Kitfox on floats, fully loaded, runway length?

[AndrewSpagnolo]

Hello, I recently purchased a piece of land that I have big plans for, and it is next to a small body of water that looks like a L. Each length of the L is about 2000 feet long, and my property line actually extends out into the water, covering a about 2.5-3 acres, with the longest length being about 750 -800 feet. Now the long lengths, I do not own, but there are no houses and only trees surrounding the whole thing. I was thinking, i could come in low off the water, and land as close to the property line as possible, and coast into my water, though that would only give me about 1000 feet total, with trees on one side... If i hit the 2000 foot length strip, i wouldn't really land in my water, and i would have to taxi in. There is only one small rowboat anywhere to be seen around this lake, and no houses or people. the land is owned by timber companies, all except my little plot... Now, I plant to produce some seriously valuable products on my land and use the plane to get it to various large distributions centers in the area, so it would need to be able to land on regular air strips as well... Anyways, I am all really new to this so any advice would be appreciated. I did search the forums and didn't see any numbers for taking off on water, and wondered what people thought about this situation. Also, what kind of mph and mpg can you get with floats on? Floats can land on regular paved runways too, but not in field, is that right?

Thank you and have a wonderful day! I am so excited that I might have this opportunity to fly!!

[Esser]

I don't know where Falls Church is, but if it's in Canada you can use all 2000' of that lake legally. As for a fully loaded Kitfox on Amphibs I really don't know what your take off length would be as it really depends on how long it takes you to get on step. I would say that for a new pilot who is new to floats, 2000' is too short.

You would be better off taking a piece of your property and making a dirt strip. For the price of a good set of amphibs you can hire a bulldozer to knock down all the trees and grade. You would still have money left over. Now you have a plane that is lighter for carrying your products to everyone. Also cheaper insurance.

[AndrewSpagnolo]

Thank you for getting back to me Esser, But my property is no where near level enough to do that. It's either lake or nothing from my property, or I have to redo most of a 2 mile road, and use the commercial airstrip already built down the road if I want to fly(which I really do!)

[AndrewSpagnolo]

OK, OP question remains unanswered. I understand there is some variance here. What I am looking for is approximate stats for a kitfox loaded with floats(cruising speed, mpg, take off and landing distance, climb rate). Assume the pilot is well trained and skilled, what is reasonable? