Kitfox 7 Apex Build Episode 45 Kitfox Series 7 Weight and Balance

[@BlueBaron3339]

While I certainly understood your obsession with the weight of *everything* throughout the build, Bryan, I didn't fully appreciate it until this episode. Aircraft of this sort are all about capability, thus it's not about weight alone but where the weight is. Again, we all know this but in this episode, I could visualize the mission, not just the building of the aircraft.

[@jpascaln]

Not rambling, makes perfect sense. Great work Bryan. Cool job.

[@bonahisme]

Loved the heli tour! Thank you for the job you chose.

[@theresacaron4238]

Nice office you have there Bryan, super clean and organized. This explains your detail oriented build and attention to neatness. Can't wait to see your bird where it belongs at the airport. Congrats on completing your project. Blue skies. Phil

[@gritngrind4780]

Thank You for the work you do. Medical transport is truly important. Godspeed.

[@ryancox2799]

I fly the AW119 for EMS in WI and MN. It's a great aircraft, lots of power and we can still have a crew member up front when we don't have a patient on board. It doesn't look like you guys can do much for patient care in flight other than airway with that set up? But I suppose its no different then the A-star or 407. I hope to be able to see you, and the plane this year in Oshkosh! Your videos by far are the best aviation videos on youtube because you are a genuine person who is building a plane with realistic means and capability. The other youtubers that have ever imagine tool or resource at their disposal are so far out of reality for the average person that its impossible to relate to them, so thank you for taking the time to share this journey with all of us Bryan!

[@k.cjones2582]

I’m very excited to see this plane in the air after all these videos!

[@lapoint7603]

Thanks for showing us your workplace. I agree, schedule is huge when it comes to longevity with an employer. It helps if the boss is decent. Thanks for another great video!

[@OneKoolDude]

This video was fascinating, at least for me. After 35 years as a Heavy Jet Aircraft Mechanic I have had absolutely zero exposure to GA. Now that I want to build a plane I was wondering about weight and balance, thanks to Bryan I now know. Very cool.

[@SpyGeorgilis]

Thanks for the update, not rambling at all and thank you for the surprise tour of your office!

[@kcpumpguy]

I've always wondered how you you have so much time available for your build. EMS pilot, 7 on, then 7 off, makes perfect sense. Makes me feel better that I'm 3 years into my RANS S7 build and a little behind you after 2 years.. What I'm doing is much more "just. follow the directions and build the kit" than what you have done. What you are doing is includes much more engineering, fabricating ets... like my build with a healthy dose of Mike Patey. Yet you are still getting it done a lot faster. Your job gives you more time for the project, so now I don't feel like such a slacker!

[@adamhughes2694]

Thanks for all the videos. It’s been great to see all the details you put in and the reasons for the decisions you have made! Also thanks for sharing your “learning moments” on the build so we can learn with you. I am very excited to see the plane fly. I started watching your videos after work (I work away from home and live on site, Canadian oil and gas). Your videos have been a great distraction in the solitude evenings. So again thank you and keep up the great work, it is very much appreciated!

[@BowenAero]

I spent some time on the North Slope in Alaska flying for oil and gas, so I know how that goes. Thanks for watching and I'm glad to help fill your down time.

[@dougkelsch]

That was a great practical explanation of weight and balance. Thanks.

[@timstephenson2421]

Interesting that you work for a company that provides Medivac. Here in the UK, pretty much without exception, all Medivac helicopters are owned and operated by charities

[@jonminer9891]

Hi, PK. You should be proud of your beautiful plane. I am looking forward to flight movies. Congratulations on reaching this milestone. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!

[@peterstretton5954]

Very interesting explanation of W&B thanks. Love your day job too and your office.

[@robertpaxton1382]

Thank you for taking time to show us your office!

