Anyone not sure how wide to make the boat? It is generally accepted that the standard KR cockpit is just not wide enough at 34". I am a relatively "wide" guy, so I read everything I could find, particularly the opinions of the guys that were already flying their airplanes. I also noted what more recent kits /plans were doing in this dept. Still not convinced, I did all the usual stuff arranging the dining room chairs in various ways and measuring everyone that walked by.
I eventually convinced myself that nothing less than 47" would do. The well stretched fuselage (15' back from the firewall) helped to disguise the bulge in the fuse which moved aft to about shoulder position. All was well. Then I settled on the Jabiru engine and everything changed. The cowl only needed to be 24" wide - that is 7" narrower than the VW (6" smaller than the Corvair). Now the bulge looked really silly - the nose was just too pointy. Issssshh This last week I travelled down to the lower Zambezi to recover a crashed C172. The wreck was transported back to my house where my kid is stripping it down for the insurance company. Today I was looking at it - the cabin really looked real narrow. I found a tape measure and checked - 39" at the widest point (shoulder position). That really shook me guys - I was trying to go 8" wider than a Cessna 172. Hope this saves someone some sleep. Steve J
