Picking up my kit

[dactel]

Hi all,

I am a newcomer to building a KitFox or any aircraft from that matter. I will be picking up my kit next month in Homedale and I am wondering if you have any advise other than not to crash the truck. I have so far reserved a 26’ Penske truck and a bunch of moving blankets to go with it.

Thanks in advance!

[jiott]

Just a thought, but when I bought my kit in 2013 I found that if I picked it up myself in Homedale I would have to pay Idaho sales tax on the whole price. If the factory shipped it to me in Oregon I paid no sales tax (because Oregon has no sales tax). The savings in sales tax just about offset the savings in picking it up myself. So I opted to have them ship it and take all responsibility for safe transport.

[Esser]

Not sure if Penske has the boards on the wall but a Uhaul truck does and they are perfect for strapping the wings on the wall to make room for everything. Honestly, I think I would recommend the Uhaul over the penske cause the floor is so much lower so you can get the plane in and out easier at your house. Plus the wings strapped to the wall is a nice way to go

[bumsteer]

Just curious, if you pick up the kit at the factory it's not crated?

Rick

[rv9ralph]

Rachet straps, you will need many ratchet straps.

Ralph

[GuppyWN]

Talk to Brandon. I helped him load a pair of wings and they have a slicker than greased owl scat setup for the wings.

[Brandon Petersen]

Andy, "slicker than owl scat" has to be one of those southern sayings. Hahaha when I first read it, I thought maybe Auto correct was at it again.

Ok... Onto packing. The Penske trucks are great. However they don't have blankets, they are light pads and they are terrible for packing wings and flaperons. We will need four rachet straps. The Home Depot set works great! Do yourself a favor and pick up 6 packing blankets from harbor freight. They are cheap insurance for the trip home.

Brandon

[dactel]

Thanks guys for some good tips. Renting a Penske truck rather than one from U-HAUL was per John McBean’s suggestion. Apparently a truck without wheelwells sticking out in the cargo bay works better for loading and securing the wings which I can see. Debra said that a 16 footer would be big enough but, looking at a picture of one on the Penskeks website, it appears that the only trucks without wheelwells are either the 22 footers or the 26 footers so I’d probably go with a 22 footer.

I will be sure to pickup some ratcheting straps and moving blanket at a HF in Boise before I head out to Homedale. I didn’t know that Penske had only pads, not blankets.

As for the issue of the sales tax, it appears it wouldn’t make any difference if you’re picking up the kit yourself or if you’re having it delivered. At least my invoice does not show it. (I live in OR.)

The kit will not be in a crate by the way. I think it is crated only if it’s being shipped overseas.

[Brandon Petersen]

The 16' Penske truck is all you need.

[AirFox]

Hi Terry, keep us posted on your progress. Doug(Floog), Jim(Jiott) and I(Airfox) are local builders in the Portland area. When you get going on your build let us know and we'll stop by to help with your questions. We each have built 7SS's over the past 6 years. There is another build in progress in the Scappoose area that we have been watching/helping with questions. Look forward to watching your progress. One of the best parts of the build process is the community and making new flying buddies.

Good luck!

Scott

[dactel]

Hi Scott,
Thank you! Actually I have been meaning to get in touch with you. I am super excited about my build now that I’m finally getting my kit. And I am looking forward to making lots of friends through this new adventure. At the moment, I’m in the middle of converting my detached two car garage into a usable shop - at least good enough to bring in the kit by the pickup date.

Speaking of questions, what would it be the best way to document my build? A simple notebook? Is there a website specifically designed for that? Or should I just do a simple blog?

[jiott]

For documenting my build, I just filled in all the checkboxes and dates each step was completed in the build manual, along with some notes. I also kept a daily time log in a small spiral notebook, and of course many digital photos.

[aviator79]

I date the pages in the build manual, and if a page spans multiple days, put dates on the individual steps. I also keep a Google Sheets spreadsheet online with date, major assembly section, notes on work completed, and time spent. The spreadsheet keeps a total of hours worked, total time on each major assembly section, and a moving average of how much time I'm putting in each week.

[KitKarson]

Please post pictures of your loaded truck! My kit is supposed to be ready next month and I haven’t decided to have it shipped or pick it up myself, I’m in San Diego.

[rv9ralph]

I have a lot of moving blankets, after just moving to Idaho. I am currently in Caldwell waiting on my house to be build in Greenleaf, and can sell you some cheap, around $2.00 each if you want (They are about $5.00 each at HF.) If you are picking up your truck in Idaho, there is a Penske rental here, at the same place as the blankets are in storage.

Let me know if you are interested.

Ralph

[dactel]

Ralph, thanks for the offer. How many blankets do you have?

[dactel]

Please post pictures of your loaded truck...

Will do! The people at Homedale are helping me load the truck. They’ve done it many times so I will be relying on them to load and secure it the way they think best.

