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DesertFox4
06-11-2019, 11:45 PM
June finds me in Homedale, ID. Haven’t had a chance to visit headquarters of all things Kitfox since the last Factory fly in. Many changes occurred since I roamed these buildings last. The pace has quickened substantially even from last visit. Beautifully welded fuselages congregate briefly waiting for handcrafted parts to flow in to the shipping department all to become a large wooden dreams filled crate with some lucky builders address on the outside. Works of art called quick-built wings come lovingly and expertly together in the “Wings” building on precision assemblies guaranteed to make even the fussiest builder tear up with admiration. The new composite shop is compositing at a pitch near the fever level. The phones are now liquid cooled. They ring so often they never cool off. I love this place. It’s where the best aviation dreams come to life. I feel privileged to watch this process and these people do what they do.

👍👍👍I got to fly the STi with the 915 Rotax. I’m having just a little difficulty letting you all know what this experience was like. Let me see...... On application of full power I became acutely aware of a seat back cushion compression factor which, up until now, had never allowed me into such a close proximity to the vertical part of the seat pan while in take off mode. Was this a TemperFoam failure or an acceleration until now unheard of. Knowing TemperFoams reputation, I vote Rotax 915 horse power, that mighty M.T. prop’s capabilities along with one incredible STi wing. The big tires rotated just a couple turns and the windshield was full of blue Idaho sky. The last time I felt just a little uneasy about a climb out angle in an aircraft was the very first time I flew my model 3 solo way back in 1998. Of course shortly I became accustomed to ridiculous take off angles from all models of Kitfox. At least I thought I had until this beast wrenched us from our Earthly bonds and committed us to flight way before I even imagined it might. Please note that this flight had two full “growed” boys in the seats and lots of fuel in both tanks. I gotta try this thing solo! I think.
All for now. I’ll leave you with a couple photos of customer’s aircraft. Remember that AirVenture is just around the corner and Kitfox Aircraft’s booth will have a new location on the EAA grounds. Their new location is slightly South of the previous one so you may even save some steps getting to their booth this year.
Also this year’s Factory fly in is approaching fast. Make your plans for the 35th anniversary of the Kitfox aircraft. Please R.S.V.P. the factory soon if planning to attend. This one will be special.
Kitfox.... proving for 35 years and over 7,000 examples that S.T.O.L. aircraft can be beautiful aircraft.
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This one is called “Butterfly”.
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P.S.****To see photos in an enlarged version just tap on desired photo once. Let it re-appear on screen then tap it once again and it will expand even larger. After, it will then allow you to enlarge even further. At least that’s the way it works on my iPad.

Shadowrider
06-12-2019, 06:25 PM
Sounds sweet! Where you flying the factory STI? I assume none of the aircraft in the photos? Can you give some more numbers? Sounds fun!

DesertFox4
06-12-2019, 06:34 PM
Flew out of Greenleaf Airpark Dustin.
105 tp 110 mph at 6 gals. per hour. If you want to go 120 mph, she will push the fuel through at between 8 and 9 gals per hour.

rv9ralph
06-12-2019, 10:20 PM
Steve, you were in Greenleaf and didn’t stop to say hi? I waved when you took off. Hope to see you soon.

Ralph

efwd
06-13-2019, 05:59 AM
Ralph, just so you know, I stopped by when I was there. You weren't there. House looked good though. :D

DesertFox4
06-13-2019, 06:01 AM
Ralph, am I correct in assuming your’s is the new home under construction on the airpark?
I’ll be in town for a while yet. Look forward to seeing you. Will try to catch you in next day or so at your construction site. Private message me with your phone number. If we don’t cross paths in the next two days at your construction site, I’ll call you.

rv9ralph
06-13-2019, 08:01 AM
Ralph, just so you know, I stopped by when I was there. You weren't there. House looked good though. https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/threads/images/smilies/biggrin.png

Eddie... sorry I missed you. You were busy flying, I was probably running errands. You'll have to stop back by when the house is finished.

Ralph

DesertFox4
06-13-2019, 04:04 PM
Test flying new Kitfox, laying down tapes on a fuselage. My kind of vacation.
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aviator79
06-14-2019, 11:18 AM
"N821JM"?

Does John have a new bird for himself?

DesertFox4
06-14-2019, 12:21 PM
No , as it happens it is the first initials of the two owners of the Kitfox.😄
The # is the birthday of a father who passed on and is a nice tribute to his memory.
Fantastic handling Kitfox. They will really enjoy it.

ratc
06-15-2019, 05:10 AM
Do you have any more shots of the "Butterfly" paint scheme ?

I've seen some on other threads but I'm struggling to find them...............absolutely stunning !

DesertFox4
06-15-2019, 06:47 AM
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915 Rotax, all Garmin panel, M.T.Prop. Photos can’t do justice to paint scheme. The white “dots” are metal flake. Tried to get two quick shots of it outside in the sun as Judd was putting it back in the hangar. Will see if I can get a few more in a couple days. Really needs to be in natural light to do it justice with photos.

ratc
06-15-2019, 06:53 AM
FANTASTIC .........................Thank you, even better than I'd imagined !

jmodguy
06-15-2019, 07:40 AM
I saw it at S&R late April. Sure is pretty! With that paint job and the 915 package I can only guess what the bill was! 🤭 🤫

DesertFox4
06-16-2019, 08:04 PM
Great to see Cade Palmer and my favorite model 4 on a beautiful evening at Greenleaf Airpark.
Happy it found a good new home with the Palmers.
Had a great time building and flying this little gem. Looks great with it’s conventional gear.😀
Enjoy every flight Cade and Scott.
Enjoyed meeting Shane also who was getting some duel with Cade.👍

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DesertFox4
06-22-2019, 09:36 PM
A great steak dinner, aviation talk and for dessert.......
an absolutely perfect evening flight in this beautiful looking and even better flying 914 powered Kitfox. Thanks Alex. She handles like a dream.

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DesertFox4
06-28-2019, 10:47 PM
A couple visitors from the East stopped by the factory today. Nice to see Larry and Paul albeit for a short visit. Would love to venture out to the back country with you boys but my time here is up. It’s back to 100 plus degree Arizona temps for me tomorrow. No more wonderful Idaho cool fronts for awhile. Hope to see you both at Oshkosh. Have fun and fly safe. Watch those density altitudes.

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