Kitfox V history ?

[peanut]

Going to look at a Kitfox V unassembled soon. Guy says it’s 20 years old. Confirmed it is a KF 5 with all manuals etc. I didn’t know they made it that long. It is powder coated for what it’s worth. Were there any updates along the 5 production that I should know about ? Thanks all

[kmach]

There used to be a history page on the Kitfox LLC site, I don't see one on their current website. ( eyes to top Left)

I am going off of memory now so I may not be totally accurate.

The original Model 5 series were sold as a trigear or a taildragger and had a gross weight of 1400lbs . I think these models of the 5 came out in 1995. They had specific names, Vixen for the trigear and Safari for the taildragger.

I am not sure what year they made the change but the model 5 series had a gross weight increase to 1550lbs. Their names switched to the Outback for the taildragger and Voyager for the trigear.

I have a 1998 Skystar catalog that lists the Outback and Voyager in it and their specifications.

I own an Outback it was a 1998 kit.

[jmodguy]

Look at the spars. If they are .062" walls they are the 1550 GW.
There were updates from the 5 to 6 to swap from conventional to tricycle and there is an elevator push tube change that happened somewhere, but the 5, 6, and 7 are basically the same airframe.
I picked up a 20 yr old Series 5 tail dragger and am glad I did! Saved over half the cost of a new 7. (Sorry John...)

[PapuaPilot]

I can't find the history page at the Kitfox website anymore. Here is a link to the Kitfox history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denny_Kitfox

Around 1994 to 1995 they increased the gross weight of the model 5 from 1400 to 1550 pounds. The names of the planes changed as well as the spar thickness.

I have a 1999 Outback (tailwheel only). FYI the serial number contains the year and month that the airframe was produced.

[MNsnowy1]

And mine is a 94 safari with short wing: 1200 GW

I recently purchased the quick change wing extension kit from Kitfox, which will bring GW up to 1400 on mine.

[Rocketman]

Going to look at a Kitfox V unassembled soon. Guy says it’s 20 years old. Confirmed it is a KF 5 with all manuals etc. I didn’t know they made it that long. It is powder coated for what it’s worth. Were there any updates along the 5 production that I should know about ? Thanks all

I own a Series V Speedster:) - it's serial number 1. I bought the kit in 1995 from SkyStar Aircraft, which at the time was owned by Phil Reed. It was completed in 2009 and I now have over 100 hours on it with the 912ULS. It was certified as an E-LSA so I didn't care about the gross weight, although the first few Series V's had a 1400 lbs gross, the later versions around 1996 went to a beefier spar and the gross went up to 1550. The series 6 and 7 are pretty much the same as the 5 with many more improvements. John McBean has done a stellar job of advancing the Kitfox line of aircraft. It continues to be a great flying machine! Hope that helps.

[peanut]

Almost positive one I looked at would fall into the Skystar era. Anything to be afraid of here? Thanks.

[PapuaPilot]

I would say no, the earlier models are fully supported by Kitfox. My 1999 model 5 was from Skystar and I did not have any problems. You can upgrade almost everything to be like the model 7SS if you want to, other than changing the landing gear from nose to tailwheel.

[Rocketman]

Almost positive one I looked at would fall into the Skystar era. Anything to be afraid of here? Thanks.

I don't think you have anything to be concerned about regarding that. Kitfox, LLC is an excellent company and I believe supports the entire line of Kitfox aircraft regardless of age. With due respect to Mr. Nelson's post, I recall John McBean, President of Kitfox telling me I could change the aircraft from tailwheel to nose wheel, or vice versa. So I guess the current company can do it all. Pull the trigger, go fly!

[mtcicon]

I have an early model V at 1400 gross. One major change between them not mentioned so far is the cargo area is much smaller due to a cross member in the fuselage where the seven cargo would normally be. This was changed quickly on later models but mine has cargo very similar to a IV.

[jdmcbean]

Look at the spars. If they are .062" walls they are the 1550 GW.

The spar wall thickness was NOT the only change.. there were other structural changes from the Series 5 -1400 to the 1550. Wall thickness of some of the tubing structure and some was actually the structural design..

There are Vixen aircraft that were actually 1200..

[jmodguy]

The spar wall thickness was NOT the only change.. there were other structural changes from the Series 5 -1400 to the 1550. Wall thickness of some of the tubing structure and some was actually the structural design..

There are Vixen aircraft that were actually 1200..

Fair enough. How does one tell by looking at the airframe what they have?

[bumsteer]

Jeff

Not sure if this will help, but a FYI letter that came with my build manual for my Series 5 (1998) says that Series 5 aircraft with a S or V prefix and serial number 95070000 or greater have been increased from a 1400lb to a 1550lb gross weight.

Rick

[jdmcbean]

Serial number is the easiest way... the caveat to the letter was the spar wall thickness.. The very early sequence of those serial numbers had .058 wall spars.. The fuselage had been changed so they needed to upgrade the spars to the .065 wall.

