Patrick Hintz' Model 6 Kitfox of the Month Jan. 2016.

Many years ago my father had a Rally 3 ultralight that he flew for years when I was just a young kid. I loved going up on a hot evenings feeling that cool air. We always continued to talk about planes and he agreed to go in 50/50 with me on a plane. My research finally found a aircraft that had a solid reputation, a great following of builders, pilots, etc... and of course powered by a Rotax engine. I searched barnstormers and found an almost unstarted Kitfox series 6 trigear in Sacramento CA. Well, we made the deal and off to sunny California it was. We loaded the horse trailer up and brought back my project!!

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I spent almost 1 1/2 years, working almost every night and every weekend on it. I'm guessing I was close to 1,500 hrs build time. I borrowed the color scheme from Kitfox. I fell in love with the colors and never looked back. I painted insignia white underneath the yellow to make it brighter. I used all factory steam gauges, along with my I pad (I use ForeFlight) for gps. The rotax engine is a 912 ULS 100 hp. I'm using a Warp drive tapered with the nickel leading edge. I'm pretty sure I'm at 15 degrees for prop pitch. I used a Garmin GTR 200 for my comm and also use the internal intercom which works well. I did have some intercom problems at first but Garmin customer service swapped the harness out and that seemed to fix the problem. I've nothing but compliments on the sound of my transmissions. It's a great comm radio! As far as rates of climb and speed, I'm showing 110 mph at cruise (4800 rpm). My stall is right around 43-44 mph.

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Oh, did I mention that I was a 0 TT pilot when I started this adventure?? I built first then started lessons with this wonderful machine. I received my airworthiness certificate on May 14, 2014 and received my Private pilot license on May 17th 2015. I currently have 149.2 hrs on the hobbs.

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I can't thank John and Debra McBean enough for making my dream come true! Although I did not buy the kit from them, they helped me in every question I had and then some. Also the people at L.E.A.F. and California Power Systems are wonderful people to ask questions and get info. One last complement, the people on TeamKitfox.com are by far the best source of info for any questions. I probably asked some pretty dumb questions in my build but the builders and pilots were all pulling in the same direction for me. Thank you so much!


I was encouraged by Dave S. to put my Kitfox in for KOTM!

Patrick Hintz
kitfox series 6 - trigear
rotax 912 100 hp , warp drive prop

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Thank you Patrick for submitting your beautiful Model 6 Kitfox for K.O.T.M. January 2016. Great way to start the New Year.
You should be very proud. Love the paint scheme.

Big thanks to Dave S. for persuading Patrick to submit this gorgeous aircraft. :)

That is a beautiful airplane and great story to go along with it. Thank you for sharing both with us.

I know you will enjoy your Kitfox for many years to come!

It is so good to see a Kitfox of the Month again - and such a beautiful one! Thanks for sharing your story with us... good job, Patrick!

Excellent, I hope you enjoy your Kitfox. I have the 1st SLSA that Kitfox Built, I almost canceled the purchase when I saw the Yellow Kitfox number 2 being built. I do like that color!

Patrick,

Wonderful to see your plane in this column! IMHO, you have a right to be particularily proud of your accomplishments. To build your plane, have it tested then get your Pilot's certificate in the plane....I Mean, how good is that!

Many happy hours and good adventures.

Fly Safe, Fly Well,

Dave S

I'm very humbled by all the great comments!! Thank you and have a great holiday season!!!

Patrick

Patrick,
Congratulations on the great build and getting your pilot certificate! Wow, what a good looking plane. You will have a blast!! Nice job.

Nice bird. Interesting cowl. I thought the 6's had the same cowls as now. Learn something new everyday.

Josh, the "six" has a shorter cowling, shorter motor mount and no boot cowl.

Very NICE!!!

Completing your dream to PPL shows some inspirational resolve. Congratulations. It looks great.

Fabulous Job! Very Sharp. Enjoy the spoils of all that work!