---------------------------------------------------------- Kolb-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Sat 09/15/12: 8 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 03:46 AM - Re: FlagFly heel brake improvement (planecrazzzy) 2. 04:04 AM - Re: FlagFly heel brake improvement (planecrazzzy) 3. 07:38 AM - Re: Tailwheel upgrade (kinne russ) 4. 08:17 AM - Re: Tailwheel upgrade (b young) 5. 09:01 AM - Re: Tailwheel upgrade (JC Gilpin) 6. 09:23 AM - Re: Tailwheel upgrade (John Hauck) 7. 09:46 AM - Re: Tailwheel upgrade (John Hauck) 8. 03:10 PM - Re: Rotax 503 Oil question (cristalclear13) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 03:46:41 AM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: Re: FlagFly heel brake improvement From: "planecrazzzy" I have some pictures of a Brake improvement.... I probably could have put "Lightening" holes in them... Maybe some day... These extensions brought the contact area "up" on my heel better... and the rotation while braking has good contact... Gotta Fly... Mike & "Jaz" the Flying Dogz .. .. -------- .. .. .. .. Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=383155#383155 Attachments: http://forums.matronics.com//files/angles_brake_extentions_005_116.jpg http://forums.matronics.com//files/angles_brake_extentions_003_708.jpg http://forums.matronics.com//files/angles_brake_extentions_001_147.jpg ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 04:04:40 AM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: Re: FlagFly heel brake improvement From: "planecrazzzy" One more thing I added to my Heel Brakes... You can barely see them in the other post.... Parking Brake.... Not Hyd..... It's for the cable set-up... These tuck away safely.... and "Hold" pretty good when used... Pictures are worth a thousand words... .. Gotta Fly... .. PS I was leaving a fly-in after spending the night... I was ready to taxi... Power , power.... WTF ? Was I in a RUT.... Oooops , Forgot to release the Parking Brakes.... .. -------- .. .. .. .. Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=383157#383157 Attachments: http://forums.matronics.com//files/pictures_from_cd_185_203.jpg http://forums.matronics.com//files/pictures_from_cd_186_179.jpg http://forums.matronics.com//files/pictures_from_cd_188_211.jpg ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 07:38:38 AM PST US From: kinne russ Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Tailwheel upgrade Larry Thanx from all of us for your advice on tailwheels. And I can appreciate your unintentional 360's. At Des Moines once, with an airshow scheduled to start shortly, the controller insisted I used the Xwind runway. I did, but on the taxiway I had to do a 360. With my 170, after a certain point, you canNOT bring it back, but have to gun it & do a 360. I had to do seven 360's. With of course a zillion people watching (the C5 was due in soon). Controller asked my intentions; I asked him if he'd ever flown a taildragger? He said no, and I said, when you do, you'll understand. They dint even scold me, end of story. A Kolb woulda been lots better Fair winds, Russ K do not archive On Sep 14, 2012, at 11:18 PM, Larry Cottrell wrote: > Dave, > Glad that you decided on getting it from Kolb. One thing that you might find is that it breaks free too soon. I found that on a cross wind landing the wheel would already be "broke loose" before I even touched down, and if there is a substantial amount of cross wind, be a bit hard to control at taxi speed. ( I once did two 360's in the middle of a 10000 foot controlled runway much to the consternation of said controller, who seemed intent on forcing me to declare an emergency) ( the brakes got hot and wouldn't hold it in a straight line anymore) > > My fix was to take a dremel tool and hog out enough material that it kept the tail wheel from breaking loose at anything less than full rudder. If you are trying to spin the plane around, the rudder will be fully deflected anyway, and that way any 360's will be intentional. > Your thoughts may differ, > Larry > > On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 7:29 PM, David Kulp wrote: > Thanks for the responses to my tailwheel question. As usual they play an important part in making a decision on what to do. Dennis' testimony about the ground handling improvement nudged me to go with the mod and John's point about supporting Kolb Aircraft was the tie-breaker. I've decided to go with the Kolb upgrade and feel good about the whole situation. Thanks again, guys. As always I appreciate the input. > > John, did you fly up to Blairstown, NJ? They have a nice little diner on the airport that has some fantastic home made zucchini cake. > > Dave Kulp > Bethlehem, PA > FireFly 11DMK > > > > ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 08:17:41 AM PST US From: "b young" Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Tailwheel upgrade Dave, Glad that you decided on getting it from Kolb. One thing that you might find is that it breaks free too soon. I found that on a cross wind landing the wheel would already be "broke loose" before I even touched down, and if there is a substantial amount of cross wind, be a bit hard to control at taxi speed. ( I once did two 360's in the middle