[@chrisaerts6489]

I started watching your videos. Im at like # 7. Thanks for all of your hard work making them. Im really thinking about building a Kitfox. I have help build a Zenith 750. This tube a fabric is completely new to me. Im learning alot from watching you. Ill have to sit in on some forums at Oshkosh this year.

[@user-nm7ox7jp6r]

Just about there! Beautiful airplane

[@Aphthous]

Thanks for the heli tour!

[@patrickdavey9692]

admire your day job!

[@flynjay7178]

Great video, I can't wait to see it fly! As for CG, It would be better to have the minimum flying weight at the forward CG limit with no fuel. You are leaving some on the table. Granted not much, but some. Now you know you have a usable plane and have a little room to move things forward if necessary.

[@jimhuskyflying]

I enjoyed seeing the helicopter you fly and hearing about your career. Thank you.

[@ActinOut]

It was a great surprise to see this one come out a bit sooner. Really looking forward to see this thing tested & flying.

[@benjaminbixby8459]

Awesome overview and so great to see hard work come to fruition. Really enjoy the technical detail. Great to see and hear about your history with REACH. See those quite frequently over Sacramento.

[@lbrunet]

Thanks for another very good video. I learned a lot from it. Can't get over how beautiful your plane came out. Almost there. Thanks again

[@aspencliffe5440]

I've binge watched over the last couple months and this has been fascinating. On your wrap-up video I hope you will add a quick discussion on the cumulative hours you think you spent, including how much extra effort using the APEX engine added. I know everyone works at different speeds and detail, but I am wondering how many hours you think a factory standard build with all the quick-build options (wings and panel) would take. I really appreciate all the filming and editing work as well. I think you have done the community a great service. Looking forward to the flying videos.

[@daverobinsonTnT]

Nicely explained (two thumbs up)

[@bigb1910]

Awesome. You must be pleased with the w&b numbers. I love the paint scheme.

[@2779mattie]

You have a fun job I’m from Modesto ca i see a lot of medi-flight and thanks for the video I’m thinking about doing my own good to see what goes into it, it seems a lot of patients as well

[@chrispy104k]

Looking good Bryan.

[@kenyates8084]

Thanks so much for sharing us your job! I for one have wanted you to do a brief showing of it for a while now! Very interesting and will worth the time in my opinion.

[@rotarywingusa4519]

After you showing us your day job I wonder how long before you try out another STOL aircraft called a gyroplane? My preferred method of flight....with a RX1. Much respect Bryan! Thank you for your day job capabilities too!

[@Mrsournotes]

Love your “office.”👍🏽

[@garychristopherson]

Sorry if I missed you mentioning doing this, but you should also measure the tailwheel arm, like you did on the mains. The default value in the Series 5 & 6 spreadsheet you used, may not be valid for the type tailwheel gear you used on your aircraft and/or differences in a Series 7 aircraft. Thanks for all the great videos , I've thoroughly enjoyed watching your build and you have done a terrific job on that Kitfox. Can't wait to see what you can do with it.

[@BowenAero]

I ended up doing that after the video and it came out to be 165” not 168”

[@Jeffopar]

Wow, first time seeing your channel. That is an absolute beast. Well done!

[@mmeyers111]

Good informative video. I'm going recalculate my Weight and Balance now.

[@kennethlung3371]

Excellent vid!!! I have 3 hours in a R-44. Very interesting what occurs when you press that left 'rudder' pedal too much.

[@brionwebb3731]

Looks great. Can’t wait to see it fly

[@ansonmoxness5403]

I use a similar set up to jack up my PA-12 to change from wheels to skis. It's just a 4x4 that I shaved out some notches for the gear. It's not pretty but it lets me do the change in 45 minutes. I like the reinforcement to the cabane.

[@Stack151]

Love your videos and they are very inspiring. Love the "job" and curious if you learned your basic rotary in the military? Thanks for what you do!

