That's wonderful, John! I saw that a Kitfox had won an award, but wasn't sure if it was someone on this forum. It's a great honor, and it's good to see a Kitfox in that group!
That's wonderful, John! I saw that a Kitfox had won an award, but wasn't sure if it was someone on this forum. It's a great honor, and it's good to see a Kitfox in that group!
John Evens
Arvada, CO
Kitfox SS7 N27JE
EAA Lifetime
Chap. 43 honorary Lifetime
Very good sir! All those hours of toil, frustration, happy times and success paid off in an unexpected way!
Well Done!
Jeff
KF 5
340KF
Good job. I do need some pictures now
Kevin,
Kitfox Outback
912 ULS
Airmaster AP332CTFH-WWR70W
Summit Aircraft Wheel Skis
C-FOXW
Nice Job John,
wish I had an opportunity to meet you. I took several pics of your masterpiece. For those who asked, here is a couple. These were things I was very interested in as I am working on these areas currently.
John, If you could, do you mind telling us the paint you used and how in the world did you achieve the flawless paint job?
Sorry we missed you. We got to meet several Kitfox owners/builders and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I can guarantee you that there are flaws in my paint, but overall I was very happy with the way it turned out. Especially since it was my first airplane build and first time painting anything like that.
They say that painting is 90% preparation and 10% application and I now believe them. All the time spent heat smoothing with the iron will pay off in the end. Just don't linger too long with the iron over the plastic leading edge (one of my flaws) (maybe the judges missed that one?) I also spent quite a bit of time thinking about where to start and stop reinforcing and finishing tapes so that they would blend nicely into their surroundings.
We attended the Polyfiber workshop at Oshkosh as well as Jim Miller's advanced fabric covering forum before we started building and that was a great help in getting us started on the right track. Another good reference I used is the book "How to paint your own airplane" by Ron Alexander.
I used the polyfiber process and the paint is Aerothane (Santa Fe Red.) I used a Citation HVLP sprayer that has a second blower for fresh air to your mask which is a necessity with Aerothane.
One of the best things I did was building rotisseries for both the wings and fuselage. That allowed me to paint horizontally which allowed me to apply enough paint for it to flow out nicely without having to worry about runs. I found vertical surfaces (like the cowling) to be much more challenging as there is a fine line between enough paint to flow out and running. I got a little practice sanding and repainting on those.
Overall I was very impressed with the Aerothane. It's kind of like magic how it flows out and looks like glass after being sprayed.
Happy Building
_________________________________
JohnB
Charlotte, MI
Kitfox 7-SS
Rotax 912ULS / Whirlwind Prop
Garmin G3X Touch
John,
What a great looking plane!! And I love the setting.
Steve Wilson
Huntsville, UT
Kitfox 85DD
912A / 3 Blade Taper Tip Warp Drive
Convertible Nosewheel & Tailwheel
SkySteve's SPOT Page
SkySteve's You Tube Videos
It SHINES.
Kevin,
Kitfox Outback
912 ULS
Airmaster AP332CTFH-WWR70W
Summit Aircraft Wheel Skis
C-FOXW
Love that last pic. Beautiful plane JohnB, and congrats on your award!
-Aeropro CZ Aerotrek A240 Tri-Gear SLSA 912uls
-Airdale Avid+ on CZAW Amphibs 'FatAvid Floater' (building)
-Kitfox 4-1200 TD 912ul (sold)
-Kitfox Model III TD 582 (R.I.P.)
-Avid Flyer Mk-IV TD (sold)