Newbie. Dumb pre-sales questions.

[enewmen]

Thanks for the posts!

Let me explain a little more to help understand my crazy plan.
The kind of flying I want to do is take the plane on long rides from Wisconsin to places like Idaho where a Kitfox does very well in. Then to the Bahamas and on to Anchorage.
My thinking is if I can get a Kitfox "decked out" with glass, turbo, AP, etc., it can make all day cruising with oxygen at altitude easier. (I'll never plan to make new flight plan in the air anyway). Then fly "low-and-slow" when I arrive.

If I don't need a large useful load, I can save a lot by not getting a larger certified cross-country aircraft and keeping the plane in a barn instead of an airport hangar. So, a "decked out" Kitfox will also cost a lot less than a 1980s C-206 (for example), I'll be using a lot less fuel, and spend a lot less on maintenance! I understand a larger plane will offer a faster/smoother cruising flight, but the Kitfox should be a lot more fun.

@ WWhunter. Your correct assuming I didn't want to do a full build.
I'm not against doing a normal build. But after I get my PPL, I won't have a plane to fly for a year until the build is done. - I can rent a C-172, but rather not.

I searched and didn't find any used Kitfox planes configured for cross-country flying. So it seems I have 2 choices:
Get a SLSA with the glass, AP, turbo. etc. with every option I want. Then keep it as-is or convert to ESLA & do LSRI (like Paul Z said) . I don't think I can alter/add much after the factory build is complete (Factory upgrade or personal upgrade).
OR
If that's not possible, just do a normal EAB the way I want it. I'll just need to learn a lot, invest in some tools, and put in plenty of work.

EDIT: Maybe either way it's a good idea to get a 120 hour Light Sport Repairman's certificate like Av8r3400 said. Doesn't sound like much if I spend 500 some hours on a build.

Please correct if I made any obvious problems with this plan.

[tx_swordguy]

don't know what your $$$ situation is but the 120 hr class is not cheap (to me) so make sure it is something that will work for you and what you want to do. I am thinking those are ambitious flying dreams for a kitfox (but look at what the flying pioneers did) If you deck out a kitfox (read make it heavy) it will not be the super STOL plane you might think it is, so keep that in mind with what you are wanting to do with it. I think the 7 may be more what you are looking for than the model 4 I am wanting. This site is a wealth of information so I suggest you spend some time searching and asking questions before you drop money. going from the bahamas to alaska is a LONG trip in a plane pushing maybe 100kts especially with a headwind in the 30-40 kt speed at oxygen alt. If you go with a 3-4 doubt you will see 100kts anyway so think even slower. Not that it wouldn't make for heck of a story and if you aren't in a hurry to get there why not do it that way. If you are interested perhaps you could rent a 150 and take it on a long trip to see if you are interested in that ( different but similar size cockpits) probably slightly faster cruise speed but close enough to give you an idea of what you might be dealing with.

[avidflyer]

Not sure if you saw it, but there was a Kitfox 5 unfinished project on barnstormers for $11,000 if my memory was correct. Needed a lot of work yet, and I think FWF. That would be a good head start in the direction of where you seem to be going. Cheaper than starting with a factory new kit as well. Others have toured the US in a Cub, but better not be tied to a schedule or deadline. The kitfox will be faster than a cub, but not by a tremendous amount. All that being said, the owner of this website flew from Az. to Mn. in a Kitfox 4 100 HP in one day so it's not impossible either. Jim Chuk

[Esser]

Any plane can be a cross country plane if you have the right attitude. I don't think you would add much weight to have a turned plane with a basic autopilot. However, if you want to go places, a glasair sports man 2+2 might be the plane for you. You pay for that speed though

[fastj22]

I've flown my Sonex from Colorado to Airventure twice with my son. Very tight quarters, almost no baggage, but the Sonex is pretty quick and we were able to do it in 6.5 hours. If looking for a fast, no frills, XC machine, perhaps its a better choice.

[DesertFox4]

Kind of wondering how many million cross country miles an aircraft design has to fly before it is finally considered cross country capable? John and Paul have pretty much proven that about the Kitfox all by themselves.

Why leave all your baggage at home, give up comfort in the cockpit or STOL performance and economy of operations? After flying the latest Kitfox on many cross country trips, I would highly recommend it.

You may get to your destination a little faster in some other designs, but you'll never get there funner.

[Rodney]

If you have some patience, sooner or later a Kitfox like you want, or very close to it will come along.