[@davidrobins4025]

Yet another great video. Sure is coming along nicely. Thanks your effort and time. It will be a special day when you can take the first flight. Thanks for giving us a good understanding of what you do for work. I'd guess your flight house in a helicopter are up there. Congratulations

[@pritchettaviation1120]

May check to see if you had airplane sitting level when you measured arm for main gear. Won't change much but could affect calculations overall.

[@umatgreyhound]

My thought too. Might Acct for the missing 1 inch.

[@BowenAero]

It was leveled to the flying position as per the manufacture directions. It would make a difference if it was not leveled.

[@BPJeep]

I really enjoyed all your videos Thanks so much for sharing.

[@richardcollins3825]

Nicely done Bryan. You came out lighter than I expected. Congratulations. I tried for months to get the shock monster tail wheel and finally gave up and went to the T3. Looking forward to seeing how that tail wheel works for you.

[@BowenAero]

It has been a long weight and I had to nag him to death to get this one, but it is worth the weight. It is very impressive. I so want to show it to you all, but Tony wants a little more time to refine it and get the parts stock piled.

[@keeganmcmanes2431]

Cool job

[@brennantarr2771]

are you going to be doing flying videos when it’s all done?

[@Guy460226]

Bryan with the c.g behind the front wheels does that not contribute to ground looping ? Great job you are very dedicated Thanks so much looking forward to the maiden

[@BowenAero]

There are positives and negatives for sure, it puts more weight on the tail wheel when it is down allowing for more positive control from the tail wheel and it also allows for heavier braking before it would nose over. If you get into a ground loop scenario there would be a longer lever arm of side ward motion and it would be a negative.

[@billymartijames272]

Nice work on the W&B. Glad she didn't roll far! Awesome whirly bird too! Thanks for showing that.

[@johnfoster1201]

Awesome build. One question I had is will there be a fairing around the junction between the horizontal stabilizer and the fin/fuselage?

[@BowenAero]

Yes there is, off for inspection

[@crazyflyer618]

Great video with loads of info as always . Brain just a quick question ,have you ever thrown a scale under the tailwheel when the plane is in 3 point sitting on the ground , with a gross weight in the plane say between 1400/1550 and seen what tail weight is ? I would assume it would be way north of 100 pounds plus with the shock monster gear being 3 inches forward of the datum allowing for better breaking . THANKS

[@plane-fuzz]

Perfection!

[@builditright4666]

I have a quick question for you. You measured the main arm at 3 inches. Now did you raise the tail back up? I'm asking because right before that you mentioned, you lowered the tail a bit. By raising it back up would bring the plumb bob closer to the two inches you thought the TK-1 should be. Just throwing it out there.

[@BowenAero]

Yes

[@Heaps208]

Very cool! I worked on a bell 407 for the forest service and loved it. Now i do ems work for a nuclear research facility. You give me hope that someday i can build my own!!

[@GlennSisson]

Bryan, how did you make the decision to have no forward wing sweep? Based on your CG it is good that you didn't have any, but what exactly leads you to making a choice? I'm guessing powerplant weight and distance off the firewall would be the main factors but is that a calculation you made, or something the build instructions pick for you? And thanks so much Bryan for this excellent series. Excited to see it fly soon. Nice office chair too.

[@BowenAero]

Glenn, The forward wing sweep is only recommended for the heavier Lycoming or Continental engine installations. It moved the center of lift forward, which in turn moves the CG range forward. In my case, the engine weight was very close to a Rotax, so the wing sweep was not needed.

[@wadestoelting5942]

Bryan, your bird is so close to being airborne,, awesome! Looks like you may have chose a NR Prop. What size did you choose for this engine? Was diameter chosen based on desired ground clearance?Curious what drove you to choose a 2 blade vs 3 blade?

[@BowenAero]

I have both a 2 blade and a 3 blade NR 81” scimitar

[@danielbasovitch5087]

Brian, in 16 years of flying, How many hours do you have ??