[rv9ralph]

I think I have at least 2 dozen of the standard size ad almost that many of the small ones.

Ralph

[dactel]

I just talked to a Penske rep and confirmed that, on 16 footers, there is no wheelwell sticking out in the cargo area.

[rv9ralph]

Got it and replied.

Ralph

[dactel]

Success! I've just returned from Homedale with my SS7 kit yesterday. Thanks, Ralph, for letting me buy some of your moving blankets. They worked very well.

I picked up my 16' Penske truck in Boise at 8am and drove over to the Harbor Freight in Nampa where I met up with Ralph to get the blankets and also to pickup ratchet straps at the store. I had no idea how many straps would be needed so I bought 4 packets of 4 straps but I ended up using only 7 straps.

Once I got there, they pretty much loaded the truck for me. First the wings were strapped onto the side walls with some ratchet straps. (The fuel tanks had already been secured onto the wings.) Then the fuselage was screwed onto the floor. The rest was just a matter of loading boxes and other items.

Here are some pics of the kit being loaded onto the truck.

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[bbs428]

That's what I call service! All loaded nicely. :)
The build quality of the kits now are so much better under John and Debbra's leadership.

Enjoy your build! I will be following along.

Cheers!

[KitKarson]

Awesome! I just reserved my truck and will be picking up mine on March 1st. Thanks for posting the pictures!!

[rv9ralph]

Happy to hear you made it back to Portland with everything in good order.

Glad I could help with the blankets.

Ralph

[AirFox]

Hay Terry,

Get your inventory complete and let us know when you want to have a local builders group.

Scott

[Frontier Fox]

Hey Terry
Looks like de’ja’vu, I picked my kit up last summer. Hope you have as much fun with your build as I am.
If you run into any problems, this site is a great help. I’m not far from Portland and am available also.

[PapuaPilot]

Congrats Terry, now the fun begins. :D

[aviator79]

Congratulations! Welcome to the fun part. One thing that validates my choice of airplane time and again is how helpful they are in Homedale.

[dactel]

Thank you all for the wellwishes! I am super excited about building this plane. I will start a build thread on this forum once I get started on it.

Right now, I need to finish a project to convert my unfinished (yes it's literally only a shell and nothing else.) detached two-car garage into a functional shop before I can start working on the plane and that probably will take at least another couple of weeks. The fact that my work keeps me on the road quite a bit doesn't help either. It sounds simple but it is turning out to be a bigger project than I originally thought...

[dactel]

Hay Terry,

Get your inventory complete and let us know when you want to have a local builders group.

Scott

Will do!! I am looking forward to meeting you all!!

[dactel]

Hey Terry
Looks like de’ja’vu, I picked my kit up last summer. Hope you have as much fun with your build as I am.
If you run into any problems, this site is a great help. I’m not far from Portland and am available also.

Thank you, Joe! Yes I can use all the help I can get for sure.

[dactel]

That's what I call service! All loaded nicely. :)
The build quality of the kits now are so much better under John and Debbra's leadership.

Enjoy your build! I will be following along.

Cheers!

Yes they were very helpful loading my truck. It was pretty obvious they've done this before...

[dactel]

Awesome! I just reserved my truck and will be picking up mine on March 1st. Thanks for posting the pictures!!

You're welcome! Safe driving!

[dactel]

Happy to hear you made it back to Portland with everything in good order.

Glad I could help with the blankets.

Ralph

Thanks, Ralph! The drive was easier than I thought. I got home that day around 7pm too. And that was with the cruise control set at speed limits all the way...

[dactel]

Congrats Terry, now the fun begins. :D

Thank you, Phil!

[dactel]

Congratulations! Welcome to the fun part. One thing that validates my choice of airplane time and again is how helpful they are in Homedale.

Thank you, Brian!!

[Flyboy66]

I picked my kit up. Penske had the best deal, but Brandon thought the blankets were too thin. Harbor freight has them for a good price, so I grabbed about 7.

[hgclobo]

@dactel, awesome!! I wish I could be in your position, picking up the kit, I guess to be able to one day be in your position I first have to purchase a kit ;).
Just a newbie question, are those wings the "Quick Build Wings"?


Success! I've just returned from Homedale with my SS7 kit yesterday. Thanks, Ralph, for letting me buy some of your moving blankets. They worked very well.

Once I got there, they pretty much loaded the truck for me. First the wings were strapped onto the side walls with some ratchet straps. (The fuel tanks had already been secured onto the wings.) Then the fuselage was screwed onto the floor. The rest was just a matter of loading boxes and other items.


21575

[Meyer]

Yes those are quickbuild

[hgclobo]

Awesome, thanks.

[dactel]

Yes it is a quick-build. For some reason, I forgot to include the LLE in my initial order so I'm going to order that now...