I bought a beautiful 7SS all decked out with an AFS 4500 EFIS, two axis auto pilot, mode S xponder and Icom A210. The previous owner tied my Ifly 720 into the auto pilot before I flew it home. Airplane weighs 819 lbs. 912ULS had 130 hous on it when I got it. Am doing my best to wear out the engine

The Kitfox with altitude hold, tracking the GPS is a wonderful cross country airplane. It can carry all the baggage we need and still climb twice as fast as my previous 172. My wife loves how smooth the Rotax is.

Building is great,but I saved three years of building time by finding my dream Kitfox.

Don't settle for a lesser airplane. Can you tell???? I love my Kitfox

Regards
Rodney

[happiestflying]

I bought a Kitfox IV Speedster in Colorado last summer, never having flown around there. I returned it to Washington state. I got my certificate mid-life, now a 650 hour pilot and have had a tailwheel endorsement for 10 years, though it was totally rusty prior to buying the Speedster.

The pre-purchase inspection, necessary repairs, condition inspection, and tailwheel refresher took almost two weeks. Longer than I'd hoped, but absolutely worth all the time, as it allowed me flight planning time. My choices were essentially northbound along the front range of the Rockies and then westbound from Montana (which portion of the route I'd flown about five times previously), or westbound over the Rockies and northwestbound through Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington where I'd never flown, and which has a lot of lonely and empty. After a lot of consultation with my own gurus and with local pilots in Colorado I chose a zero-dark-thirty departure westbound over the Rockies and then northwestbound as indicated. All went well.

For navigation I of course had sectionals and AFD's etc, but fundamentally I relied on my iPad 2 (without GPS) and Foreflight Pro($150). I put a suction-cup mount ($25) on the panel, with a velcro fuzzy on the mount, and have velcro hooks on the back of the iPad. The velcro allows me to quickly remove and replace it on the mount, should I need to have it in my lap for revising something or clarification. That prevents finger-jiggle errors. It IS possible to create a flight plan in flight, but best done on the ground. I had a Dual XGPS-160 ($150) which synced with both the iPad and my iPhone, giving me precision navigation, with Foreflight giving me terrain alerts, estimated ranges etc. I would NOT fly without such an arrangement again. Now, for purposes of the legalities, the sectionals and pilotage were my primary navigational tools, but for purposes of reality the iPad/Foreflight combination was awesome.

Since then I have purchased/constructed (assembled really) a Stratux ADSB-In dual unit ($125) which syncs with the aforementioned equipment and gives me weather and traffic alerting (for ADSB-OUT equipped aircraft at least) and is almost the last missing link. If you were willing to pay close to $1,000 you could buy the Stratus 2 unit which would give you synthetic vision and 3D terrain. Fundamentally, for a few thousand dollars at most you can have in your cockpit the capabilities that previously required tens of thousands of dollars.

I'll admit that there's a certain amount of cockpit clutter in this arrangement, but I've positioned most everything in the cleanest way possible, and have arrived at a working solution that is flexible, powered by the USB cigarette lighter on the panel, and allows in-flight changes and reviews from both the iPad and the iPhone.

This changes the game for your aircraft purchase options. Find a Kitfox that you like that has the flying characteristics, landing gear and power options that you want, and don't worry so much about the panel. Learn to fly the airplane and enjoy it for what it is, something that's low and slow, fun as all get out, and can in fact be a cross-country bird if you want. By the time you actually get around to that wonderful-sounding Alaska excursion you'll be completely comfortable with all the capabilities I've described above.

Best of luck and safe flying.

[enewmen]

Hi all.

Thank you for all the posts.
I still see a Kitfox in my future, but I'll change my goals a little. First I'll build/buy a plane with basic instrumentation & radio and just enjoy the kind of flying the Kitfox is good at. I'll also get experience flying without the fancy glass, synthetic vision, checking weather reports without the help of real-time weather maps, flying strait for long distance without an autopilot, etc. If I need GPS later, I can get hand-held solutions like happiestflying suggested. Yes, I still plan to fly cross-country & solo usually, so the weight limits shouldn't be a problem. When I'm ready for a 2nd plane, I'll understand better what I need and it may be decked out like my original plan.

I thought of getting better performance using a turbo at altitude with oxygen, but the kitfox is still a LSA and just not that kind of plane. If I put on a powerful Rotax 915 iS, I think I can exceed 150mph TAS @ > 10000', but that will exceed the Vne.

Why fly from the the Bahamas to Anchorage? Because I've never been there, so I don't know if I will like it! I also don't know if I'll like such a long/slow flight. First I'll rent a plane to see if I like flying all day - I expect I will.