Will I regret ordering a speedster?

[Maverick]

I think I read in an EAA Sport Aviation magazine about choosing which plane to build that it is estimated that a pilot will spend >80% of his time flying solo. In my case it's more like >95% of the time. When I'm by myself I like to fly both fast enough to get somewhere although I don't typically go very far and I like to go slow enough to check out the terrain at a lower level and land in the desert if I want to. I couldn't do all of this in very many airplanes. Of those, I find the Kitfox to be the most affordable and of the best performance for my kind of flying. I would never routinely try to put an RV12 down in the desert or very often on an unimproved runway for that matter. You mentioned it taking you an extra 30mins to get to your destination. How often would that even be a factor? It is true there are no wrong answers but when there are five right answers you have to figure out which is the best right answer and that ain't always easy as you obviously know. Sometimes you have to consider the intangible economics. Who's going to do the work? Who's going to fly it and how much? Who's going to change the oil, do the annuals and pamper it. I'm not saying ignore your wife, heaven forbid, but when it comes to a debate, don't forget the non-monetary investment you are going to make and who should harvest the greatest reward as part of your discussions. Once my wife saw how much work went into building a plane, how many different kinds of things I had to do, how long it took, she has never complained about it and has more often told me, "Go fly. You've earned it."

[n85ae]

The mission that you dream about, and that you later end up flying are very different. I would have
to say that most of my flights are, nice day, go out flying for an hour, hang out chat with the guys.
Very, very, few where it matters at all how far, and how fast.

My favorite summer flying is actually just above idle thermalling my Kitfox in pseudo glider mode ..

When I built it I was reading over, and over again the "Michel Gordillo" story about "Madosh" (Madrid
to Oshkosh in a Kitfox), that was kind of the dream, long flight around the world in my homebuilt
with tent, and sleeping bag ...

I painted mine with Aerothane, it looks great, BUT if I built it again I would have painted it with
polytone because it would be a lot easier to chop a hole in the fabric to later change something ...

So - Time, and experience will change the mission totally.

Jeff

[alexM]

I think the mission statement thing is a bit over blown. Mine is "two butts and some bags, little wheel in the back". That an RV-12 cruises faster than a Kitfox wouldn't exclude either one from consideration (skipping my tail my personal wheel requirement, which is not concrete). And that an RV-12 is a low wing trike doesn't mean you can't land on a grass strip somewhere or use it for camping.

There are many who would tell you an RV-12 isn't a cross country machine. I disagree of course. Here in the PNW even a slow plane is way faster than a car in trips across the state, to the San Jauns, etc. And differences in cruise speeds really only matter on longer trips. Last year I departed my home airport in my Citabria at the same time as a V tail bonanza. I completed my run up before him and took off for my breakfast destination 52NM away. About 15 minutes later he passed over me looking all kinds of sexy and going considerably faster. I heard his radio calls as he neared the destination. I taxied in to see him and his bride still getting out of the plane. I was in line ahead of them for breakfast, smiling at my victory.

I would hazard a guess that many Kitfox builders imagine themselves as bad a** back country operators, but will spend 95% of their time operating from airstrips with identifiers. It's sort of like how I ride an "adventure motorcycle" and think I'm all kinds of amazing until I look in the rear view mirror and see a Prius.

I guess I'm saying that if you're landing at Johnson Creek with 36" tires and park next to a Bonanza, you might be over equipped.

To the OP, I notice you crossed off the S-21 because the engine and prop add $50k to the price of the project. That's going to be an issue with all of your kit selections. You can spend less but it will require scrounging, a used engine, etc. I'm still going through sticker shock withdraw symptoms over instrument panels.

[efwd]

Yeah, I now feel like I should have got the speedster but when I bought, I only had the 7SS as an option. The speedster came out the following year. I still consider building speedster wings. I had no idea how limited the terrain is out here in Southern California. Now, I hope to improve mine when the new LSA rules come out and or the automatic adjustable prop becomes available. Having the ability to have a cruise setting on the prop will be a significant improvement IMO. Watching Kyle Franklin fly the speedster is inspiring.

