Damaged and stripped down fuselage, road less traveled to join the Kitfox 7 ranks?

[Squirrelnuts]

Hello All! This is my first post on this forum, and while my username most likely has made me lose all credibility I went with it anyway!
I have the ability to purchase a fuselage relatively nearby with some tube damage from a previous owners bad bounce while playing in the rough. The sale only includes a fuselage which is pretty much stripped down, but my goal would be to get this bird flying again. More importantly get me flying again and join the Kitfox owners club a slightly different way than pre ordering a Kit and waiting until Late 2021 for it to become available.
I am open to any advice how I should go about this to obtain any used parts, wings, struts, ect all while still being classified under the 51% rule as the builder so I can get my repairman cert and perform the yearly conditional inspections. I am not seeing any wing or horizontal stabilizer standalone kits available through Kitfox, but have contacted them and will see what they suggest. In the meantime let me know your thoughts are on this plan.
Kitfox 7 fuselage 2.jpg

[avidflyer]

One nice thing about a steel tube fuselage, is you can cut out the damage and repair/replace the bent stuff and it's good to go. (providing it's done correctly) After all, it started out as a bunch of small parts and was then welded together. I'm sure it is also the most labor intensive part of the plane for Kitfox to produce. Being that it's the current model they are making, I would imagine they could sell you everything for a complete kit minus the fuselage and then basicly you would have a complete kit once your fuselage was repaired. Unless you happened to find another wrecked kitfox of the same model, you will need lots of time consuming parts to make. It can be done, people build planes from scratch all the time, but they may take 20 years to do it also. I guess it all depends on what Kitfox tells you. As far as a new build where you end up with the repairman's cert afterwards, people list planes as being built from parts on the FAA forms all the time with no issues. JImChuk

[PapuaPilot]

If you repair the fuselage you are not the builder of the plane, you just repaired an existing aircraft. If you rebuild an airplane from used parts you won't able to get the repairman certificate, period. I am pretty sure that would be true even if you built new wings to go with this fuselage. If you are wanting to get the repairman certificate I would suggest getting a complete new kit.

The only reason I can think of to repair this fuselage and look for used wings, engine, etc. would be to save money over a new kit. You will be putting a lot of sweat equity into it to save money, but you will not be able to do the condition inspections.

The fact that you are only getting a fuselage makes it look like an expensive proposition, you still need to come up with everything else (wings, engine, prop, instruments, avionics, etc.). You might be better off buying a complete plane that was in an accident from an insurance company, they put these up for bids.

Another option that saves money and lets you be the builder is to wait for someone to sell an unfinished kit. It doesn't matter how many people have owned a kit or have worked on building it; it's the person who completes it and applies for the repairman certificate that gets those privileges.

[Jerrytex]

My model 5 was a mostly complete kit missing a few larger items like flaperons, windshield, rt wing tip, landing gear and wheels. It is has been challenging and expensive to get these parts at a reasonable cost and level of aggravation. Being that you'll pretty much need most of the components and parts, I can say from my experinece that it can get a bit pricey aquiring these parts. The individual parts from the factory are expensive. The fact that you are in the same state as the factory will help mitigate the shipping costs but still, the components/parts are costly. I definately agree with the thought that if you can buy a kit, minus the frame, then that would be the easiest, least expensive route. Or even getting a wrecked plane that you can salvage parts from. You can also fabricate some parts if you have the time. No matter which route you go, factory support is awesome and the folks at Kifox awesome to deal with. Hope this helps.

[109JB]

Actually I don't think you can say that he can't be listed as the builder. If the previous owner replaced the fuselage with a newhnew one then this old fuselage is no longer that airplane. It is essentially a pile of tubing. Also, there is a checkbox on the application that says "built from miscellaneous parts" or something to that effect. I would contact a FSDO and get their take on it and get it in writing, but I think it is very much doable.

[patrick.hvac]

I am doing this exact thing.
I literally had half a fuselage because someone used a bandsaw in the recovery.
PM me and I can fill you in.
If the owner kept the reg and swapped the frame you will be doing a scratch build unless you get a new serial from KF.

[Squirrelnuts]

Thank you all for spending the time to respond to my questions and prevent me from purchasing a fuselage that I cannot use. I am trying to find the ruling as to what part actually makes up the “plane”, much like the lower receiver is the main part distinguishing a smoke pole from just a bunch of parts with a barrel.

[avidflyer]

If you know what DAR you plan to use for the final inspection on the plane, talk to him. He is the guy who will sign it off. If it's good by him, that is all that matters. JImChuk

[Meyer]

I think it is the fuse that is the plane.

This route could be cheaper, but it could take quite awhile.

Easiest route down this road is find a kit someone was working on and get the whole thing. There is economy in that approach in terms of time, shipping, and likely money.

Next option is try to price out the non-KF specific parts - grove gear, tires, etc. and see what that list adds up to in terms of $. Then you would match that with the KF specific list.

If you have time and are in no rush, it could work. If you want to fly soon probably much harder to do.

[jmodguy]

The serial number for the fuse is on the right shoulder harness tab. The way I understand it is that that if that serial number has been previously registered to an N number. You would be rebuilding an existing airframe.
I was considering this with a wrecked RV-6 and called Vans. They say it’s a no starter for them. They will not issue a new serial number for a wrecked airframe.
If it is just a gutted fuse and you are paying more than scrap for it, it’s over priced imo.