1st venture !!

[DBCooper]

Howdy folks, DB here, We are just sticking our first toe in the water and as I dislike the term "newbie" ... it fits ... so please be patient! Sunday we are going to look at a Kitfox1 that has sat for some time inside ... it has a 582 rebuild w/ 25+/- hours on it ... also some new parts; the skin is reported to be in good condition. The price is under 10K and is on a trailer ... drag it home and look at it in the driveway!! OK ... I am told that this craft is squirrely / real light / tends toward ground loop etc. So my thought is that this is a good and inexpensive route to get started and I feel that if we do become proficient in this plane that what follows may be easier to transition into ... am I wrong? Found a local instructor who charges $45/hr but may not feel comfortable w/ the kit1 so we might have to find another tail wheel to do the instruction in. Thanks for your thoughts, DB

[tx_swordguy]

They are real light and thermals will bounce you around. while my avid flyer is not a kitfox they are very similar. If you are not a pilot at all they may feel squirrely as all tail wheels will. I went from gyros to an aeronca champ to get my tailwheel in. With no fixed wing experience it was quite a bit different from gyros, but I didn't have any trouble with the transition from the aeronca to the avid. After 10 hrs of flying it was a piece of cake. I would say that while learning grass is your friend. They are quick on the controls compared to a champ though

[DBCooper]

TS, Thanks, while we are in the mountains (in the redoubt) we do have fields on our homestead that we can practice on. Another aspect that I am thinking is that a stol like the kit 1 will act as a taxi to our local airport which is 20+/- miles away ... Thanks again, DB

[Av8r3400]

Please define "...sat for some time...".

Inside or out the engine has a 5-year clock on the rebuild, if it was properly stored. Much less if it wasn't. The engine may need rebuilding even though it only has 25 hours on it. This can quickly add up to several thousand dollars. Two stroke airplane engines need special care and feeding to properly function. Without proper monitoring and knowing how to respond to the gage readings, the engine will at best have a short life and at worst try to kill you.

What is your experience level? A Kitfox is not squirrelly. They are very light and quick responsive. It will do exactly what you tell it to do. If you tell it to do something stupid, it will gladly respond. If you know how to correct the problem, it will quickly do this too.

You need to think about what your mission is with the airplane. An inexpensive Model 1 may sound attractive, but if it doesn't do what you want, realistically, it is still a waste of money.

I'm not trying to talk you out of the plane, only inject a little calm down and think before making a rush decision.

[Monocock]

That ^ is excellent advice.

[DBCooper]

TMF, I replied to your post yesterday and it got disappeared ... hate when that happens! So thanks for the sound advice and with all things considered this "good deal" may not be so good after all but we will go take a look tomorrow to see if we want to pursue further. DB.

[dholly]

Regardless of whether this particular aircraft may be considered a purchase bargain, keep in mind that obtaining insurance for a student pilot training in an Experimental-AB aircraft is very difficult and very often cost prohibitive... particularly for training in a taildragger. Actually, I bought my KF4-1200 from a well meaning fellow that had purchased the plane for his grandson to train in and found he could not get insurance. I suppose if you have no assets to speak of and wouldn't mind being garnished for life, flying naked is an option. For most of us, we just have too much to lose and it is not an option. Just a thought.