, but everybody was 

either at Oshkosh or working. I have a new friend whose hangar opposes, 

who's finishing an RV-6. He really wanted to see me fly, as he's been 

watching in awe as I break in my tires and brakes. (I try to see how fast I 

can go without letting the wheels leave the ground. It's fun and exciting!) 

He offered to play hooky so I booked the field for today, Wednesday. My 

ground crew consisted then of my wife on camera, my father in charge of 

take-off roll distance, my kids for distraction, and Ken on the radio, 

doing the real work of keeping me honest. Ken also brought a couple of 

builder buddies interested in the prospect of carnage.



I got to the airport at 7 and did a complete pre-flight. Everything was 

looking perfect until the distant sounds of spooling turbines arrested my 

heart. You see, Ramona's an air attack  base, and San Diego's currently 

burning. (We do that every now and then to flush the illegal aliens.) First 

the spotter. ("That's OK, maybe they'll go out and see they're not needed. 

Right.") Then the S-2's, then the Ag-wagons. It was turning into a real 

party. I was about to cancel when Ken suggested calling the tower. I called 

Ground and explained that I wanted to run an eensy-weensy first flight test 

in the middle of cycling five fire bombers on 10 minute centers. To my 

chagrin they said "Sure! No problem!"



At 0830 I lined up, took two deep breaths, and while fighting for control 

of my bladder pushed the throttle all the way forward. The 582 responded 

magnificently and in 540' (according to my father's careful measurements,) 

was airborne. I did some quick stability checks, and climbed out at 65 

while watching temps. When the water got to 175 I pushed it over to 75, 

which held the temperature steady. I climbed to  2000 AGL, forgetting the 

checklist, the test plan, and damn near everything else in my euphoria. 

Shaking my head to clear out the joy, (and the exhaust fumes,) I ran 

through my stability checks, noting that my Kitfox flies sideways quite 

nicely. Just give it a little rudder and it settles into a nice, stable, 

one ball yaw angle flying straight ahead. So I then amused myself for a few 

minutes, kicking the tail back and forth while giggling with delight. 

Enough of that! I did some slow flight. I did some turns. I did some 

practice approaches. All boring. After about 40 minutes in the air I 

decided it was now or never; I'd have to land sooner or later, and luck was 

definitely going my way.



I had planned a long final, with a nice, stable approach. Of course I was 

silly high, and being the good, conservative, conscientious test pilot that 

I am, I slammed the plane into a wicked slip, (No! Go around, you idiot!) 

dropped  about 500', lining up right at the numbers. I then proceeded to 

make the best touchdown I have ever, and will ever, in my entire life, and 

the one after, make. It was better than grease. It was sublime.



Ground sent me to the ground crew to celebrate. As it was morning we kept 

our libations simple. There was much back-slapping and hand shaking and 

"damn, that was great" and pictures of everybody in every permutation, all 

with the aircraft, and then we went home.



Now it seems a dream. I'll do it again tomorrow and it will get more real 

as the days wear on. I've also got some serious mods to do so that will cut 

into my flying. I've got a 40 hour test plan. I guess I'd better get to it.



PS Thanks, everyone, for all the help. And for those of you still building: 

it's worth it. Really.



Guy Buchanan

K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.

mscotter

Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 49
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 3:35 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Wow Guy, what a great story!!  That was absolutely inspiring.  I'm glad everything went well.  Now how about this:  post again after your next few flights.  I felt like I was in the cockpit with you.  Absolutely fantastic!!

  

 Mark Scott

_________________
Mark Scott
Winston-Salem, NC

dave(at)cfisher.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:02 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Guy,



Congrats on your first flight !!



If you are running a 582 then you will most likely smell the fumes from 

exhaust.  Just open the door once in a while if not sure  or fly with door 

open. I had same issue once after welding on a new exhaust outlet last year 

and I got fumes somehow.  So i ust welded on about a 6 inch extension butted 

to exisiting exhaust.  No issues now . As it turned out my pipe was too 

short but I lost my other one in flight and could only guess what to put on.



