New Kitfox owner

[Driftre]

I acquired Kitfox 2 serial number 418 that was finished in 1991. The last entry in its log book was on 10/12/92 with total time in service 31.1 hours. I found the aircraft setting in a barn in Sebring Florida with the wings folded and a thick layer of dust covering everything. Being Florida and exposed to the weather there is corrosion anyway moisture could accumulate. The tail wheel is rushed off. The flaperons are frozen from corrosion. It will be a total rebuild project. The fuselage corrosion I know how to address but the flaperons. Should I replace or try to fix? The engine will need to be rebuild/replaced because of the time it sat unused. It is a Rotax 532 so plan to replaced with at least a 582 if not the 670.

[PapuaPilot]

It's very hard to say without seeing them first hand. From the things you have described I would guess that replacement would be in order. The problem with corrosion is you can't see it all. If you are seeing serious corrosion then what is the rest of the plane like? Most likely the entire airframe will need stripping down, cleaning up and repainting, but there could be corrosion on the inside of the steel tubing. What about the spars, they might be corroded too? You won't know this without spending a lot of time cleaning, stripping and opening things up.

My concern is that you will end up to investing more money in this project than it would take to buy a similar or better model flying Kitfox that is in great condition. Imagine if you end up needing to take the airframe down to bare metal, and do some welding/replacing of tubes. Then you will need to prime and paint the fuselage cage, stabilizer, elevator, rudder, etc. Next you will be doing a complete recovering and paint job. Think the same about the wings. Are the instruments and radios any good? After all this there is the firewall forward costs, etc. You need to decide if it is worth spending hundreds of hours and $10-20K to get this plane flying again.

My 2 cents.

[Driftre]

The struts are bad. I have cut the fabric off the fuselage. The only major issue is the tail wheel attachment point. The wings appear in good condition. I will recover them when I do the fuselage. The flaperons I think are to far gone.

[mrpilotron]

This sounds like a major project. Having been through this same process several times with old trucks, I can safely warn you that whatever you think it's going to cost, triple that. However long you think it will take, quadruple that. Also, get a professional A&P with experience on this type of airplane to give an honest disinterested 3rd party opinion of what all is needed to make it airworthy again. You might have a great project, or you might have a ceiling decoration for your local EAA hangar. It's hard to tell from where I'm sitting.. :)

[PapuaPilot]

This sounds like a major project. Having been through this same process several times with old trucks, I can safely warn you that whatever you think it's going to cost, triple that. However long you think it will take, quadruple that. Also, get a professional A&P with experience on this type of airplane to give an honest disinterested 3rd party opinion of what all is needed to make it airworthy again. You might have a great project, or you might have a ceiling decoration for your local EAA hangar. It's hard to tell from where I'm sitting.. :)

I totally agree. That is why I chimed in on this. I've been an A&P for almost 40 years and have my IA. I've seen the exact same thing you described on airplanes as you have seen on cars. It always turns out to be far more expensive and time consuming to restore than you think.

Often the best plane to get is one that is being flown and properly maintained. It's almost always less expensive to buy the more expensive plane than the bargain.

[Eric Page]

Also, get a professional A&P with experience on this type of airplane to give an honest disinterested 3rd party opinion of what all is needed to make it airworthy again.
Heed this advice. When I brought my plane home I knew the covering needed some work but I wasn't intending to strip it completely. Two experienced builders told me to do it, and I'm really glad that I listened to them. I've found all kinds of problems that I never would have seen. The project went from a covered plane that I just needed to finish, to virtually starting over, and I've spent a lot of cash on replacement parts and hardware. It's annoying but it's better than the alternative, which would have been losing my life (it was that bad).