Come fly with me, and share my adventure flying to airfields and farm strips around the UK.
About me: I create software in the aviation industry, fly aircraft for fun, and create videos so you can join me!
About the plane: My plane is an Kitfox 2 taildragger microlight. It has a Rotax 582 UL 64hp engine, cruises at 80mph, MTOW is 431kg, and has awesome STOL performance so it's easy to get in and out of short airstrips.
Would love to hear it idle. I kinda have a little bit of that rough problem too. I rebuilt the carbs with the update and have only flown it about 25 hrs. And I have tried other plugs and I'm currently trying to make sure the carbs are equally adjusting. Thank you for the video and please let me know if you make a video of it just idling after start at the lowest setting.
Hello from France and thanks for shared videos. Can I ask how tall are you? One guy said to me "your 1.88m (6.17 feet) tall is too much to fly in this plane IMO" : is it true?
Hey 👋 sure I'm 1.75m, but I know others who are taller that fly them comfortably. You need to sit inside one, as comfort is subjective. Just don't let someone else put you off, try it first 👍
As far as the prop goes, and you may have done this already, GSC supposedly has a 5 year life span on the prop. It's easy to over tighten them as well and crush the wood fibers. If the two halves of the hubs are touching, you shouldn't fly with it. The wood has been crushed and it could loose a blade. I've bought a couple of NR props from Ukraine for my Kitfoxes and they work pretty good. Not real expensive either. As far as the choke/enricher, I've always used a snowmobile style primer. Starts way faster when cold with a shot of straight gas. And no problems with cables and such.
Nice video. I'm in northern Mn, and ran a muffler shroud on my Avid Flyer with 582 for cabin heat in winter. Worked real good to. I use a heater core with fan on my Kitfox 4 but that has a 912 in it. Harder to keep a 582 coolant hot in winter, but muffler gets plenty hot. Do you have skis?
Hi Rob, thanks for sharing, I had a similar issue which turned out to be one cylinder running rich, long story short , fix it by carb ballance and needle circlip moved one notch on lean carb (higher egt), heres a video of the test flight post adjustment, I'd be interested to see what egt and water temps your 582 runs at. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dXVJglxnQFE.html
Great video! Quick question: are you allowed to do maintenance yourself? Carburettor inspection is key in my view. Over time the settings can vary slightly with material deterioration of performance.
Thanks Benny! 🙌 Under the UK CAA and LAA 'Permit to Fly' system we need an LAA inspector to sign-off any work carried out that isn't considered 'pilot maintenance'. So yes, there is quite a lot I can do myself, but anything more major will need inspection and sign off.
Rob Great video, looks like a GSC prop? They can change shape slightly, and cause vibration. I have an Avid flyer, with a 582 and an ivo prop. I had starting trouble when the engine was hot, it turned out to be my battery, it wasn’t quite giving enough umph, to get a decent spark. I also changed the leads and plug caps. Steve
@@RobHolmes8 The ivo seems two work well, it’s quite a large dia 72” and very smooth in flt. The big dia is good for short field take offs, but not so good for the cruise. I’m considering cutting it down a bit and coarsening the pitch, for better cruise. I had a two blade wooden perie prop to start with, and I experimented with different ratios in the gearbox. I tried a 3.47:1 which was to slow for the ivo. Getting the right combo is really tricky. Indecently my avid is the speed wing version. Steve
Good spot, you're right they are showing high, maybe 1250. But I've checked the plugs and they don't look to be running too lean, they're a good colour.
@@RobHolmes8 probes are notoriously vague… so plugs are a good indicator. I had loads of problems with the carbs on my 582. Mostly needle splits, which were resolved by replacing probes. Mine runs at about 620c at 5000rpm.
Nice one Rob , glad to see you back in the air, Regarding the prop it may be a blade slightly out, i bought an digital inclinometer from ebay around 12 quid a re pitched mine to correct settings, i wouldn't with those protractor things with the bubble as not accurate enough for me. Look forward to your future videos.
I know you've just seen the update 🙌 but for anyone else reading this I've made an update video for everyone here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BhT8vdEXXvk.html
I've fixed the main issue which was removing the leaky primer, making the engine run rich. I also replaced the spark plugs. Then it returned to running as it used to. My carbs are out right now as I'm going to give them a thorough clean and rebuild. Just waiting for the rebuild kits to arrive. Hope you get your issue sorted too 🙌
@@roma_aviator awesome! I'm glad you got it fixed too. I have rebuilt my carbs now and it runs really nice now, better than I thought a 2 stroke could 😁🎉
I have the same problem with my 503 on my Himax.. but sometimes its good.. sometimes its running fine on 2200ish RPM and sometimes it runs smooth only above 3000. Cant figure it what is it, I will try to clean my carburetor and put in new jets. Hope it will help.
Thanks Peti 🙌 I've fixed the flooding issue by removing the leaky primer now. Which has got it back to where it was before. But I have carb rebuild kits on order and am going to completely clean and rebuild them, as it's still not as smooth as I'd like below 3000 rpm. 🤞
Do you run it on E10 Rob, or E5 or maybe Avgas. E10 is very corrosive and will disolve fuel lines, gaskets, tank linings floats if they havent been changed out to be ethanol resistant ones. E5 should be ok as its only 2-3% ethanol. I have literally seen people with £60k worth of foxbats at out airfield grumbling over the cost of E5 and using E10, then complaining about their floats disolving, but still sticking with E10. 🤷♂ It does cause issues with your fuel system though is the main point. Best of luck.
