Shipping a Kitfox

[wino59]

I am looking for a Kitfox, and many that are for sale that I am interested in are projects that mostly complete, including the wings on the plane, and motor attached etc, yet are not airworthy.

So my question is does anyone have a good experience with a shipping company to transport a kitfox?

It seems to me I should be able to transport it cheaper, than paying for fuel and renting a trailer to go get, especially if it is across the country.

Any thoughts are appreciated. I am just at a lost on how to get one shipped to me. I went through the archives, and could find anything.

I guess a reasonable solution is wait for one that comes up for sale closer :(

[MotReklaw]

I flew to Homedale, ID and rented a 16' box van and drove our kit back to Alabama. The cost over having it shipped by Partain was about the same. The airline ticket, hotel rooms, food, gas, and cost of the rental were the same, or almost. It was the adventure of a cross country trip that I was interested in so I didn't mind the time or inconvenience.

I bought a partial built kit in Kingman AZ once and rented a box van to bring it back to Bama. Another fun trip across country on the ground.

Lots of people here use Partain and are pleased with his rates and the care taken with their kits. His link is at the bottom of the page.

[foxkit3]

I had mine shipped from arizona to michigan. $2000.00. I rented space in a 18 wheeler. Seller made a wing carrier and landing gear was removed. Down side to it is you have to have someone load it and unload it. Plane was damaged and could not be flown.

[Av8r3400]

I transported a flying IV from ny to wi in a 26' uhaul. Had to remove a wing and horizontal tail for width but it fit.

[dholly]

OK, this will be windy (sorry) but something might prove helpful...

I recently had to move a similar size, folding wing tri-gear from TX to NY. The estimated distance was 1447 miles. I really didn't have the time to do it myself, so I put the job for enclosed transport up for bid on www.uShip.com (http://www.uShip.com) (ever watch Shipping Wars on A&E cable channel?). I also placed a free Hauling Ad (http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/haulquery.pl) in the classifieds on YesterdaysTractors.com. It's an antique tractor site and they have a hauling schedule to facilitate moving large equipment and securing backhauls.

I received (4) bids from uShip: $4076, $3773, $3250 and $2460, the low bid was an offer for open transport. I had to decline them all because of date or equipment conflicts. Ie., maybe they had a 24'-28' enclosed trailer which would accommodate the wings on and folded, but either the interior width or rear door opening was insufficient.

I rec'd a (3) phone calls from the YTM haul ad, all were in TX and heading north but did not want to wait the additional day or two necessary to finalize my purchase deal. These quotes were cheaper, but on large open 18-wheel transport trailers. Regardless, they all seemed expensive to me, especially for a straight hot shot through several major cities loaded with tons of available backhaul listings.

You didn't mention whether you will be moving a smaller KF1-3 or larger KF4-7. I am willing to bet a KF4 and up with spring gear will be difficult width wise and require anything from 'pinching' your gear together with ratchet straps to having to remove the wings and/or gear altogether. Here are the specs I posted to provide some reference:

Length: 21 ft 6 in., Width: 7 ft 11 in., Height: 7 ft 8 in., Weight:650 lbs. Easily moved on it's own landing gear. Both wings can be removed from the aircraft and are each approx. 13'0"L x 4'7.5"W. Wings may be secured to the inside trailer wall, with leading edges down, using E-Track straps and appropriate padding. Aircraft Dimensions w/ wings removed: 46" max fuselage width, 7'10.5" max width at horizontal stabilizer (can be removed if necessary), 7'6" max height at rudder (nosewheel can be blocked up and tail lowered to approx. 6'0" height), 18'6.5" max length, 7'6.5" maingear max width. This airplane wings on and folded fits in a trailer with the following specs: 8.5' wide with 98" interior and door-opening width, 78" interior and door height, 24' long + 5' V-nose. Note this trailer does have a custom full width door opening.

In the end, after nearly a month of trying, I simply couldn't find anyone with the schedule, equipment or reasonable cost to do the haul. I ended up driving down with a buddy to pick it up myself. One guy drive, one guy sleep, one day later we're in TX. Hmm, that wasn't too bad after all. I took one of my own trailers with me, an aluminum Triton Elite5 w/ 12'x5' bed. 375lb empty and 2200lb gvwr. The trip cost under $1000. ~$650 in fuel and tolls, $180 motels, another $100 for food and drink, $40 uHaul supplies and Duct Tape.