After you next few flights you should check your plugs to cross referance 

your EGT gauges and make sure your mixture running ok and when weather gets 

colder and air gets thicker a richer setting will be needed.



Vibration from prop?  What prop do you have  and have you checked the 

tracking ?

Dave

---

jdmcbean(at)cableone.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:21 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Congrats Guy...   

John & Debra McBean

 

 

 

 On Thu Jul 27 1:49 , Guy Buchanan <bnn(at)nethere.com> sent:

 

    	  Quote: 	
		   

 All,

 

 Short Version:

 

 The Red and White Kitfox flew for the first time this Wednesday morning at 

 0827 in Ramona, near San Diego. The flight was uneventful for everyone but 

 me, the pilot. I noted the following:

 

 1. I'm going to need a trim system.

 2. I was getting a lot of exhaust inside. I didn't have the firewall sealed 

 because of constantly removing the cowl so will do that tonight for 

 tomorrow's flight. I bought some CO detectors too. I'm also pursuing an 

 exhaust extension. Anyone know where I can get a cool slip joint for a 1.5" 

 OD tube?

 3. I have the typical yaw stability points +/- one ball either side of 

 center. I have ribs in the vertical stabilizer, but they're very thin and 

 only on the tubes. It's no big deal, but if anyone has come up with a 

 no-drag way of eliminating it I'd be interested.

 4. I get a discrete vibration out of the engine at some RPM's. I haven't 

 dynamically balanced the prop yet, as I'm waiting to get the pitch set 

 right. (I assume I set it so I'm at 6500 RPM flat out and fully leaned. 

 (582) I'm not sure what altitude to use.)

 

 Long Version:

 

 First flight should have been last week. Many of you have seen that I've 

 been poking around, looking for time in a tail-dragger K-IV. Well Lowell 

 kindly volunteered to sacrifice his Kitfox if I could get up to Cameron 

 Park. We had a date set for a couple of Monday's ago, but Lowell's last 

 minute insurance inquiry confirmed what I feared. You see I had contacted a 

 couple of K-IV owners in San Diego, and both had said that I had to be a 

 named insured on their aircraft policy. Neither of the San Diego owners 

 wanted to go that far, which I could perfectly understand.

 

 Lowell, however, is exceptional. He offered to put me on his policy if I 

 would pay the difference. (Let's see, he's got about 800 hours in a Kitfox 

 IV. I've got 0, plus maybe 20 hours in a Decathlon. Ouch.) We sealed the 

 deal and he went through all the hassle of putting both me and his flight 

 instructor, Ken Couey, on his policy, so I could come up to Cameron Park 

 and fly for one hour. Why all the hassle? Because of my insurance. I got 

 quotes on $1M liability, (no hull,) from three companies:

 

 1. AOPAIG wanted $767 annually. They required one hour of dual in the same 

 make/model, then 25 hours of solo.

 

 2. EAA wanted $797 annually. They required five hours of dual in the same 

 make/model, then 5 hours solo.

 

 3. AVEMCO wanted $576 annually. (I'll go with them next year.) 

 Unfortunately they wanted 10 hours of dual in something tail-draggerish. It 

 didn't have to be make/model.

 

 I had only two hours of recent dual in a Citabria, and I really wanted some 

 time in a tail-dragger K-IV before I flew mine. Robert Harris had 

 graciously given me some time in his 0-200 K-V, even letting me scare the 

 crap out of both of us on a couple of landings. And Alan Nephew had let me 

 fly his K-IV, but it was a trike. I really wanted to know if I could land a 

 tail-dragger IV.

 

 So it was off to Lowell's for my one hour's dual. I booked the Bonanza for 

 this last Monday, departing Ramona a half hour before sunrise. I had a 

 beautiful clear flight up to Westover, where I picked up Ken Couey. Ken 

 proved to be an affable companion, with an absolutely gorgeous GlasStar. 

 (It's for sale!)

