First flight.

[DesertFox4]

23770
Well she flew for the first time today. 😀
Short flight by the time I was all ready but it did great. Will give it another go tomorrow.
This thing is going to be fun!
200’ takeoff, 1700’ per minute climb and without trying 120 mph indicated in the down wind. Busy pattern so couldn’t open it up without running down a Cessna 172. Controls felt great. Engine, perfect. That EarthX battery real spins the prop fast. Fastest Rotax starts I ever experienced. 👌

Couldn’t find any buddies at the airport to capture the first takeoff on video. 😢

More soon.

Keep building guys. It is so worth the effort.😀😀😀😀😀

[efwd]

Congratulations DF4! We will have to get out for some air to air video in the near future. Desert background works great with bright paint schemes. 😎:cool:

[jrevens]

Congrats, Steve!!! Those are great numbers! I'm curious... I realize how much of a difference light weight makes, but to get that 1700 fpm climb, what was your flap setting, RPM, and airspeed? Do you have an IFA prop?

[Shadowrider]

Sweet! I can’t imagine indicating 120. I would have to be in a dive with power and I would still have trouble hitting that.

[DesertFox4]

Eddie, would love flying this beautiful part of the U.S. with you. Tangerine will be on display at Kitfox Aircraft’s CopperState fly in booth this Feb. along with the Monarch Butterfly Kitfox. Lots of orange will be the theme I guess.

John, thank you. Finally got her off the ground. I always tell people about to fly their new Kitfox for the first time to be prepared for the Kitfox to be ready to fly way before expected. Well, this one kind of surprised even me. I rolled the power in kind of conservatively the first time. It was off before full power was reached. Had about 7 mph right down the runway. Max static ground run up RPMs was 5150 in today’s 63 degree air. Ivo Lite ground adjustable prop. I’m Light Sport John so at this time no in-flight adjustable prop allowed. I always take off with 1/2 flaps for max take off performance. Had a heck of a time getting rid of the flaps before hitting 80 mph. In fact I didn’t get it done before 89 mph showed up on the airspeed tape. Try to climb out at 80 mph or so to keep speeds up for all the fast airplanes in the pattern. 80 mph showed 1700’ per minute in this nice cool air. Well, cool for here.
If traffic permits tomorrow, I’ll try to see what wide open top speed in level flight will show. I’m sticking close to the airport for a couple hours just to make sure everything is working properly.

Shadowrider- thank you. Your STi wing compared to my “standard” wing with Laker Leading Edge makes them two very different aircraft. The STi with the 915 is a hoot.😀. Can’t imagine it with 155 hp. Wicked.

[airlina]

Fantastic Steve , its going to be fun for the rest of us to see what kind of performance numbers you can achieve thru your flight testing. Sounds like Your attention to detail and membership in weight watchers is going to pay off in spades. Congratulations , a big day in your life. Bruce N199CL

[efwd]

5150 huh? That's a CRAZY number.
that is where my prop was set for first flight. I found that to be a good cruise setting and I showed similar indicated airspeed. I wonder if you will find better takeoff performance should you take your static rpm up to 5400. I don't recall seeing any better takeoff performance but I suppose there was. I preferred it when I had a cruise pitch. It was more difficult to overspeed the engine then. Thanks for the heads up on Copperstate. I didn't realize it was coming so soon. I need to check my schedule. Sounds like one I need to attend, this time with my plane.:D

[Dave S]

Steve,

Congratulations on your first flight and safe event. It's hard to describe the feeling of taking an airplane you built for it's first trip into the air.

Many happy hours.:)

[DesertFox4]

Eddie, I’ve found 5200 RPMs to be a good static ground setting for best cruise. Like you said, anything much higher and cruise suffers slightly. When on those long cross country flights, an extra 10 mph helps a little. Take offs suffer slightly but I’m usually operating off longer hard surface runways so achieving the shortest distance take offs is rarely needed. Even when I was flying in Idaho back country strips with my model 4 with the same prop and engine, the same prop settings worked well but most times I was solo.
In- flight adjustability would be better but Light Sport yet does not allow this but who knows, maybe someday down the road the FAA will wise up and allow those props.

[Slyfox]

way to go Steve. I'm glad you like your airplane there is nothing like being at the beginning of the runway with a new airplane and hitting the throttle and lifting off for the first time in a brand new airplane. One thing to think about, you can put the motor in your IVO and wire the switch up under the cowling, it will still be considered a ground adjustable, it will just be easier, like put the switch at the oil door. just a thought.

[SomeDay7]

Congratulations Steve. Exciting times with Kitfox.

[desertdave]

Awesome news Steve. I wish I was around to get some video and toast the newest member of our growing Kitfox airport family. Hopefully next week we can get some action shots.

[Dorsal]

Congratulations on both the flight and the beautiful ship!

[N213RV]

Congratulations Steve!! Beautiful bird!!

[rv9ralph]

Steve ... Congratulations! Glad to hear it performs as good as it looks.

I look forward to seeing Tangerine if you make it back up to Idaho.

Ralph

[DesertFox4]

Thanks Steve, Jim, Dave, Dorsal, Mike and Ralph. Means a lot to get nice comments from such talented builders and friends here on TeamKitfox.

Ralph, planning on Idaho visits a little more often if John and Debra will have me.😉 Hope your house is coming along or done by now.