I have towed my Avid and both KF's for 3-4 hour trips on a modified boat trailer nose back without issue but this time, to be safe, I decided to remove the wings, landing gear, HS, elevator and rudder, and bolted the fuse onto a cradle bolted down to the trailer nose front. Used large quilted mover's pads (rented from uHaul ridiculously cheap, no local return requirement or time penalty) to wrap the wings etc., and 'shrink-wrapped' the cockpit with cellophane mover's stretch plastic wrap from uHaul. It was worth the effort for this length trip and everything tracked perfectly at 80mph for hours on end. It was quite the adventure, drove right through the hurricanes that hammered TX in April. Made it home dry without a scratch!

[Northof49]

Have you looked on kijji ?

[wino59]

Thanks for the responses. It seems the consensus is... if you want it done right, go get it yourself, you will save money, and ensure there is no damage, and if there is damage you don't have anyone to blame but yourself :)

I was looking for a ball park pricing on moving a Kitfox, and you guys have been more than helpful, and that was exactly what I needed, thanks...The money I would save buying something across the country would not justify the cost to transport. It would be a couple of thousand dollars, so I will look for something probably within a 1000 miles of my home.

I will start working on building a Kitfox trailer based off a boat trailer platform, so when something comes available I will be able to go get it.

[rogerh12]

Did someone say boat trailer?

This was a pontoon trailer (see attached).
Moved my BD-4 !!!!!

Roger

[farmboy]

Last night Partain showed up with my series 6 talk about top notch service. Driver Michael has top of line equipment ,friendly and better yet very careful. I would hire them again in a heartbeat.

[DesertFox4]

Congrats. on your delivery. Yes Partain does a great job moving precious cargo across the U.S.

Enjoy your model 6. :)

[jtpitkin06]

I used Partain. The shipment arrived when they said it would. Everything was padded and protected. Dollars out of pocket are close to what you can do it yourself without losing several days travel time. You also avoid crating costs as Partain pads and straps it all down inside their vans. Once your plane goes in the van it stays there until you take delivery. No cross dock loading and unloading.

The only negative is waiting for them to have a load coming to your area so you might have to wait a few weeks. It's certainly worth the wait in my book.

Unless you really want to make the road trip, Partain makes it easy and economical. They also deliver to residential areas with no loading dock required. Their Gooseneck trailers can get in some amazingly tight spaces.

Contact Info:
Tony Partain
Partain Trading Company
Telephone: 541-330-0828


Here's a pic of one of their rigs as posted on Barnstormers.

John Pitkin
Greenville, Texas

[Fooey]

Congrats on the delivery Farmboy, how's it look sitting on your grass strip?

Fooey

[farmboy]

Fooey sorry to say she is still sitting wingless and no tail at KFXY. Monday we are going to put the wings on and see how far we get with everything else. The series IV is going to your backdoor to KLRJ, maybe you can stop in there and do some wheeling and dealing take care.

[Fooey]

Really, Tommy must have bought it. Good luck on the wings and everything else. I am green with envy. lol

[War Eagle]

Wow, that is a tragic story! For all parties involved.

My heart goes out all those folks.

I lived through the bankruptcy of Skystar and lost a ton of money ( along with many others)

This story as well as the bankruptcy is just another indication that we all need to do our due diligence.

We shouldn't just take things like business deals for granted because they have been recommended to us or others have used them without any problems. Business deals and companies do go bad from time to time and we are left in very diffcult financial straights.

I hope these folks make it through these very tough issues.

[MotReklaw]

I'm very sorry about the death of the persons involved in this story. May God have mercy on their souls.

And I'm sorry about the $$$ loss that your friend suffered.

Unfortunately, we are sometims victims of circumstances such as these. I'm dealing with a similar situation with regards to insurance coverage. I'm not sure where the answer lies, but I guess the lesson to be learned is that we have to take whatever steps necessary to protect our interests. Seems the problem is we often don't consider the "what if's" in these circumstances. And that is something we pilots should do a better job at. Often, money/time influences out decisions.

That is certainly not KF building related, but I am sad for the losses for all parties involved.

[jtpitkin06]

My Kitfox left the factory fully insured. I purchased a policy before shipment for transport and construction. I covers the airplane for everything from fire to flood to theft, but not for flight. If the transport truck had crashed my claim would be with my insurance underwriter and not the freight hauler. My insurance company could then go after the carrier, but that's their problem. When I get ready to fly, I will purchase a regular policy.

Construction insurance is cheap. I recommend everyone have a policy. If you have a fire in your shop your homeowner's policy will pay for the shop but not the plane. There are limits on what the insurance companies will pay on contents and personal property and a plane is way outside those limits.

