cposer
04-12-2016, 02:18 PM
I just got back last Thursday from flying my Kitfox SS7 home from Louisiana with my wife. Yes, it was a great adventure. You might be wondering how I came to the purchase. I am retired from commercial flying since 2007. I’ve had various aircraft in the past, a Stinson 108, and a Skybolt. Then I got into “odd” flying machines, Powered Parachutes and Weight Shift Control tikes, basically a hang glider with wings. Lately I wasn’t doing much flying. Then a friend asked me to go and help him ferry his new Kitfox home from Oregon. I had only ridden in a Kitfox once before years ago and it was a model 1. So we take off from Sun River, Oregon and I thought wow, this is kind of fun. Flying my “odd” aircraft I was always out in the open and it was always breezy and cold. Now we were in a fairly large cabin and the heater was nice and toasty. By the time we got home I was hooked and resolved to sell all my toys and get a Kitfox! Actually I had already sold my Skybolt project, motorcycle, CNC Plasma table, Plasma cutter and Honda commuter car (not going to the airport to fly anymore). Now all I had to do was sell my Weight Shift Control aircraft and I would be in business. The first week it was on Barnstormers I had no calls. So I decided to take it off and wait for summer. As soon as I took it down an old friend called and asked if I had sold it. I told him no and he said he wanted to buy it right now. Well, the stars were aligning! He came down and looked it over and bought it on the spot. I had already been shopping Barnstormers for a Kitfox and a nice 2013 SS7 was listed. I contacted the owner in Louisiana and went down to look at it. Sure enough it was just what I wanted. We made a deal and I told him I would come back to pay and fly it home in about a week. I got back home and my wife and I prepared to fly back to bring it home.
Since I had not flown a taildragger in many years I went over to Stick & Rudder for a refresher and to make sure my feet had not forgotten how to use a rudder. All went well and I had a great experience with Ben.
My wife and I then went back to Dallas and another friend flew us over to Shreveport in his Bonanza to pick up the Kitfox. First leg, Shreveport to Ft. Worth, went great. The aircraft handled wonderfully. We spent 4 days in Ft. Worth visiting our friends and doing a little maintenance. I changed the oil, coolant and spark plugs for the trip home. Our second leg was Ft. Worth to Las Crusas, NM to visit my wife’s cousin. We left at 7 am and the leg across west Texas was smooth if a bit boring. Nothing but sand, windmills and oil wells. The leg into Las Crusas across the heated desert was a bit bumpy. The next day it was Las Crusas to Phoenix, Deer Valley Airport. By that time we had decided that 2-2.5 hours was our limit before we needed to land and use the facilities. Next leg was from Phoenix to Bakersfield, CA to visit our son and his family. I had the opportunity to take my grandson up for his first little airplane ride. Of course he loved it and couldn’t stop talking about how small the cars looked. After a couple days in Bakersfield we finally headed north for home. Our next stop was Medford, Ore. By the way the Million Air FBO was great to us. Even though we were just a little Kitfox they made arrangements for a hotel and drove us over to it. The line boys were very careful when fueling and not a drop of fuel got on the wing. Our final leg from Medford to home was the next day. We made a brief pit stop in Albany then made it home. In all 25 hours and 2358 miles for the trip. My wife really enjoyed most of it, except for the bumpy desert ride. I am extremely pleased I am back in “real” airplanes and can’t wait to get many more hours flying the Kitfox. Hmm, I might need to get a set of those tundra tires………
Since I had not flown a taildragger in many years I went over to Stick & Rudder for a refresher and to make sure my feet had not forgotten how to use a rudder. All went well and I had a great experience with Ben.
My wife and I then went back to Dallas and another friend flew us over to Shreveport in his Bonanza to pick up the Kitfox. First leg, Shreveport to Ft. Worth, went great. The aircraft handled wonderfully. We spent 4 days in Ft. Worth visiting our friends and doing a little maintenance. I changed the oil, coolant and spark plugs for the trip home. Our second leg was Ft. Worth to Las Crusas, NM to visit my wife’s cousin. We left at 7 am and the leg across west Texas was smooth if a bit boring. Nothing but sand, windmills and oil wells. The leg into Las Crusas across the heated desert was a bit bumpy. The next day it was Las Crusas to Phoenix, Deer Valley Airport. By that time we had decided that 2-2.5 hours was our limit before we needed to land and use the facilities. Next leg was from Phoenix to Bakersfield, CA to visit our son and his family. I had the opportunity to take my grandson up for his first little airplane ride. Of course he loved it and couldn’t stop talking about how small the cars looked. After a couple days in Bakersfield we finally headed north for home. Our next stop was Medford, Ore. By the way the Million Air FBO was great to us. Even though we were just a little Kitfox they made arrangements for a hotel and drove us over to it. The line boys were very careful when fueling and not a drop of fuel got on the wing. Our final leg from Medford to home was the next day. We made a brief pit stop in Albany then made it home. In all 25 hours and 2358 miles for the trip. My wife really enjoyed most of it, except for the bumpy desert ride. I am extremely pleased I am back in “real” airplanes and can’t wait to get many more hours flying the Kitfox. Hmm, I might need to get a set of those tundra tires………