Eric,

The letter of explanation that Kitfox currently has with their technical FACS is pretty clear; and, is the limit of what they can do on the issue. The lines of responsibility are clear.

Basically the builder makes their case as to why an original BOS is not available which includes the Kitfox letter of explanation. You do have to provide information supporting how the kit ended up in your hands - i.e. a chain of ownership which can be established by records other than a BOS.

The FAA knows all about the skystar bankruptcy (as well as about a hundred others) and they run into this all the time; and, as indicated by an earlier poster - the FAA is there to help and they do - you just have to give them something to work with.

They will not register a craft on the basis - "I have this kit, no idea how I got it or where it came from".....have to have a reasonable chain of ownership.

FWIW - I had an early S7, got severely burned by the bankrupcy, no BOS, (the current Kitfox company was not there yet and the letter of explanation they now have was not available). For extra intrigue, although the earlier kitfoxes were listed as a 51% kit, that had not been done by skystar on the early S7s by the time of the bankrupcy. All this was easily resolved by crafting my letter of explanation as to what happened, including a copy of the "dear john" letter from skystar's lawyers, offering to provide any and all receipts and payment dates in my possession (which was never asked for); and, using the FAA's builder's checklist to establish 51% with the help of the DAR who inspected my plane. Chain of ownership was less of an issue since I was the purchaser of the original kit.

Anyway - Although Kitfox has made this a lot easier with their letter of explanation, there is more than one way to skin this cat; and, the FAA will address any reasonable situation - I found them very helpful along the way and good to deal with.