Kitfox Kit Inspection - what to look for?

[GarethWright]

Hello All,
A friend and I have found an unbuilt Kitfox 7 kit available locally, and are going to check it out on Thursday this week. I have been doing some research online for a while now, and it looks to be the perfect plane for our needs / wants, but I haven't been able to find much on inspecting the kit itself.

Are there any kitfox specific deal-breakers or potential problems we should keep an eye out for? Is there an easy way on the kit itself to determine that it is a series 7, other than the included paperwork?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Gareth

[Dave S]

If it is an unbuilt kit, the parts inventory sheets should be with it so you can compare to see if everything is still with the kit.:)

There should be a build manual in addittion to the inventory sheets.

If you are buying an unbuilt kit - the documentation including model should be there. The model number should be buried in the serial number on the airframe - serial number should correspond to the paperwork.

If nothing is assembled - that's great you should be able to look to see if everything is undamaged. The Spar Tubes and Inserts should be free of scratches/dents/other defects.

If it has quick build wings - the internals to the spars should be fine - and you can check the outside of the spar tubes for storage damage (dents/scratches)

Sincerely,

DS

[Jfquebec]

The wings...if are quick built,,the lift strut brackets and all the hole were the spar are attached to fuselage..need a lot of precision to make your plane fly straight without a lot of trim tab...i think it is very inportant..on fuselage you can repair some error but on the spar......

[Av8r3400]

Parts can be had easily if anything is missing, but adjust the price accordingly.

Deal breaker: Bill of sale for the kit from the manufacturer to the current owner. If this is not there you will have fits on fits trying to register this plane. Personally I wouldn't buy the kit without that document.

Without an unbroken paper trail from the manufacturer to you, there will be trouble.

[Geowitz]

Parts can be had easily if anything is missing, but adjust the price accordingly.

Deal breaker: Bill of sale for the kit from the manufacturer to the current owner. If this is not there you will have fits on fits trying to register this plane. Personally I wouldn't buy the kit without that document.

Without an unbroken paper trail from the manufacturer to you, there will be trouble.


If this is a Skystar kit, who is no longer in business, you can easily use this letter - http://www.kitfoxaircraft.com/Bill%20of%20Sale.htm - and explain your situation and you will not have any problems. When I registered I used the letter above and explained the situation with as much documentation that I had and I received my registration within 10 days. No questions asked. EAA also has some clever, but legal suggestions for registering kits with little to no documentation.

As mentioned, the wings are the most critical part that would have the most likely chance for damage.

[HighWing]

The project I just finished was a Denney kit first sold in 1992. I did have the original shipping parts checklist and that was about it. I could have gotten a bill of same from the first owner and used the letter mentioned, but there is a also a check box "Assembled from Miscellaneous Parts" in the registration application. That is what I checked - no problem. I tried this because another builder when the paper trail thing came in to being checked that box as he also didn't have any way to provide satisfy that requirement. He had no issues either.

[GarethWright]

Thanks for all the great info so far! It's looking like the Thursday inspection has been pushed back to this weekend, I'll be sure to let you all know how it turns out, but until then keep them coming, I really appreciate all the help!

[jrthomas]

I'm the third owner of a Skystar Model 4 Speedster kit. The 1st owner died. He was in his eighties and never started the build. The second owner bought the kit from the estate sale and later sold it to me. It was impossible for me to get a bill of sale from the 1st owner. I talked to a friend of a friend who works with the FAA and he said that without a paper trail I had "big problems". I called Deb McBean and explained my situation. Her response to me was "no problem". She was right. She explained the forms on their website for me to print out. One was the letter to the FAA explaining that Skystar no longer exists. The other form was for me to fill out with my reserved N number, my aircraft serial number and my name and address. I sent this to the FAA along with the 8050-1 form. A short time later I received another form from the FAA to have notarized that I am the owner. I sent it back and in not more than 10 days had my registration in hand. I did a lot of worrying for nothing. Deb McBean was very patient and helpful and I want to thank her again for her help. James Thomas

[GarethWright]

Finally got to check out the Kitfox kit tonight, turns out it's a Skystar model 4, not a 7. It's been stored indoors for a number of years, but the frame was powdercoated and looks pretty good.

Some work has been done, but if we decide to go forward, we'll unbolt the bolts and double check everything, there is some surface rust on the bolts, but none that we could see on the frame itself. It's got a spring gear setup, the wings were factory built, and the current owner has bills of sale all the way back to the factory, which I understand was several owners ago, as well as full build instructions and related paperwork.

Also available is a Verner 80hp engine, I have read both positive and negative reviews, so any additional input there would be greatly appreciated.

Pending approval from the wives, and double checking of the funds, we are strongly considering making an offer.

I look forward to hopefully bothering you all a lot more often :D

[cubtractor]

I had heard about that kit for sale a while back. I thought about looking at it but never did. Good luck with it. I'm sure you will have fun building and flying it. If you have any questions, I'm in Joplin with a Model IV-1200.

[GarethWright]

Well, we decided to purchase, so I might have to take you up on that Cubtractor :D

[DesertFox4]

Congrats Gareth. Best of luck with your build.