1400 miles in one day in a Kitfox Super Sport

[DesertFox4]

Took off from Fairmont yesterday at 6:30 am after topping of both tanks. As I've stated before. Every time I fly this aircraft I fall in love with it all over. Climb to 4500 feet and head for Hays, Ks. Smooth as glass and a small tailwind. Finally I have a chance to acquaint myself with the Garmin 396 with XM weather and music. The weather feature would come in handy later. Hays, KS for fuel.
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Next stop would be either in Texas or New Mexico. Climbed up to 8500 feet just above the white fluffy things that were starting to form. Much smoother on top of the widely scattered thermal indicators.
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Blessed with more very light tailwinds I saw the rest of Kansas slip below and behind me. Cut the corner a little and bypass Dalhart,TX and even Tucemcari, NM and set sights for Moriarty, NM. for fuel. Looking West past Albuquerque,NM showed nothing but very large thunderstorms. No way was I going home by my usual route over St.John, AZ. Using the Garmin and XM weather showed that South was my only hope of sleeping in my own bed Thursday night. I started up the on board oxygen system and up I went. Off to Socorro, NM all the time huge thunder storms formed off my right wing. Landing at Socorro and talking with a local pilot (Brad), I re-evaluated my chance of flying all the way to Phoenix yet. It looked pretty good on the Garmin with breaks in the build ups if I flew South to Truth or Consequences then on to Lordsburg where I could turn West and over fly Safford, AZ. At times I was above 11,500 feet. I arrived at Chandler airport about 5:30 local time.
1400 plus miles in one day is no problem in the new Kitfox. I arrived in good shape due to the comfort of the aircraft and the technology on board. Made it almost a non-event even with the weather. The oxygen was a real nice bonus and kept my decision making skills much sharper. Highly recommended if flying above 9,000 feet for very long. What a great aircraft. Certainly reinforces my assertions to prospective buyers that this is a very viable cross country aircraft that you and your passenger will enjoy traveling in.

[Andrew G]

Steve, I sat in that airplane at Osh... so my good karma helped I think.

Great story... that's amazing mileage... your Gallons per hour probably set a record.

[DesertFox4]

Andrew, I'll take the Karma, thanks. Keep in mind I filled the aircraft when I landed at Chandler. It was down to 1/4 on each tank. Still great mileage.

[desertfox1]

This is my fourth Kitfox, I love it more every time I'm in it. I was
happy to make it available for Steve to see his Dad, and I knew
he would take care of it. I think I made a believer of him with
the benefits of Ox, have to thank the McBeans for making that
equipment available.

Makes me crazy when people say they like the STOL but need
something for the 300-500 mile trip to see their Grandkids.

Phil Laker

[DesertFox4]

Thanks Papa for trusting me with your baby. She was the perfect lady all the way home. :)

The O2 was a real benefit. No pounding headache like my last trip. Felt great on arrival instead of tired. Well worth the expenditure.



Makes me crazy when people say they like the STOL but need
something for the 300-500 mile trip to see their Grandkids

So true. We've been proving for years now that the Kitfox is a competent, dare I say exceptional cross country machine that always has the STOL component on board and ready to perform at any and every time. I encountered very high density altitudes on the last part of my trip home and never once felt unsafe or even concerned with performance on any take off. Usually at the high density airports you attract an audience with a Kitfox because no one there is used to seeing an aircraft so high in the air at any given point in the take off. When the temps are in the 90's or 100's you're glad that you are in a Kitfox. My 2nd to the last take off took all of 500 feet and the density altitude on AWOS was reporting 9,000'. That's with full fuel, me and lots of baggage.