Mark Smith Airborne 1.jpg




Name & TeamKitfox.com username: Mark and Renee Smith, ‘Mark'
City/state: Boise, ID
Kitfox model/series: 7A
Engine & prop: Rotax 912S and IVO Medium in-flight adjustable prop.
Date started, date completed: June 6, 2005 - August 30, 2007
Story of your Kitfox:

In the winter of 2004, I made the announcement to my wife that I was going to purchase a motorcycle next summer. I knew that she wouldn't want me to have anything to do with motorcycles and I knew that Skystar was one of her customer accounts. The seed was planted. I just sat back and waited for those sweet words to come out of her mouth: "honey, why don't you go over to Caldwell and look at those Kitfoxs". I had not so secretly been eyeing Kitfoxs since I read an article about them in the 80's. In 2003, while working at a temporary control tower at a fly-in in McCall, Idaho, this guy taxis up to the tower and asks if anyone wants to go for a ride in his Kitfox. (Here's a hint - if you don't want to buy a Kitfox, don't go for a ride in one...) I was hooked. It turns out that ‘this guy' was John McBean. I was sold on Kitfox that day...

I picked up my kit in the summer of 2005 and spent the next 2 plus some years in my garage. Leave the garage doors open and you'll meet 30 new neighbors you didn't know you had. I did get caught up in the Skystar debacle but thankfully John and Debra owned Sportplane and they came to my rescue through completion. About 1100 hours later, on August 30, 2007, I made the first flight, just in time to fly to the first annual Kitfox fly-in in Homedale. It was a grueling 20 min flight from Nampa, Idaho. The plane flew near perfect from the moment the power was applied. The performance matched the advertised numbers. If I could only fly as good as my Kitfox

I decided to do a glass cockpit and am really happy with the outcome. My panel includes the following:
·Grand Rapids EFIS Sport and EIS
·Avmap EKP IV GPS
·XCOM radio
·Microair transponder
·Airspeed and Turn and Bank steam gauges for back up.
I used flat rocker switches to make the panel as flush as possible. The panel was powder coated and the lettering is lazered into the powder coat.

In the Spring of 2008, I tested the waters (pun intended) with installing floats, but that's a story for another time. When I first met my wife, I told her I would take her flying to breakfast sometime for a date. She didn't know I had to build the plane first...
Instrument panel.jpg
Moving Day.jpg
First Flight.jpg
Adding Floats.jpg