[HighWing]

I spent some time yesterday going over some of the "Kitfox Times" magazines of this era. My first Model IV kit was delivered in March of 1993 - Ordered November 1992 - and was devouring anything Kitfox I could find. The first issue was the " '93 Summer Special Double Issue 1993" In this issue is an article describing the development of the Skystar Vixen. Then I found a brochure introducing the Vixen in "Volume 10 Issue1 1994". I have attached a PDF of the introductory article to this post and will attach a PDF of the brochure in a subsequent post to accommodate the size of the files.

Pay particular attention to the specifications as they relate to gross weight.

[HighWing]

This will provide PDFs of the 8 page brochure introducing the Vixon to the general public. There are some interesting options announced since the original introduction in "Kitfox Times" Sorry for the multiple PDFs the site file size limits were exceeded with an attempt to do a single PDF.

[jmodguy]

Bum, John,
Thanks for the needed info! My spars are .065. Will check serial number this afternoon.

[DesertFox4]

The very first Vixen came out as a model 4 with 80hp.


14357

[jmodguy]

Ok I have read around a bit and found another topic in this forum that mentions the same question.
Does anyone have a definitive list of differences between the 1400lb and 1550lb GW airframe? Other than the 063 spars and some lift strut attach hardware...

Please...

[pnoto]

Hi pilots,

I am buying this Kitfox as 2005 Vixem Model but it seems so different from other photos found, specially looking for the vertical stabilizer.

Bellow is the bird ! Can someone give me an ideia if am I wrong ?

My intention is for transform it in a bush plane, is there any concerning about it ?

BR

Paulo

23321

[bbs428]

I have an older 5, s/n S98020146. My QA stickers on the flaperons are dated 05/09/94 ??

It has the .065 spars and 1 1/4 front carry thru tube.
I called kitfox and verified the numbers.

A few thoughts on an older kit -

I would be concerned with how the plane was stored and look very closely for corrosion. Jmho - UNLESS you get a smoking deal and don't mind spending a lot more time sorting thru old mouse turd infested boxes and the inevitable missing parts and spending more than a few bucks updating the aircraft with newer, better components. Also - A lot of plastic baggies that held the hardware, the stickers identifying what parts were in the bag had fallen off due to the age. So even MORE fun and TIME deciphering what was what. :confused:

My plane was stored in a dry barn. Boxes full of rodent remains. Mud dauber nests in the wings. Chipped powder coat on the frame. A lot of sanding and treating of the surface rust was a pain. The corrosion wicks up under the powder coat and you have to be pretty aggressive in tracking it all down. Big PITA! A few of the raw aluminum stock parts had to be scrapped do to filiform corrosion. Wing spars and flaperons had no corrosion (a miracle! )and were treated and coated with Alodine. The lift struts received a lot of scrutiny. Scoped them internally and they were good. Still had to treat inside and out as with the frame with Corroseal rust converter.

Unless your prepared to do a LOT of extra work and spend more TIME, I would put in an order for a new one and use the backlog time to pay for it. The value of getting your kit fresh from the factory with all the latest improvements cannot be underestimated.

In my case - YES I did look over the kit very well. Yes - I got a smoking deal. Yes - I was well versed into treating and repairing corrosion from my naval aviation background so I wasn't scared off by some surface rust. Yes - I wished many times, today even, that I should have just bought a new kit! lol. As the Mrs. would say - I'm just a hard case and don't know any better. :D

All complaining aside I'm enjoying this ride so much and really enjoy all the people involved here and with Kitfox. The Factory support has been the best. What other kit plane mfgr. provides support after 30+ years? Kitfox does.

Please just be careful and have fun no mater which way you end up going. :)

All the best!

[Maverick]

I built a KF5 from a kit serial number S94120069, which I believe means that the kit was created in December, 1994 and was the 69th kit built that year. The kit was originally sold to a guy in Tucson, AZ. I am now building a KF5 from a kit serial number S94120078. This kit was sold to a guy in Mesa, AZ. I bought the second kit from Mission Aviation Fellowship after the original purchaser donated it. The kit was not totally complete and I have purchased several of the missing parts from John & Debra. They have been more than helpful even though I did not buy the kit from them. John helped me understand how to approach the FAA since the original buyer did not have his purchase agreement from Skystar. I did get much documentation from the original owner (inventory sheet) and I was able to, through MAF, get a letter to the guy and an affidavit from him stating that he did purchase the kit from Skystar. So, if you are considering an old kit, be sure you can address any registration issues with the FAA.

As far as the missing parts, part labels falling off the baggies, etc., you do want to take into consideration the time it takes to find the right part. Usually, this is the right size bolts for the right location that you need it for. Of course, you want to make sure all the essential parts are there. You would not want to spend so much for new parts that you put yourself in a condition where you would be spending more between the used kit and the missing parts you would have buy and just buying a new kit. My air-frame is a tail-dragger but, the mods to make it into a nose-dragger could be made before you get started, assuming too much work is not already done that would prevent it from being done without a lot of rework.

I have been tracking my spending. With a Rotax ULS purchased from AZ Aircraft salvage with 700 hrs on it, all new Garmin avionics, a Great Lakes EIS and, minimal used steam gauges, it looks like I should be flying for less than $40K. Of course it is not going to be a show plane. I'm building it to fly as a LSA.