Hello all, this is my brief introduction so I will try my best to keep from writing a small book here. In an attempt to help you understand what I am capable of I will preface with my back story. I have been interested in aviation my whole life, started scratch building RC planes and flying them when I was 16 and couldn't help but dream of one day flying myself. I enjoyed the build and wanted to build an ultralight. Well money was the obstacle then (though it is still a determining factor today) and I have never lost the bug. Looking ahead, I have been lurking, from buying plans for the ragamuffin that I never had time or space to build to today where I now have the means to do so. I have been researching everything and that is exactly where I am at today. I like the ability to have an adventure so I am looking at bush planes, having a conventional aircraft like a Cessna (I have flown in several of them over the years), the idea of hopping from airport to airport would get boring at some point. So onto my ability, I am a self taught engineer, designer and fabricator. I have designed suspension systems for vintage 4x4 vehicles and build custom first gen broncos for a living. I have the facility, ability and tools to make one from scratch if I wanted, so I would consider myself a highly skilled and capable beginner.
So back when I purchased my first plans and started looking into it, the thing that stopped me was I did not want a single seat plane, then I knew I wanted more comfort, ability and range. I started looking into the Rans and doing research then stumbled onto the kit fox. I also have watched just about every video I could find on the aircraft and am trying to decide which one to pursue. I have watched the transformation on Trent Palmers channel along with most of his friends who have various planes. I am not ruling out a cub either (a little partial to that due to my RC super cub I used to have) but not sure my wife would like the inline seating.
Onto my initial criteria, first I am not a pilot yet, that has to be achieved which the plan was to do so while building. Second I am a big guy, while I am working to reduce my weight, the fact is at 50, it's easier said than done. I am active and healthy for the most part outside of my weight but not on any meds etc. and I shoot competition, do a lot of off road riding etc. and I want to add this in the future as retirement approaches. I am looking for property as I intend on building a barn-dominium and having enough land to put an airstrip.
So what I am looking for is pros and cons between the different aircraft, models I may need to consider etc. I need to figure out how it should be outfitted as I do not have the time to have several versions or rebuild etc to figure that out as I go, basically buy once cry once. What avionics (leaning towards Garmin glass), auto pilot, turbo powered etc. I like the rotax 915 but I am also someone who likes to be a little different than the norm so also looking at alternative power plants like the edge 912Ti (I know still a rotax) but there are other options that may be worth exploring. Knowing weight is everything the edge 912Ti has a slight advantage over the 915 with weight and power. The easy button would be to just have one factory built, not out of the realm of possibilities as I have a lot going on but I like to build things so there is no real fun in that.
If there are more details needed from me please ask, again I am in the research phase so trying to be as well prepared as I can going forward. I know there is a reasonable time frame from ordering a kit to receiving it so I am building that timing into my plan. I have also considered the idea of buying an existing plane and restoring/rebuilding it but at the cost of what is available out there and how much I would end up changing on it I don't think that is a conducive option. In reality had I been aware of Trent selling the Freedom Fox, that would have been a strong consideration for me but trying to understand the differences in models over the years and wanting as much interior room as possible that the 7 has the best features available at this time. I have not contacted Kitfox directly yet as I am still trying to educate myself beforehand so I know exactly what to ask for.