 

 Many of you have been to Lowell's, where he hosts his annual Kitfox 

 gathering. I couldn't go this year, and knowing Lowell's disappointment, 

 and his generosity, I felt I should make every effort to visit. Lowell's is 

 an interesting place. It's apparently the only community where you go 

 bopping down the road in your airplane, amongst the cars and bikes, and 

 pull up to the curb for a visit. When we showed up Lowell was waiting out 

 in front of his house, and we pulled the Bonanza around the corner to park 

 in the shade of a tree. Very surreal.

 

 After a brief pre-flight Ken and I attempted entry. Unfortunately Ken 

 weighs 200, and I weigh 200, and we're both about 6'. We fit, but only by 

 emptying our pockets. From then on it was the battle of the knees, wherein 

 I tried to wrest control of the throttle from Ken's left knee, while he 

 tried to keep his feet off the rudder pedals so I could fly. We had a few 

 tense moments but I assured him of my heterosexuality and calmed his fears. 

 We flew on to Placerville, a beautiful airport on the side of a hill, where 

 I demonstrated my landing prowess. Actually I did pretty well, causing only 

 three sharp intakes of breath, one brief shout, yet not one expletive. (I 

 said he was affable.) And I was efficient, getting three or four landings 

 to every take-off!

 

 Returning to Cameron Park Ken signed my logbook, and the three of us 

 celebrated over large glasses of ice water. (Did I tell you it was over 

 100F on the ground?) Ken and Lowell discussed plans for their up-coming 

 Idaho trip, regaling me with stories of crazy airfields. They even invited 

 me to come, knowing full well I'd be sweating my 40 hours down in San Diego.

 

 After a brief tour of Lowell's Lancair project Ken and I climbed into the 

 Bonanza oven and sweated our way back to Westover. (I kept thinking Ken was 

 looking for traffic, but he was really just trying hard to not touch the 

 seat!) I returned to Ramona, running the thunderstorm gauntlet over the 

 Tehachepi, and began arrangements for first flight.

 

 I wanted at least one kit builder for my ground crew, but everybody was 

 either at Oshkosh or working. I have a new friend whose hangar opposes, 

 who's finishing an RV-6. He really wanted to see me fly, as he's been 

 watching in awe as I break in my tires and brakes. (I try to see how fast I 

 can go without letting the wheels leave the ground. It's fun and exciting!) 

 He offered to play hooky so I booked the field for today, Wednesday. My 

 ground crew consisted then of my wife on camera, my father in charge of 

 take-off roll distance, my kids for distraction, and Ken on the radio, 

 doing the real work of keeping me honest. Ken also brought a couple of 

 builder buddies interested in the prospect of carnage.

 

 I got to the airport at 7 and did a complete pre-flight. Everything was 

 looking perfect until the distant sounds of spooling turbines arrested my 

 heart. You see, Ramona's an air attack base, and San Diego's currently 

 burning. (We do that every now and then to flush the illegal aliens.) First 

 the spotter. ("That's OK, maybe they'll go out and see they're not needed. 

 Right.") Then the S-2's, then the Ag-wagons. It was turning into a real 

 party. I was about to cancel when Ken suggested calling the tower. I called 

 Ground and explained that I wanted to run an eensy-weensy first flight test 

 in the middle of cycling five fire bombers on 10 minute centers. To my 

 chagrin they said "Sure! No problem!"

 

 At 0830 I lined up, took two deep breaths, and while fighting for control 

 of my bladder pushed the throttle all the way forward. The 582 responded 

 magnificently and in 540' (according to my father's careful measurements,) 

 was airborne. I did some quick stability checks, and climbed out at 65 

 while watching temps. When the water got to 175 I pushed it over to 75, 

 which held the temperature steady. I climbed to 2000 AGL, forgetting the 

 checklist, the test plan, and damn near everything else in my euphoria. 

 Shaking my head to clear out the joy, (and the exhaust fumes,) I ran 

 through my stability checks, noting that my Kitfox flies sideways quite 

 nicely. Just give it a little rudder and it settles into a nice, stable, 

 one ball yaw angle flying straight ahead. So I then amused myself for a few 

 minutes, kicking the tail back and forth while giggling with delight. 

