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Question re: Kitfox / Avid / Belite SINGLE SEAT versions

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Victor Bravo

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
13,443
Location
KWHP, Los Angeles CA, USA
I need to ask a question to any of the folks who know about the SINGLE SEAT derivatives of the Avid Flyer and Kitfox and all their offspring.

1) Dean Wilson designed a fantastic wing folding mechanism (probably based on the DH Puss Moth) for the original 2 seat Avid Flyer. Everybody else used it too, Kitfox, Highlander, Eurofox, etc. But, the fore-aft distance (chordwise) between the rear spar pivot pin and the actual trailing edge of the wing (something like 18-20 inches it looks like) determined the minimum fuselage width. If the fuselage was narrower, the trailing edges of the wings would hit each other when you folded the wings rearward.

2) Then the single seat variants came out... Avid Champion, Kitfox Lite, Ridge Runner, ad nauseam. These airplanes had much narrower fuselages than the 2 seaters. So if they re-used the stock Avid style wing as-is, the flaperons would smack each other before the wings were folded fully.

3) Looking at online photos, I can see that some companies solved this problem by using traditional wing flaps of .25 chord, which could be swung down 90 degrees, thus making the pivot-to-TE distance much smaller, allowing a much narrower fuselage. That's fine, good thinking, but you lose some of the benefits of the external Junkers style flaperons.

4) But I have still seen some photos of some single seat Avid derivatives where they still have the external flaperons, and they still use the rearward Dean Wilson / DeHavilland wing fold.

My question for the HBA brain trust is this: HOW do these aircraft have narrow (single seat) fuselages, AND the external Junkers flaperons, AND the full rearward wing fold? I cannot find a good explanation for this, and I can't easily find photos or information that shows a clean close-up view of how this is mechanically possible without the trailing edge and/or flaperons interfering with each other.

5) Now the big question all of you are agonizing over... why does this (!*#$& moron want to know the answer to this esoteric and idiotic question ? Because I am getting a set of Kitfox 2 wings, and I want to build a narrow (A-plane, Ranger, Aero-Max) single seat fuselage for them. AND... I would really really prefer to use the wing fold mechanism that is already there and functional.... AND I don't want to cut the trailing edge off of the wing all the way to the rear spar and design/build plain flaps.... AND I don't want to have to build and install a different folding mechanism on top of or next to what hs already been put there, modify the attach fittings, etc. etc. yada yada.

So HOW do the narrow single seat airplanes with external flaperons fold their wings without interference?
 
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