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How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

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Michel

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 966
Location: Norway

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:09 am Post subject: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

 	  Quote: 	
		   From: JetPilot [orcabonita(at)hotmail.com] 

 How much wind are you comfortable flying your Kitfox In   ???


	


With my model 3: Crosswind: Max 12 knots. With that wind, I can't keep the aircraft from weathercocking when slowed down.

Otherwise ... I can't say that the wind influences much my flying, if it isn't the annoying fact that a headwind slows down the journey.

Wind strenght is mostly a problem related to the terrain. Even a light breeze can become dangerous in a Norwegian fjord if accross thef fjord. Sometimes it just hit you from nowhere.

So, wind + terrain, is to be taken with caution. But wind alone ... I can't remember it has bothered me over relatively flat country like when I follow the Swedish coast. I once landed at Varberg, near the Swedish coast, and I needed two guys to hold my wings before I could switch off the engine with the nose in the wind. They came with heavy earth anchors that we attached in front of the gears otherwise the plane would be airborne by itself ... nearly. The flying that day wasn't bad.



 	  Quote: 	
		  From the very little experience I have from other aircraft, I would say that in turbulence; either thermic or mechanic, the Kitfox is more work because it easily yaws from one side to the other. You can work the pedals or simply leave it; the plane eventually returns with the ball in the center.


	


Cheers,

Michel Verheughe

Norway

Kitfox 3 - Jabiru 2200

<pre><b><font size  color="#000000" face="courier new,courier">

_________________
Kitfox 3 - Jabiru 2200

Lynn Matteson

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 2778
Location: Grass Lake, Michigan

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:04 pm Post subject: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

Funny you should mention a C150...a friend and I were flying...him in  

his C150, and me in my Model IV Kitfox. We were heading south with a  

60+ mph tailwind (GPS groundspeed 177mph) when we both got into  

turbulence at about 9500' and both landed in 19-35 knot 90°  

crosswind. He had stuff flying around inside his cockpit, and I was  

just plain wanting to get it down on the ground. So maybe that  

contest was a tie. : ) And being as how I haven't flown his, nor he  

mine, it's a rather poor comparison, but we both made it down safely,  

with only minor landing damage...a scuffed wheel on mine. He took  

three attempts to land.



Lynn Matteson

Kitfox IV Speedster

Jabiru 2200

Status: flying w/545 hrs





On Jul 8, 2008, at 10:18 AM, JetPilot wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   



 Here is a question for everyone... How much wind are you  

 comfortable flying your Kitfox In   ???   I don't mean crosswind,  

 just wind in general before it gets to turbulent and uncontrollable  

 to enjoy flying ?



 I currently fly a plane that does not handle high winds as well as  

 I would like, and am considering a Super Sport with tricycle  

 gear.   I would like to get some idea of how much weather  

 conditions the Kitfox will handle.  I owned a Cessna 150 before,  

 and was very happy with the way it would handle winds and  

 turbulence...  Does the Kitfox handle winds and weather as well as  

 small Cessnas ?



 Thanks,



 Mike



 --------

 &quot;NO FEAR&quot; -  If you have no fear you did not go as fast  

 as you could have !!!



 Kolb MK-III Xtra, 912-S





 Read this topic online here:



 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=191760#191760

_________________
Lynn
Kitfox IV-Jabiru 2200
N369LM

lcfitt(at)sbcglobal.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:07 pm Post subject: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

Mike,



I have flown with a group in the past that flew all over the northwestern 

part of the US, mostly the mountains of Idaho.  These trips have been from 

June to September and in all sorts of conditions.  We once landed in Nevada 

in conditions that once on the ground proved that we should have landed on 

the intersecting taxiway.  Anyway only once did we abort because of wind 

conditions and this was as we were approaching from the west toward Smiley 

Creek which is at 7100 ft. in a tidy little valley surrounded by mountains 

on the west and east.  When a couple of guys wings went nearly vertical we 

turned back.  As Michel mentioned, though, it was the mountains and the 

turbulance caused by them that put us back on the ground.  We were fine in 

the winds until approaching the final ridge line.  Bumpy, yes, but we were 

doing fine.