[@BowenAero]

We don’t accumulate hours nearly as fast in the EMS field as I did flying utility and fires, but somewhere over 6000

[@trickybrothers6941]

Nice video good going excellent

[@joshholt1513]

How many pilots do you rotate with in the helicopter?

[@BowenAero]

4

[@KitfoxPilot]

Very interesting job, how did you get a start in helicopters ? That's a hard field to get into with out Military training usually.

[@artisticallydesigned872]

Interesting...

[@jimsandoval7633]

If you register your plane as 1500lbs gross weight, it will not be an experimental, correct? And looks like you will register it as 1500 and not 1350lbs. I am not sure how all these works.

[@BowenAero]

I think you are referring to light sport or LSA/ELSA. Anything over 1320lbs takes it out of the LSA category, I registered it as an EAB experimental amateur built and there is no weight limit for that.

[@86309]

what are the dimensions of your garage please.

[@kitesurfjerry]

Is that the Shock Monster TK1 landing gear?

[@BowenAero]

Yes it is.

[@daviddavids2884]

at 11:37, a gallon of water, weighs 8 1/3 pounds. is fuel lighter than water?

[@craigsanders6925]

Yes, 6 lbs per gallon is the normal calculation.

[@daviddavids2884]

@@craigsanders6925 okay

[@challenger2ultralightadventure]

Gasoline is .77 density mass of water. 1 litre of water weighs 1 kilogram (metric is so simple!) SO...1 litre of gasoline then weighs .77 kilogram, or 770 grams. Now you can convert that to gallons if you like.

[@daviddavids2884]

@@challenger2ultralightadventure bla-bla-bla you must be a compulsive talker. bc you gave me the info i needed, in the FIRST poorly-worded sentence. out

[@FlyingNDriving]

EPISODE 46: my new custom carbon fiber more forward engine mount!!!

[@autoanswer]

what is the diameter of the screw and what is the reduction?

[@BowenAero]

81” prop blades and 3.83:1 gear reduction

[@countryflyer4536]

All things IMPESSIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@psotos]

Did you learn to fly in the military?

[@BowenAero]

My father was an airline pilot and so I grew up in and around airplanes and flying. I got my private license at 19 and commercial at 22. 8 months later I had worked my butt off to get my helicopter commercial, CFI and CFII. Later adding ATP. The private route wasn’t nearly as expensive back then as it is now and I had to travel all over chasing jobs and hours, but can’t complain. It was an amazing adventure.

[@daviddavids2884]

how do you get it OUT of there?

[@BowenAero]

Haha, I’ll have to make a bigger door.

[@craigsanders6925]

Lots more room than the Astar, gotten to go for a couple flights as a photographer.

[@claytonstarwalt9914]

Paint 🎨 on the cowling added some weight.

[@daviddavids2884]

you may already know the following. the geometry of the main wing determines where the cg and center of mass (c-m) Should be. for Any wing, the optimal location of cg is at thirty percent of chord; or mac. (constant chord makes this part simple.) thus, wherever the cg ends up being, it should not be aft of thirty percent. (if it is, control authority will be reduced. which is bad.) the c-m Should end up being, On the thrust line, and vertically aligned with twenty-five percent of chord. the obvious (and desired) result is, an inherently nose-heavy distribution of mass (dom). ideally, in a normal high-wing light-plane, design of the airframe results in the c-m and the pilot's belly/chest, being in the same spot. i'm guessing that, at full-scale, cg balancing at the wing is not practical. unless, the structure of the wing at thirty percent of chord, has been designed to support the auw of the aircraft. if it is practical, then the tires could be partially deflated, after supports are in position. imo, the present location (of the mass) of the main lg is totally close enough. at worst, it very slightly increases nose-heaviness, in the dom. as a result of the moment arm at the tail, any 'excess' mass located there is potentially problematic. cheers googletranslate

[@artisticallydesigned872]

First 😎