Kitfox Squadrons?

[DanB]

When I first visited this site that Randy put together, I can't tell you how much I appreciated the time and effort I know it took. I have been a frequent visitor to our sister squadron www.vansairforce.net (http://www.vansairforce.net) for 6 years and have often thought how great it would be to have the same thing for the Kitfoxers. Though I have monitored the Matronix list, it just wasn't (and isn't) the same. A site like this has the potential to bring folks together in numbers, and judging from the steady increase...that's what is happening.

I have watched the Van's site build and do great things like the LOE fly-in done each year to raise $ for selected charities. These kind of things are attainable. It will take some time, but I see the possibilities. One of the things that I enjoyed watching develop was the different squadrons that came together in various areas of the country. You can find a squadron patch for many of them on the site. There have been some efforts come out of the Matronics list to show where Kitfoxers are (an electronic map with pins) but not sure if it is still out there. It would be nice to see that appear again.

There is one group that I know of here in the Southwest that call themselves the Desert Fox Squadron. This group is fairly sizeable and they have a nice fly-in every March outside of Phoenix. I was curious if there are other groups that may get together in other parts of the country? If so, can you tell us a little about your group? No matter what the size...so I guess size doesn't matter Best Regards

[RandyL]

Dan,

In deciding to build a Kitfox I of course looked carefully at both the aircraft and the company, but just as importantly I looked at the user community. Having spent over a decade building two RVs, and immersed in the RV community, I knew how important a healthy user community is to any aircraft type, but especially a kit aircraft type. My assessment was that the Kitfox user community was seriously underdeveloped. The Kitfox is the second largest fleet of flying kit aircraft in the business with nearly 2,000 flying (RVs are number one with over 5,500) yet the user community consisted only of the Matronics list which is less than 200 members and not a very feature-rich platform. I couldn't find any other events or organizations, or even much in the way of web sites, and certainly no central full-featured online "community" where the majority of builders and owners hung out.

In the Internet age online communities have proven to be the most powerful tool of all in building communities around a common interest. Being well acquainted with Doug Reeves and the growth of his VansAirforce.net I certainly knew what was possible and so decided to create TeamKitfox.com for the Kitfox community. The bottom line for me is that if I'm going to build an aircraft I want the user community to be healthy and am willing to get involved to help make that happen.

Now, in response to your question about local groups or squadrons, that's an idea that's been on my mind too. I'm quite happy to use TK.com to help facilitate any local squadrons. I can create forums for regional groups within the TK forums in minutes, and could create membership directories for local squadrons or most anything else that folks want. TeamKitfox.com is here to serve the needs of the user community so folks just need to let me know what they want. My sense though is that the Kitfox community needs to first gel and mature to a greater extent. As TK grows and a greater portion of Kitfox builders/pilots get involved I think you'll see all sorts of things come out of it.

[lbushrod]

I am part of a southern California group we call the Coyote Dawn Patrol. Right now there are only three Kitfoxes, my model 2 (Jabiru) and a model 3, also a Jabiru. A Rotax powered model 7 is the most recent addition

The group also includes two Jabiru Avids, a Remos and Rotax powered Sky Ranger.

Even though we fly different craft, we are the best of friends and have taken several trips from So. Cal to Washington state where I keep another hangar. We fly together several times a week for breakfast of lunch and do considerable aircamping. We carry high-tech light weight camping equipment in custom baggage compartments and plan on three to five hour flights cross country.

The most fun is flying low and slow and the friendships we have established. When I get my photo album arranged I will post some of our trips.

We are currently planning a trip to Columbia for the Luscombe fly-in and a visit to Pine Mtn. Lake airpark in May where they have a great fly-in party. In August we will head north through Oregon, Washington and Idaho- Paradise, CA, Crater Lake, Cascade Lake, Columbia River, Roosevelt Lake, Sullivan Lake and Cavanaugh. On the south bound return we will stop at Johnson Creek.

Along the way we visit other friends, more Kitfox and Avid pilots. Flying in a group is great fun and the increased margin of safety and support is comforting. We are continually looking for new friends and destination.

Pete