Eric Page
Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
Map of Landings
Hi Eric, sorry not to answer back but got sent out of town with last-minute notice. But i see you received some good info. We removed our rudder pedals and drilled out the rivets and are welding in some 4130 gusset's.
Our fuel tanks had not been installed yet and we will be running pump auto gas most of the time. That is why we bought new tanks. We have access to ethanol free auto gas here in wisconsin now but cannot guarantee if that will always be available.
We also cut our elevator apart and added 3 inches to enlarge it instead of buying a new one.
Joe
This is a great read, I thought I would through in my 2 cents, and that’s all it’s worth. I would look at your entire budget for the build. If you are intending to build a plane that’s bare bone, as inexpensive as you can, this may be the way to go. If on the other hand you plan on outfitting it with a new Rotax, a fancy panel, $4k bush wheels you are investing allot of money in a 20-25 year old fountain. As for value, prices in the stol category are through the roof, it’s a sellers market.
best of luck to you, keep us posted.
Thanks, guys. I appreciate the additional input. It's been humbling to see how much useful advice and information I received in a short time. I can see that this forum will be an enormous resource.
Greg g, you make a good point about the economics of the project, but buying it represents a savings of >$30k vs the order sheet I had in mind for a new kit, it avoids the >1 year wait from the factory, and it gets me about 85% of what I wanted. The other 15% is either non-critical or will cost a minor fraction of that $30k to achieve. The remainder will pay for a large chunk of the firewall-forward.
-=-=-=-=-
I went to see the plane again yesterday, intending to buy it. Unfortunately, the seller didn't have the paperwork for the plane at home; it's stored in his semi trailer... somewhere. Since it was pouring rain we couldn't move his other stuff out of the trailer to make room to get behind the plane, so there was a limit to the area we could search. We found seven boxes of parts and hardware, the Poly-Fiber manuals and a roll of cloth, but the Kitofox build manual and his bill of sale from SkyStar didn't turn up.
I'm going back on Monday with a truck, a trailer, and a pair of wing slings that I liberated from my neighbor and re-carpeted. The seller has two guys coming to help move his stuff out of the way. That should make room for a thorough search, and if the missing papers (or at least his loan documents that show he paid SkyStar for the kit) turn up, then we'll do the deal. Apparently the FAA is fussy about showing an unbroken chain of ownership from the factory to the person registering a plane.
Wish me luck.
Eric Page
Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
Map of Landings
Lots of planes have been listed as built from parts when the ownership trail was not completely in order. JImChuk
You could also check with Kitfox for recommendations if the original bill of sale is not located.
Ralph
Apparently Kitfox Aircraft have been dealing with this problem for awhile. There's a page on the factory website that deals with this exact problem.
Eric Page
Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
Map of Landings
Status update:
I did purchase this project and brought it home last Saturday. Getting it out of the owner's semi trailer and transported to my garage was a 3-ring circus, and it would have been impossible without the help of three very generous neighbors. It took four men 90 minutes to clear a path for the fuselage to come out, which included removing a riding lawn mower without the benefit of ramps (and putting it back once the plane was out!). The whole operation took more than eight hours; I'll leave the details to your imagination.
I had a busy week so only started looking the plane over in detail today. I'll be posting some photos and asking many questions as I inspect everything and find issues with the previous owner's work.
It's safe to say that this was less a purchase than a rescue:
- I don't think there's any way to avoid stripping and recovering everything, as the Poly-Fiber application was, frankly, appalling. Perhaps not unsafe, but definitely unsightly.
- I found a hardware store fastener in the flight controls, very tight elevator control linkages (over-torqued?), a dent in the elevator push-pull tube and damaged skin on the flaperons (looks repairable).
- The upper right portion of the firewall is bent, it has some random ~1/2" holes for which I can't identify a purpose, and it has several blobs of Hysol stuck to the engine side.
- Brake lines are pinched between fuselage tubes and fabric, and pass through the firewall to the reservoir without a grommet.
- Looking into the outboard ends of the wings, it appears that each of the rib stitches is independent rather than chained together. Reaching in through the last rib, none of the threads that pass from top to bottom are tight; I can move them easily with a light touch of my fingertip.
I went through eight boxes of random hardware and parts. It looks like I have the installation kit for a carbureted Rotax 912, along with all of the other airframe hardware. Some of the fasteners have been in their zipper bags since 1995 and have a powdery white surface corrosion on them. Most of the stick-on labels on the bags have fallen off, so I sorted through everything and put the labels inside the bags (probably got some of them wrong).
Basically, the poor thing is a bit of a basket case, and it surely deserves better. With some luck, some help, some hard work and some cash, one day it'll fly. Wish me luck!
Eric Page
Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
Map of Landings
Well you certainly can't do it the way the previous owner did. You need to finish it. Good luck, enjoy the build.
Eddie Forward
Flying
SS7, 912iS, Garmin G3X
Way to go Eric!
Finally it's in it's new home with someone who can get it in the air where it belongs, congratz!
Now the real work begins. It will get ugly and overwhelming real fast. Get it all apart. Label everything. Identify to
the best of your ability what still can be used, what's missing and what new hardware/ 7 mods you want to purchase.
Factory support is top notch so all you need is cash and motivation! Lol.
In my case, it was difficult for me to find what was missing until I got to that particular step in the manual. Seemed
like every two weeks I was placing another order. More astute management will reduce shipping costs which can get
out of hand fast!
Lastly organization is your friend. You will save literally hundreds of hours looking for that part you just saw the other
day. So you order a new one and shockingly - you find the old one.
All the best and enjoy the build.
"Somebody said that carrier pilots were the best in the world, and they must be or there wouldn't be any of them left alive." Ernie Pyle
Brett Butler
Flying: N46KF, 1998 Model 5 Outback, 912ul 110hp, G3x with 2 axis a/p, Beringer wheels & brakes, SS7 firewall forward, NR prop, Custom paint