of a 10000 foot controlled runway much to the consternation of said controller, who seemed intent on forcing me to declare an emergency) ( the brakes got hot and wouldn't hold it in a straight line anymore) My fix was to take a dremel tool and hog out enough material that it kept the tail wheel from breaking loose at anything less than full rudder. If you are trying to spin the plane around, the rudder will be fully deflected anyway, and that way any 360's will be intentional. Your thoughts may differ, Larry >>>>>>>>>>>>>> dont know if my tailwheel was modified.... but i am happy with it... you may want to try it before any mods. then make corrections to your needs. boyd young ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 09:01:28 AM PST US Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Tailwheel upgrade From: JC Gilpin Yes, the tailwheel upgrade is essential. That pizza cutter is pathetic..... For my FireFly, I bought the one from Aircraft Spruce because it was in stock for immediate shipment and Kolb had none in stock at that time. Bad mistake..... The mounting hole in the Spruce unit is 1/2" while the tail spring on the Kolb is 5/8". It's a difficult machining job because there's a square boss so it won't fit in a lathe chuck normally. I took it to a well equipped machine shop and they had to mount it the chuck from the driven end but then it was buried so deep in the chuck that a conventional boring bar wouldn't reach, so they had to fabricate an extension..... Cost $130 for 1 1/2 work... So get it from Kolb ready to use. Then I found the same problem as Larry, that breakaway swivel feature is a pain, and totally useless if you don't have differential braking.... So I also had to machine it out so that it doesn't release. So what's the point of paying so much for all that mechanism just to get a wider tailwheel...... Besides, that assembly is heavy and designed for a much heavier aircraft. Another problem with this mechanism is that the steering levers are much longer, so there's even less steering deflection at full lock, making it even more difficult to turn around on a runway..... The arm is very hard steel so I couldn't drill new holes. The original tailwheel mechanism on the Kolb is quite adequate, it's only the pizza cutter wheel that's the problem. I noticed that the new tailwheel bearings would fit on the original axle shaft, but the axle wasn't long enough to reach right through the new wheel. To do it again I'd just weld a longer axle onto the original mechanism and fit a new wheel on it. Surely the wheels must be available as a replacement. Sure would be good if Kolb would source those wheels and manufacture a replacement mounting that would just bolt onto the original mechanism. Be a lot simpler, lighter, and less costly..... JG ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 09:23:01 AM PST US From: "John Hauck" Subject: RE: Kolb-List: Tailwheel upgrade Sure would be good if Kolb would source those wheels and manufacture a replacement mounting that would just bolt onto the original mechanism. Be a lot simpler, lighter, and less costly..... JG JG/Kolbers: Good to see John G is still kicking and in the US. I think your note above is enough to jog Travis Brown and get some action going to upgrade the tail wheel. After all, the snowmobile bogie wheel tail wheel was same as what came on my FS Kit in 1985 or 86. john h mkIII Rock House ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 09:46:59 AM PST US From: "John Hauck" Subject: RE: Kolb-List: Tailwheel upgrade Kolbers: I might add to my previous, the tail wheel in the 1984 Ultrastar Kit was a little tiny rubber tired steel "tea cart" wheel. Was embarrassing to taxi a few feet at the local airport and have the little rubber tire come off the wheel. Have to unstrap, get out, and put it back on prior to take off. When the FS kit came along with a wheel with tire vulcanized on it, plus a set of real ball bearings instead of a steel bushing, I thought I was walking in tall cotton. Kolb has come a very long ways since the good old days of the early '80s. john h Rock House ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 03:10:00 PM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: Re: Rotax 503 Oil question From: "cristalclear13" Dennis Thate wrote: > Would you go as far as to say ... Clean the the oil injection reserve tank and the whole system before making the switch ? Dennis, If I were a mechanic that you were paying me to do this, yes I would clean it out. This is what that website says about their product: "INTERCEPTOR is compatible with most conventional and synthetic two-cycle oils; however, for best performance, mixing oils should be minimized." -------- Cristal Waters Kolb Mark II Twinstar Rotax 503 DCSI Sept 2007 - sold Sept 2012 Private Pilot Aug 2008 ELSA Repairman for N193Y April 2008 Rotax 2 stroke maintenance April 2009 Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=383192#383192 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message kolb-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/Kolb-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/kolb-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/kolb-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.