Lowell



---

flywarrior2000(at)yahoo.c
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:11 pm Post subject: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

Hi, this is the first time that I have responded, but I thought I would throw my 2 cents worth in. I have just bought a Kitfox 1  with a 532 which I now have about 10 hours in. I am switching to light sport and I also have a 150F which I haver flown for 2 years. I have so far flown with wind 14 gusting to 19 which the fox handled suprisingly well. I am still trying to get use to the stick and rudder thing, getting into a comfort zone banking seems to be my hang up. I hope this helped. 

Dwight Early 

Kitfox 1 / 532

--- On Tue, 7/8/08, JetPilot <orcabonita(at)hotmail.com> wrote:

 [quote]From: JetPilot <orcabonita(at)hotmail.com>

Subject: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

To: kitfox-list(at)matronics.com

Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 10:18 AM



[quote]--> Kitfox-List message posted by: "JetPilot" <orcabonita(at)hotmail.com>  Here is a question for everyone... How much wind are you comfortable flying your Kitfox In   ???   I don't mean crosswind, just wind in general before it gets to turbulent and uncontrollable to enjoy flying ?  I currently fly a plane that does not handle high winds as well as I would like, and am considering a Super Sport with tricycle gear.   I would like to get some idea of how much weather conditions the Kitfox will handle.  I owned a Cessna 150 before, and was very happy with the way it would handle winds and turbulence...  Does the Kitfox handle winds and weather as well as small Cessnas ?  Thanks,  Mike  -------- &quot;NO FEAR&quot; -  If you have no fear you did not go as fast as you could have !!!  Kolb MK-III Xtra, 912-S     Read this topic online here:  http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=191760#191760                 [quote][b]

n85ae

Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 403

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:16 am Post subject: Re: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

The Kitfox with the flaperons can handle some very windy conditions, 

more so than the typical light plane. The downside of course is that

pilot confidence from then can get you into deep trouble. I flew mine

in a lot of wind, and got too confident. Here's what happened.



I flew home from Michigan with a Low pressure coming in from the

North West with a lot of gusty northerly wind developing. My airport

has an East/West runway. I opted to give landing a shot with a gusty

direct crosswind somewhere in the 25kt. range. The approach was a bit

hairy but seemed ok. My alternative if this failed was to fly to a nearby 

airport with a north/south oriented runway. Everything looked fine

until touchdown and a gust lifted the upwind wing. I got it down, but

almost immediately lost control with the rudder and did a fast tire smoking 270 degree turn off into the grass. Right in front of the

airport restaraunt at lunch time.



No damage done, other than to my pride. But scared the crap out of me.



Moral of the story, if it's gusty and crosswindy fly 5 miles to the other

airport.



Jeff.

patreilly43(at)hotmail.co
Guest

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:44 am Post subject: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

Jeff C Thanks for sharing. Sorry I missed the show. Glad to hear you and the plane weren't hurt. Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing and if you can use the plane again C it's a bonus. 

    do not archive

 Pat Reilly

 Mod 3 582 rebuild

 Rockford C IL



 	  Quote: 	
		   Subject: Re: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

 From: n85ae(at)yahoo.com

 Date: Wed C 9 Jul 2008 09:16:43 -0700

 To: kitfox-list(at)matronics.com

 

 --> Kitfox-List message posted by: "n85ae" <n85ae(at)yahoo.com>

 

 The Kitfox with the flaperons can handle some very windy conditions C 

 more so than the typical light plane. The downside of course is that

 pilot confidence from then can get you into deep trouble. I flew mine

 in a lot of wind C and got too confident. Here's what happened.