John

[desertfox1]

We were brought up to date on this tragedy at the Copperstate
Flyin last weekend. The Kitfox in the trailer belonged to Bob
Meyer, a hangar neighbor of mine. After the event Debra and
John made the decision to pull the next kit in line and ship it to
Arizona in a twenty foot trailer. Stan (one of the TIG welders)
volunteered to spend the weekend in his pickup doing the 1700
mile trip. Debra said they were aware of the potential problems
but just thought it was the right thing to do. It appears they
are taking the hit on this.

Phil

[kebopa3]

Well done is better than well said (BENJAMIN FRANKLIN).

I'm quite happy to be waiting another week or so to take delivery of my kit. I made my purchase largely because of the great things I read on the forum. I like the fact that the McBean's recognize the game is not about a single sale. That's short-term thinking. It's about winning the hearts and minds of customers, so they'll continue to support your business, preferably forever. That's not something you can achieve by price and product quality alone.

Kebo

[jtpitkin06]

Builder's insurance is cheap. I just switched to a policy with Falcon for $30k. It's $250/yr. Covers fire theft, flood and transport for 30 miles. For the long distance shipping you need cargo insurance. I used my homeowner's agent to get "marine" cargo insurance. The cost was about one percent or $220 to cover shipping from ID to TX. I think the underwriter was Accord. Check with your agent. Falcon does not write policies for shipping only.

John


John,

What company did you use for supplemental insurance? I'd like to give them a phone call before I ship my panel.

Thanks,
Phil

[Esser]

That is an incredible story. I just emailed Debra and told her I would like to donate $200 towards paying for his plane. I know it pales in comparison to what they did but I want to chip in. If 100 of us chipped in $200 it would pay for most of the kit and it wouldn't be as big of a burden on John and Debra.

[Dave B]

Please post a link for direct contact for a donation.
Thanks.

Dave
N7548D KF4 Speedster

[Esser]

I just emailed Debra at debra@kitfoxaircraft.com and told her I wanted to donate.

[Meyertheflyer]

Kitfox is an ethical and committed business. Never a second thought about doing what's right. We are fortunate to be a part of a company that stands by its commitment to its customers. It's sad to discover the grief Vans is putting its people through. I own an RV-9 also and will sell it when my Kitfox is flying. John and Deb are going to continue to do well with such an excellent reputation for customer service.

[DesertFox4]

It's heart warming to see the concern and generosity of our members toward one another. I know John and Debra appreciate the outpouring of support both on TeamKitfox.com and privately and Tony the condolences for his loss and the loss to both families involved in the accident.

I talked breifly with John this morning and told him we stand by ready to assist in any way he may need.

Again , thanks to our members for the kind support shown to John and Debra and to Tony. It says volumes about the Kitfox community and how the the Kitfox experience is so much more than just about the aircraft.:)

[jdmcbean]

Wow.. what a response….

Thank you very much.. This is why the Kitfox family is so great and why we are proud to be a part of it.

While the thought is very generous and appreciated.. we are going to try and hold the insurance accountable. We made this decision because we felt it was the correct thing to do. The dream of building your own aircraft may only happen once in a individuals lifetime and for it to be spoiled by insurance companies or lawyers is simply wrong.

Keep the Kitfox community strong and growing !!

[Phil]

Hi Everyone,

I want to follow up with a bit of good news on some of the commentary I made within this thread.

Earlier I mentioned that a I have a friend who lost his aircraft in Mike Cobb's horrible traffic accident. Mike was a driver for Partain Trading Company and he was killed while delivering a couple of airplanes.

Now that the dust has settled on the insurance settlement, it was discovered that the insurance agent made an error when writing the policy. Partain was able to send the claim through the Errors and Omissions process and the insurance company agreed that an error was made. It was an unfortunate and honest mistake by the agent that caused the confusion.

I don't want to leave my earlier comments open-ended and I owe each of you clarification as to how this situation ultimately ended.

At the end of the day, everyone was paid in full by the insurance company as you would expect.

Phil

[FitchUpNorth]

Getting one across the country is an adventure in and of itself, thats for sure. Plus, you immediately become the most interesting person ever at your fuel stops.....

Still makes me realize how blessed I am to be able to "slip the surly bonds" and share the joy of our obsession with others. Airplanes just do that to people....not many others get to touch one. They approach as if its a mythical beast that they are close to. But its the kids that are the best. Took LOTS of pics of kids sitting in the cockpit on the trailer....

Although they are meant to be flown, when trailered they are nerve wracking and worrisome. LOL

Greasy side down