Welcome to the wonderful world of Kitfox, kl2657!

Either you're blessed with an incredibly good sense of judgment or your best set of airshow sneakers had a major, lace-threatening, blowout right in front of the Kitfox Kiosk at a major air show...and the rest of us can just imagine how THAT worked out!

Av8r3400 highlights a couple of concerns I share about taking INITIAL flight training in a Model IV Speedster. I've been flying mine for over 11 years now without having the compass go unexpectedly 180 degrees crazy on me, but that's not necessarily going to be the case with a novice aviator and that's where I gather you stand. (But you're in for an awful lot of fun! )

That said, I'm thinking you may have a hard time finding a CFI that's actually QUALIFIED to teach you in a Speedster, or any Kitfox; just another ASEL/CFI isn't where you want to venture your money or your life. If indeed we're talking flight instruction from the very start, you'll need a good ground school and an aircraft you can have somebody else fix for you while you learn. Please trust me on this; I've been flight-instructing in one thing or another for more years than I care to admit and we all want you to enjoy flying with us for many years to come.

I have no such concerns about taking such initial instruction (we should all have been so lucky!) in the latest models, like the Series 5 and later kits, and/or the Super Sport S-LSA. In fact, such from-the-ground-up training is available in a factory-built plane; check out GlassCockpitAviation.com (I can't seem to make that into link for you right now) and talk with CFI Paul Leadabrand. I think EVERYONE should be so fortunate as to learn stick and rudder skills in gliders and then move right into taildraggers...right after winning a major lottery.

Now, if no bonafide Kitfox CFIs pop up in this forum from the Jersey area to help you, I would recommend you investigate learning to fly in a taildragger, right there in New Jersey, at www.andoverflight.com. You can get a head-start by studying a video by one of their more prominent CFIs, Damian DelGaizo; his "Tailwheel 101" DVD is available through him at bushflying@earthlink.net, or through the Andover Flight Academy at the previously mentioned address. It's truly excellent.

Let us know what you decide. And please don't think we're trying to turn you off to flying a Kitfox Speedster; my wife is a Civil Air Patrol 182 pilot who's been flying with me all along and is currently getting her tailwheel endorsement from a local Super-Cub outfit instead of from her instructor-hubby. I want her to learn the tailwheel basics in that lumber-truck before I teach her how to handle the hot-rod!

That, and I'm pretty sure I'd be endangering a perfectly nice 40+ year marriage if I did otherwise!

Can anybody else more "Joy-zee-local" out there give Jason some help?

"E.T."