Thanks Bob. I run UL91 which has no Ethanol content, as I'm worried about exactly that. I've used Avgas a few times since then too when the airfield was out of UL91. But so far since I've owned it, never Mogas 👍
Good luck getting it fixed. Aviation can be frustrating. 😂 Trying to get the flying triangle of wind, visibility and plane serviceability to line up. There's always one thing missing! I think this one is the worst though when the plane doesn't function on a day of perfect conditions!
@@RobHolmes8 Thanks Rob. Hope you get the engine sorted. I've a friend flying a kitfox with a 582 here in Ireland. He's a Rotax expert and I can put you in touch with him if you need to. Let me know.
I fly a 582 Blue head. Just had the carbs apart last night for all new rubbers / needles / new main jet. I set the mixture screw to two turns out. To set the idle RPM. I was told to use a 7mm drill bit (google this and you'll see what I mean), then balance them, ensure both throttles open together. After running the engine today, it's more 7.2mm ish for mine. Idle seems to be around 1900/2000. There's two rubber blanks on the left side of each carb. Make sure they're not cracked and leaking. Also, check your ignition leads aren't chaffed and possible leaking spark.
Just realised that it was John and myself who you waved when you were backtracking to the hanger. We were trying to create centre markers on the airstrip.
That's really sweet, your little girl will likely be pilot one day. I remember meeting you when you flew into the airfield earlier this year. I was flying with John in his falke glider. Glad to see the centre markers we put down on the runway are working too.
Hey Brian, I remember and didn't you make me a cup of tea too, thank you 🙌 glad you enjoyed the video, she is a little star and it was an amazing flight 🌟
Hey, question when twisting the throttle lever, what does that actually do? I'm not a pilot by any means only play flight sims but it really don't know what it does
It's a "vernier throttle" which acts just like a normal throttle when pushed in and out, but twisting will adjust the throttle in fine increments. I really like them as it gives more precision 👍
@@0xKingSlayer the Kitfox is a type on the LAA register in the UK. Which you can fly on any PPL, but there are also a few early mk 1 and 2 Kitfoxes that can be classed as a microlight, which means you could get a NPPL microlight licence.
I would for sure fix the primer, and if that doesn't solve it, pull the idle jets out of the carb and clean them. They have very small holes in them, and can plug easily with a bit of dirt. Actually, I was thinking idle jets until you mentioned the primer leaking. If you drop the float bowls, you should be able to unscrew the idle jets without taking the carbs off.
@@RobHolmes8 In a way, it's nice to do one thing at a time. It can be a learning experience when you find exactly what the cause was. Also, sometimes much less work.
Hi I fly a Rans S6 with the blue top 582, I recently (last month) had the very same symptoms, so i decided to go over eveything fuel related, i cleaned the fuel tap ( which I'm glad i did as there was so much sandy crud in it) i fitted a fuel filter ( not paper one) between the gascolator and fuel pump , refurb kit for the fuel pump (around £10 easy job) but still had rough engine, so stripped and cleaned carbs and jets etc turned out that the shut off valve on one carb wasn't shutting off as the float rises as the oil had jellified and clogged it up. All cleaned re-fitted and balanced now, she fires up first time and purrs very sweetly, Hope this helps and you sought your issue.
Thank you so much for this comment 🙌 it's definitely very useful and has inspired me to get a refurb kit. I've got no evidence the fuel pump diaphragms have ever been replaced, and I feel a full carb clean can't be a bad idea. It's never (in my ownership) started easily, which I'd love to fix 👍
@@RobHolmes8 Those mechanical pumps, from my experience, don't ever require a rebuild. I'm sure it's no harm but It's something I 've heard people say they never need to be done.
Those primers are notorius for leaking. Engine will run rough as it is to rich. In the field once i bent the red primer line like you would to shut off your garden hose and zip tied it to keep it closed. The restarted engine and it ran normal. When i reinstalled new primer i put small shutoff valve between primer and engine so if it happened again and it did i could shut it off even why airborn.
That confirms what I was thinking too, thank you, it's great to hear I could be on the right track 🙌 That's a great idea with the shutoff valve, might just do that 👍 there is a choke on mine too, so I may just remove the primer for now 🤔
Just started my 582, ran really rough, so I took both carbs apart and cleaned them, still ran a little rough but not as bad...and now I noticed some bubbles moving down the primer line while running...I bet you just solved my problem bud, thank you, I'll check that out asap.
Floats are in good condition and seem to be moving freely. I'm going to take the carbs off and give them a good check and clean. Thanks for your comment 🙌
It audibly sounds like carb ice, you have carb heat on that bird? (The weather also looks about right for carb icing on ground). Rough running when at idle or low RPM suggests it might be running too lean perhaps caused by that fuel leak.
Thanks for the comment 🙌 No carb heat on this one. My current thinking is that it's running rich, as the engine inlet is getting gravity fed fuel from the leaky primer.
@@RobHolmes8 my dad has the same problem with his Kitfox 4 with a 912 ul Rotax engine and everything was rich so he clean out the carb and now it running smoothly
Great stuff Rob. Your daughter was amazing. Very observant and interested in things as you flew over them. I thought she had gone a bit quiet as you climbed for the clouds and obviously couldn't see the detail which she was enjoying. Couldn't help smiling when she asked you to go down. A very nice record for you both and I am sure it will not be her last flight. Well done. (and subbed while I was here, thank you YT suggestions!) 😊