 Enough of that! I did some slow flight. I did some turns. I did some 

 practice approaches. All boring. After about 40 minutes in the air I 

 decided it was now or never; I'd have to land sooner or later, and luck was 

 definitely going my way.

 

 I had planned a long final, with a nice, stable approach. Of course I was 

 silly high, and being the good, conservative, conscientious test pilot that 

 I am, I slammed the plane into a wicked slip, (No! Go around, you idiot!) 

 dropped about 500', lining up right at the numbers. I then proceeded to 

 make the best touchdown I have ever, and will ever, in my entire life, and 

 the one after, make. It was better than grease. It was sublime.

 

 Ground sent me to the ground crew to celebrate. As it was morning we kept 

 our libations simple. There was much back-slapping and hand shaking and 

 "damn, that was great" and pictures of everybody in every permutation, all 

 with the aircraft, and then we went home.

 

 Now it seems a dream. I'll do it again tomorrow and it will get more real 

 as the days wear on. I've also got some serious mods to do so that will cut 

 into my flying. I've got a 40 hour test plan. I guess I'd better get to it.

 

 PS Thanks, everyone, for all the help. And for those of you still building: 

 it's worth it. Really.

 

 Guy Buchanan

 K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar. 

 

 

 

 

 

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dosmythe(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:35 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Guy,

    Congratulations.  I had a similar vibration once and it turned out to be 

one blade on the GSC wood prop had slipped just a tad.  Make sure all three 

blades are as near the same angle as possible.  I've always used 6800 RPM as 

a goal for in flight, level, full throttle setting.  You will have to apply 

some firm forward stick to hold level flight with full throttle.  Just hold 

it for a minute to get a good RPM reading.  In your case, I would thin the 

prop about 1/2 degree and fly again.  You didn't mention EGT's but thinning 

the prop 1/2 degree will also cause the EGT's to get a little hotter.  What 

were your EGT's?

    I've never had any exhaust smells in the cockpit so not sure what to 

say.  I do have my cowl well sealed.  I added a short extension on the 

exhaust pipe to help clear the radiator.  Found the extension at a local 

Auto parts store.  Once I had it where I wanted it, had a welder install it 

solid.



Well Done,

Don Smythe

---

Float Flyr

Joined: 19 Jul 2006
Posts: 2704
Location: Campbellton, Newfoundland

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:12 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

This is a great write up.  Congrats on the first flight of your 'Fox... I

know I'll never forget the first time I got mine into the air.. I flew about

half a kilometre in ground effect on floats.  I'll also never forget my

first flight to altitude!



Kit Fox III-A

"The Beothuck Explorer"

582 - B box, Ivo in-flight Adj.

Aerocet 1100 floats



Noel



[quote] --

_________________
Noel Loveys
Kitfox III-A
Aerocet 1100 Floats

Michel

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 966
Location: Norway

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:23 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

On Jul 27, 2006, at 3:49 AM, Guy Buchanan wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   So I then amused myself for a few minutes, kicking the tail back and 

 forth while giggling with delight.


	


Oh! So I am not the only one who likes to wag his tail! 

Congratulations on your first flight, Guy!



Cheers,

Michel



do not archive

_________________
Kitfox 3 - Jabiru 2200

Guy Buchanan

Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 1204
Location: Ramona, CA

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:37 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

At 05:35 AM 7/27/2006, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  You didn't mention EGT's but thinning

the prop 1/2 degree will also cause the EGT's to get a little hotter.  What

were your EGT's?


	


Thanks Don. My EGT's were about 980, but I've got the HACman mixture 

control so I've got some control over them. I'll know more about the engine 

RPM in the next few flights, as I get more horizontal flight time and get 

the flaperons trimmed for optimum cruise.

Guy Buchanan

K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.



Do not archive

_________________
Guy Buchanan
Deceased K-IV 1200
A glider pilot too.

Guy Buchanan

Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 1204
Location: Ramona, CA

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:37 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

At 05:01 AM 7/27/2006, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  So i ust welded on about a 6 inch extension butted

to exisiting exhaust.  No issues now . As it turned out my pipe was too

short but I lost my other one in flight and could only guess what to put on.


