At long last my KR is at the airport. Mark, you can move the link for my site from "KRs Under Construction" to the highly coveted "Completed KRs" listing. I will have new pictures on my site as soon as I get a chance to update it. I believe the KR is actually smiling now that it is around other planes.
Initial taxi tests have been very good. I am very happy that I decided to put on the Matco tailwheel. It taxies around easier than any other plane I have taxied. The Matco wheel also comes unlocked on a turn with a little differential braking so you can spin it right around if you want to. Visibility is pretty good. I can lean to the left and right and see nearly straight in front of me. I can also lean forward and see down the taxiway directly in front, another benefit of the taller Matco wheel and the bent leaf springs. I have the Great Plains hydraulic brakes. I found out that they will not hold the plane at a full power runup and they are less effective at stopping the plane than what I am used to. Some of this may be due to them not being broken in yet. I have also heard that you don't want brakes that are too effective to keep you from nosing over. I could stop a lot faster if I really had to, but the brakes are on the rudder pedals and I don't want to pus too hard and break the rudder horns. I did figure out that a canopy that can be locked partially opened is essential in Florida in the summer. That is going to be one of my first at the airport mods. That bubbles is not a greenhouse, it is a sauna. My plane has foam between the stringers and one thin layer of glass from the firewall to the seat back. I have some light weight automotive upholstery on the inside also. This makes it very quiet inside compared to another KR I was in. I would highly recomend this to everyone else. It probably only adds two pounds to the weight. It should also help a lot keeping the plane warm on a cold day, not to mention that it looks good. I did have a minor problem Saturday when the engine died at the end of the runway after a medium speed taxi run. I didn't quite have the idle mixture or speed adjusted right and the engine died when I pulled the power to idle. Since my battery sat dead for a long time it was on its last legs and wouldn't restart the engine when it was hot. I killed the battery and had to pull the plane all the way back from the end of a 2,500' runway. Luckily, the KR pulls fairly easily. I have put in a new battery and adjusted the idle mixture and speed and everything is fine now. I have more to ramble on, but will change topic tags. Many thanks to fellow KR Netter Art Bruce for helping me get the plane to the airport and putting on the wings.
