What Have You Done Today To Your Kitfox?

[airlina]

Hey Larry, how about a before after report on your VG's once you get to flight testing. Thinking of doing the same . Thanks Bruce N199CL

[ScottS97385]

I installed a Safety Trim system to slow down the trim during cruise.

https://www.tcwtech.com/product/safe...v=7516fd43adaa

[PapuaPilot]

I started my condition inspection this weekend. It's going to come out with a pair of new Garmin autopilot servos installed.


Insp.jpg

[efwd]

Im curious Dave. What method did you employ to get your bar drilled perfectly to connect to each breaker?

[tracstarr]

Last night I did my dash fabric for the second time. I ruined it the first time damaging the fabric on the door tab. Two hours just to clean off the glue. I'm using a green ribbon el for panel lighting.

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

[bobclark]

I am looking for advice. I am a newbie, not only to Kitfox but I have never posted to a forum before. During the mid 1990s, my father bought a Speedster. I think it is a Mark IV, but it is rated for acrobatics. We never got an engine. We put the wings together and then life happened. I had kids, got a divorce and worked a lot. Also the 9/11 incident took the breath out of my aviation ambition and I sold my Beechcraft Sundowner. Now retirement and covid has reignited a spark. Also my 23 year old son has expressed an interest in getting the airplane built. At 63, I retired 5 years ago. I traveled a lot in foreign countries. 2 years ago, I started learning Spanish, but I need another hobby. I cannot find the manual, but I probably should buy a new one since the old one is 25 years old. The manual may be at my dad's house, and he will look for it next week. Obviously the power coated parts are still good, but mice have invaded a few of the boxes, and I will need parts. Also when I finish the plane and put on an engine, I will need some instruction. I definitely have the money, but I am curious how much the project could cost including flight instruction. I have never flown a tail dragger, and my son has never been in a private airplane except my Beechcraft when he was a baby. Is there anyone here who might shed some light on really rough financial costs? I am very skilled as a carpenter, plumber, electrician, and a decent auto mechanic. Also if anyone has advice on the manual, or where I should post forums I would appreciate it. I don't know if I am putting this post in the right place. This is my first time to look at Kitfox in more than 20 years. I do not know any Kitfox owners, but I would like to talk to owners at some point.

[Eric Page]

Welcome, Bob! I recently bought an abandoned Kitfox Series 5, and like you, I found that I'm missing a number of parts and pieces, as well as the assembly manual. I'm not sure about the Model 4, but Kitfox still sells the manual for mine; I was able to get it as a large PDF on a USB thumb drive. They also still offer parts, but there's a lot more commonality between the Series 5 and current-production Series 7s than there is between the 4 and 7, so your mileage may vary.

Both Heather and Debra in the Kitfox offices are very helpful and responsive, so give them a call and discuss your situation; they'll help as much as they can. If you can find the inventory from the original kit, and compare it to your current holdings, it will help a lot in determining what to ask them for. If your inventory is missing, you might find a forum member willing to send you a copy; I got one for my plane that way (thanks, Fred!).

I'm expecting my all-in assembly cost to be around $75k, but I had to buy the kit from its first owner. A great many Kitfoxes are tipping the scales at well over $100k these days, so I consider that a bargain. A lot of the cost depends on your choices for engine and avionics. My panel will eat a quarter of that budget. If you prefer a more modest panel, your cost will be lower.

I don't own one, but my understanding is that the Model 4 flies nicely on a Rotax 582. For more oomph, a used 912UL would be an economical upgrade. Someone who owns one can offer more specific advice on what engines mate well to the Model 4.

[bobclark]

Thank you Eric and Fred. I remember when we bought the kit, it costs $10,000, and the engine was supposed to cost about the same. If I took on this project, I figured that with inflation, I would have a VFR plane for less than $40,000, and it might be a good project to do with my son. However when researching what a kitfox is worth, I saw a fairly new completed Kitfox 4 sold on ebay recently for $37,000 and one sale from about 10 years back for $25,000. I am used to making money when I build things, and although I didn't expect to make money building airplanes, I worry that I could invest a year of time, $40,000, and end up with something worth half of what I have in it. That sounds as bad as antique car restoration. I need to consider buying an airplane if that is less time and more value. I don't want to start building a kitfox just because I have the kit, but I need another hobby. My main hobby was international travel, but that got shut down with covid. I appreciate your insight into costs, and I need to think this over carefully.

[tim.green]

Following advice in this thread: https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/thread...with-flaperons

Used gel stripper and plastic razor blades to strip the protective coating from my Vixen flaperons. The QA sticker on this flaperon says "5 - 94" so this stuff has been hardening for 27 years. Left the stripper on for 12 hours and gently scraped it off with the blades. No damage to the skins but plenty of residue to remove - which comes off with denatured alcohol and gentle rubbing. Relieved that this is actually doable. The stripped section depicted took about 4 hours of actual work.

Thanks forum!

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[DesertFox4]

Congrats. Mike.👍