	


I've ordered a piece of tube I can slip over the existing to see if an 

extension is required. My exhaust is right in front of the radiator so I'm 

sure that's not helping my temperatures.



 	  Quote: 	
		  After you next few flights you should check your plugs to cross referance

your EGT gauges and make sure your mixture running ok and when weather gets

colder and air gets thicker a richer setting will be needed.


	


I will.



 	  Quote: 	
		  Vibration from prop?  What prop do you have  and have you checked the

tracking ?


	


Tracking is OK. Don thinks maybe one blade has rotated. I'll check that 

before I fly again, but I painted my prop so I'm sure it needs balancing. I 

just don't want to balance until after I've got it pitched and seated 

correctly, since balancing is a little expensive.

Guy Buchanan

K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 100% done, thanks mostly to Bob Ducar.

_________________
Guy Buchanan
Deceased K-IV 1200
A glider pilot too.

dave(at)cfisher.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:47 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Your exhaust should be at least 3 or 4 inches below your rad or the fumes 

could be sucked in anyholes like at bungees  etc.



Your egts in the 900F s ?   What rpm is  that at ?   WAY TO LOW EGT and your 

plugs are most likely showing a rich condition.

Dave

---

Guy Buchanan

Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 1204
Location: Ramona, CA

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:53 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

At 06:46 AM 7/27/2006, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  



Your exhaust should be at least 3 or 4 inches below your rad or the fumes

could be sucked in anyholes like at bungees  etc.


	


I tried to seal the bungees as best as possible. There shouldn't be much 

coming in there. I bought an extension and should be able to get it on this 

weekend. I'll let you know how it works.



 	  Quote: 	
		  Your egts in the 900F s ?   What rpm is  that at ?   WAY TO LOW EGT and your

plugs are most likely showing a rich condition.


	


OK. I'll dial it up. I'm guessing I should be showing 1100 in cruise?

Guy

_________________
Guy Buchanan
Deceased K-IV 1200
A glider pilot too.

dosmythe(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:05 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

I don't have any knowledge or experience with the HAC.  I always Jet 

according to the Jetting chart taking into account OAT's and altitude.  That 

always puts me pretty close but as I said before, prop pitch plays a pretty 

big role on EGT's (too much pitch=LOW EGT's and too little pitch=HIGH 

EGT's.)  You should be seeing in the area of 1100 degree EGT's at cruise.



Don Smythe



--

dave(at)cfisher.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:00 am Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Guy,



Check your plugs first to see what is really going on inside.  EGT gauges 

are to guide you of changes . The plug colour should be light brown on 

insulator.  I would not worry about bungees being sealed, just make sure 

exhaust goes down far enough below rad so it misses the bungee holes.  I saw 

a guy with a 912s on Wheels a few weeks  ago and his exhaust was blowing 

right on Rad.   the Rad was grey. Cannot see it lasting too long.

Dave

---

rdmac(at)swbell.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:21 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Guy,

	Congratulations, I can relate to a lot of the same emotions you felt

when I flew for the first time. It is an unbelievable feeling flying in

something you built with your own two hands even if Bob Ducar did have a

hand in it. Keep us posted on how the test phase goes.

	Roger Mac

DO NOT ARCHIVE 



--

nebchmp(at)wcc.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Congratulations Guy!!    Norm



Guy Buchanan wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   All,

     

 Short Version:



 The Red and White Kitfox flew for the first time this Wednesday 

 morning at 0827 in Ramona, near San Diego. The flight was uneventful 

 for everyone but me, the pilot.----- snip

pulsair(at)mindspring.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject: First Flight. The Short and the Long.

Guy,

Congratulations. On a side bar, you may want to use some heat resistant 

silicone or RTV to put around every opening you have in the firewall. 

Example would be a heater hose or throttle cable opening. It seals nicely 

and keeps fumes out. Jeff Classic IV



---

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