[GuppyWN]

S21 and forego the folding wings.

[109JB]

Yeah, I now feel like I should have got the speedster but when I bought, I only had the 7SS as an option. The speedster came out the following year. I still consider building speedster wings. I had no idea how limited the terrain is out here in Southern California. Now, I hope to improve mine when the new LSA rules come out and or the automatic adjustable prop becomes available. Having the ability to have a cruise setting on the prop will be a significant improvement IMO. Watching Kyle Franklin fly the speedster is inspiring.

I'm rebuilding a Kitfox 4 Speedster and have decided to keep it a speedster, but one thing you might want to consider is that there is some evidence that the Speedster is actually slower. The one I'm rebuilding was owned by an acquaintance and another acquaintance owned a long wing Kitfox 4, both similarly equipped. Both had 80 hp 912 ULs, and both ran GSC props. The Speedster had airfoil tail surfaces, aerodynamic radiator scoop, streamlined struts everywhere, wheel pants and small wheels and the other one had round struts on the tail and the 21" Nanco balloon tires. The long winged 4 would outrun the speedster every day. Also I read on Bryan Bowens website that his yellow Kitfox with speedster wings was faster after he put long wing extensions on it, making the span the same as a factory long wing. The link below he confirms this.

https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/thread...ing-extensions

Like I said, I am sticking with the speedster wing for now but may build some extensions down the road. I acquired enough good parts off of a wrecked wing to build some but will get it flying first.

[ColdFusion]

I am in the same boat... I have been kicking the tires for awhile and have even jumped in the sprinter and visited a few of the factories and reps around the country. My top pick is always the last plane I saw. And right now that is the S-21. I think the cabin is a bit wider and Im a bigger guy so that was huge for me. Im also short so the better visibility was a huge advantage. I ended up leaning to the S-21 after I tried to buy a Kitfox and the delivery time was so far out - that was the single thing that got me looking outside the kitfox fence line. I really liked the Highlander and until the S-21 came into view that was my top pick, shorter delivery times were a bonus as was the better visibility bigger baggage area and I think the highlander has a wider cabin. And holy crap how can you not want to jump up and run all the way to steve henry hangar after seeing those vids. And just as I was ready to place a deposit on a highlander a buddy told me of a local guy building a S-21. I have about 2,000 PIC and the interior view of the all metal wing pushed me over the edge - super clean compared to wood and glue, may not be any better, but wow was the s-21 a clean build... The higher 1800 lb payload and 145 MPH speed with the 915 I am kinda thinking I have found my baby. The folding wing has zero value to me as I plan to build a hangar for it. Keep in mind this entire s-21 grin may flip in 5 seconds if I jump in something else before i place deposit. I would love the S7 or even a carbon cub but want tandem seating for more room. I was still very much interested in kitfox until I saw the palmer video of him and his new sidekick camera dude and they were "TIGHT" and much smaller than me. That single image of them dancing for shoulder placement had me pump the brakes with kitfox. Is there any model 8 coming out with wider cabin? How old is the model 7... is it time for a 7.1 model? Good luck wherever you end up.

[Shadowrider]

If they would put cabane gear shock monster and 29” ABW I would consider building one.

[mrpilotron]

I am in the same boat... My top pick is always the last plane I saw...

Wow. That hits a little close to home. I have yet to check out a plane that flat-out turns me off. Some are more interesting than others, but just about every one of them fills my head with justifications for why that's the right one and then I start daydreaming of how I would use that airplane to adjust my lifestyle. If I had an RV-14, I would probably land at a lot of paved runways a long way from home. If I had a Kitfox, not all the runways would be paved and fewer of them would be a long way away. That's what makes choosing so hard: I would adjust to the airplane, no matter what choice I make so all of the choices look really good and I can't decide. I think they call this analysis paralysis. Is this why some people end up building 5 or 10 airplanes?

[kitfoxrk]

I think they call this analysis paralysis. Is this why some people end up building 5 or 10 airplanes?

It's also why some end up building nothing!

Bob