Didn’t get to fly today but weather and plane look like a go for tomorrow.

[Clark in AZ]

That's great Steve! Congratulations, I know that was a long time coming. Can't wait for some video!

Clark

[DesertFox4]

Thanks Clark.

[jmodguy]

Great news Steve! I’m holding off for warmer weather. Then we can have 3 orange Kitfox aircraft to park together!👍🏻 Great minds think alike eh?

[DesertFox4]

Thanks Jeff. Great visiting with you a few nights back. You’re going to have one incredible aircraft flying soon.

[rv9ralph]

Ralph, planning on Idaho visits a little more often if John and Debra will have me.😉 Hope your house is coming along or done by now.


House is finished and we have a guest room if needed. I should have room for a visiting plane in the hangar by spring.

Ralph

[DesertFox4]

Congrats Ralph on the house. Quite a project. Nice to have another place to stay and hangar space too. Can’t beat that. Enjoy your home. Now get that Kitfox airborne soon.😀

[DesertFox4]

23789
Pattern work at Deer Valley Airport Phoenix. 8 to 10 aircraft in the pattern with me at any one time today. That was just on the North runway. Pretty day means lots of traffic. The Kitfox performed flawlessly but had a hard time getting oil temps above 130 first two touch and goes.
Landed then covered almost entire oil cooler with tape and finally got to 170. May tape off some of radiator to get above 180 degrees. Should have zero issues flying in Arizona 100 degree temps with these cowlings.
23790
Forgot my GoPro so a a quick photo in Deer Valley traffic pattern. Couldn’t take many photos. The ads-b in was almost overwhelming. Had to concentrate on just the guy in front of me and forget the other 8 plus aircraft setting off “traffic” alarms.

23791
Topped off both tanks for the very first time. Everything working great so time to bug out of this crazy airspace and head out for the western edge of my assigned test area. One hour flight west of Phoenix at 118 mph cruise setting. True airspeed showed 124 mph at 4,500 feet. Nice 63 degree day. Visibility out of Phoenix, unlimited. Need another degree dialed into the Ivo prop for a little better easy cruise setting. Saw 130 mph at 5,700 rpm for just a short 30 second sprint.
23792
60 miles west of Phoenix. Looking South towards Mexico.

23794
Made it out to Indian Hills Airpark 110 miles West of Phoenix. Uneventful but incredibly rewarding flight.
My brother resides out here in the winter. Great flying.
Will stay 4 or 5 days and get some serious testing done.
The MGL panel performed perfectly. Quite a glass panel. Will work on customizing it later. The Kitfox needs just a very slight left wing heavy adjustment but really would have hardly noticed it if not for perfectly glass smooth air today.
All for now.
Keep building guys.👍

[jiott]

Thanks for the pics Steve and congrats. Sounds like you had an absolutely "Normal" Kitfox maiden flight: no serious issues, slightly heavy left wing, low oil temperatures, tons of fun & satisfaction. Also, thanks for taking such good care of us all as an administrator of this great forum.

[DesertFox4]

Thank you Jim. Much appreciated and, by the way, you guys are pretty darn easy to “take care of”. 😀
Reassuring to have Larry watching out for all of us too. Thank you Larry.

[Russell320]

Congratulations Steve......well done. Come on down to Stellar and I’ll take some inflight photos....not much traffic here..especially when you turn ADS-B in...off😃!

[DesertFox4]

Thanks Russ. Not in my test area☹️.

[DesertFox4]

23807
Six hours on the hobbs so far.
Beautiful day. Calm air, 67 degrees. Two hours today and hated to come down.
60 miles visibility. More flying tomorrow.

[DesertFox4]

8 uneventful hours on the hobbs.
Scenes from my phase one test area.
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23819
23820

[Shadowrider]

Nice! Looks like good weather. Just curious is your Hobbs going off oil pressure?

[Hawkertech]

I was searching the web and happened to find this. https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/advisory_circular/ac_90-116.pdf If I read it right they want atleast 500 hours of total flight time to test a homebuilt? I hope I am reading this wrong.

[efwd]

I briefly scanned the Doc. If I am reading it correctly, we are looking at the qualification of an acceptable Additional Pilot on page 12. It suggests that a pilot who would qaulify for selection to fly along for the initial flights in phase one would need 500 hours flight time in similar make of aircraft. Less than that, the FAA feels that they would not have the experience to adequately evaluate the new aircraft. I am not sure that this is a regulation but an observation on their part for what characteristics the additional pilot would have to impact the safety of such flights in phase one. It definetly does not say that the builder who wants to test his own aircraft would need 500hrs. I had the minimum required qualification when I flew mine. Maybe that was a bad idea but...

[Cherrybark]

A belated congratulations Steve. I always enjoy in-flight photos. As meticulous as your building went, it's not surprising you are enjoying perfect performance. Lovely plane inside and out.

[DesertFox4]

Much appreciated Carl.

[Jim2Fly]

Congratulations Steve,...……. will you be attending Buckeye?

[DesertFox4]

Thanks Jim. I’m planning on being at CopperState.

[David47]

I've been off the site for quite a while so to come back on and see that you've flown now Steve is truly great to see and hear about. Congratulations on a job very well done.

[DesertFox4]

Thanks David. Glad you’re back. Still in test phase but so far so good after 33.5 hours.
Great flying aircraft.
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