Kitfox V history ?

[bbs428]

I have an older 5, s/n S98020146. My QA stickers on the flaperons are dated 05/09/94 ??

It has the .065 spars and 1 1/4 front carry thru tube.
I called kitfox and verified the numbers.

A few thoughts on an older kit -

I would be concerned with how the plane was stored and look very closely for corrosion. Jmho - UNLESS you get a smoking deal and don't mind spending a lot more time sorting thru old mouse turd infested boxes and the inevitable missing parts and spending more than a few bucks updating the aircraft with newer, better components. Also - A lot of plastic baggies that held the hardware, the stickers identifying what parts were in the bag had fallen off due to the age. So even MORE fun and TIME deciphering what was what.

My plane was stored in a dry barn. Boxes full of rodent remains. Mud dauber nests in the wings. Chipped powder coat on the frame. A lot of sanding and treating of the surface rust was a pain. The corrosion wicks up under the powder coat and you have to be pretty aggressive in tracking it all down. Big PITA! A few of the raw aluminum stock parts had to be scrapped do to filiform corrosion. Wing spars and flaperons had no corrosion (a miracle! )and were treated and coated with Alodine. The lift struts received a lot of scrutiny. Scoped them internally and they were good. Still had to treat inside and out as with the frame with Corroseal rust converter.

Unless your prepared to do a LOT of extra work and spend more TIME, I would put in an order for a new one and use the backlog time to pay for it. The value of getting your kit fresh from the factory with all the latest improvements cannot be underestimated.

In my case - YES I did look over the kit very well. Yes - I got a smoking deal. Yes - I was well versed into treating and repairing corrosion from my naval aviation background so I wasn't scared off by some surface rust. Yes - I wished many times, today even, that I should have just bought a new kit! lol. As the Mrs. would say - I'm just a hard case and don't know any better.

All complaining aside I'm enjoying this ride so much and really enjoy all the people involved here and with Kitfox. The Factory support has been the best. What other kit plane mfgr. provides support after 30+ years? Kitfox does.

Please just be careful and have fun no mater which way you end up going.

All the best!

[Maverick]

I built a KF5 from a kit serial number S94120069, which I believe means that the kit was created in December, 1994 and was the 69th kit built that year. The kit was originally sold to a guy in Tucson, AZ. I am now building a KF5 from a kit serial number S94120078. This kit was sold to a guy in Mesa, AZ. I bought the second kit from Mission Aviation Fellowship after the original purchaser donated it. The kit was not totally complete and I have purchased several of the missing parts from John & Debra. They have been more than helpful even though I did not buy the kit from them. John helped me understand how to approach the FAA since the original buyer did not have his purchase agreement from Skystar. I did get much documentation from the original owner (inventory sheet) and I was able to, through MAF, get a letter to the guy and an affidavit from him stating that he did purchase the kit from Skystar. So, if you are considering an old kit, be sure you can address any registration issues with the FAA.

As far as the missing parts, part labels falling off the baggies, etc., you do want to take into consideration the time it takes to find the right part. Usually, this is the right size bolts for the right location that you need it for. Of course, you want to make sure all the essential parts are there. You would not want to spend so much for new parts that you put yourself in a condition where you would be spending more between the used kit and the missing parts you would have buy and just buying a new kit. My air-frame is a tail-dragger but, the mods to make it into a nose-dragger could be made before you get started, assuming too much work is not already done that would prevent it from being done without a lot of rework.

I have been tracking my spending. With a Rotax ULS purchased from AZ Aircraft salvage with 700 hrs on it, all new Garmin avionics, a Great Lakes EIS and, minimal used steam gauges, it looks like I should be flying for less than $40K. Of course it is not going to be a show plane. I'm building it to fly as a LSA.