 

 I flew home from Michigan with a Low pressure coming in from the

 North West with a lot of gusty northerly wind developing. My airport

 has an East/West runway. I opted to give landing a shot with a gusty

 direct crosswind somewhere in the 25kt. range. The approach was a bit

 hairy but seemed ok. My alternative if this failed was to fly to a nearby 

 airport with a north/south oriented runway. Everything looked fine

 until touchdown and a gust lifted the upwind wing. I got it down C but

 almost immediately lost control with the rudder and did a fast tire smoking 270 degree turn off into the grass. Right in front of the

 airport restaraunt at lunch time.

 

 No damage done C other than to my pride. But scared the crap out of me.

 

 Moral of the story C if it's gusty and crosswindy fly 5 miles to the other

 airport.

 

 Jeff.

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=191959#191959

 

 

 

 

 

 <================

 

 

 


	


  [quote][b]

n85ae

Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 403

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:53 am Post subject: Re: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

I guess the real problem isn't whether the Kitfox can handle wind, it can,

and a lot of it. But the margin for error gets pretty slim the more you 

push it, the more likely you are to bite it one day. As I discovered. So 

I fly a lot more cautiously now.



Jeff

JetPilot

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1246

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:50 am Post subject: Re: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

 	  n85ae wrote: 	
		  The Kitfox with the flaperons can handle some very windy conditions,  more so than the typical light plane. 



I got it down, but almost immediately lost control with the rudder and did a fast tire smoking 270 degree turn off into the grass. Right in front of the

airport restaraunt at lunch time.



Jeff. 	




Thats a great story Jeff, and exactly why I will be building the Kitfox with the Nosewheel.   I am done with Tailwheels.   I fly a tailwheel airplane now, and I can fly it just fine, but the tailwheel just limits me to much in crosswinds.   With a tailwheel, either I don't fly in moderate corsswinds, or I risk damaging the plane in a nasty ground loop if I do, neither of which is a good poissiblity.   I will build a tricycle gear Kitfox   



Its great to hear that the Kitfox can handle more wind than most pilots, that is the way it should be.   Right now, I find myself being limited by the weather my plane can handle, there are many days I want to fly and cant, and that really sucks !!!!



Mike

_________________
"NO FEAR" - If you have no fear you did not go as fast as you could have !!!

Kolb MK-III Xtra, 912-S

rjdaugh

Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 195

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:55 am Post subject: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

In this situation ( and maybe Jeff's) it is appropriate to redefine a

runway.   This is what Ed Downs recommends for high wind situations.



This morning, my wife and flew to Hulett Wyoming for breakfast.  When we

left, the wind was directly across the runway about 30 - 35 mph.  (We had a

lot of fun untying the Fox.)  I decided to take off using an intersection

between the taxiway and the runway.  Even at 4600' it didn't take much to

get up in the air.  The Hulett airport is pretty deserted much of the time,

but I have been told that if you ask controllers for this sort of thing and

explain that you don't need a lot of ground roll, that they will be pretty

accommodating.



Randy



.           



--

_________________
Randy
Kitfox 5/7 912S
Black Hills, South Dakota

n85ae

Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 403

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject: Re: How Much Wind Can You Handle In Your KitFox ???

Our local runway is surrounded by obstacles, so no way to do the

diagonal landing thing, or other unusual procedures. 



The best bet would have been to shoot over to the nearby big airport

with a 6000 foot runway directly pointed into the wind.  Which

would have been a quick cab ride from to get my car. Poor

decision making on my part.



We have a nearby glider field which is basically a gigantic field with 

no specific runway. I have gone over there and practiced crosswinds

which were much beyond sane for pavement. That was part of the

problem because it made me too confident in my ability to handle 

really strong crosswinds. I know better now. 



It's really not the crosswind that gets you, it's that on days that are

crosswindy you can get some big gusts as well. It's the gust that

made me lose it. I think had it not lifted my wing and got me all 

discombobulated (is that a word?) I'd have been ok.



In any case groundlooping without damage I consider to be one of the 

usefull learning experiences I have had. The other was losing my engine

and having to glide in to land. Losing a vacuum pump at night was

another. It made a loud mechanical shrieking noise under the cowl. 

That is something that will get your heart started as well.



Jeff

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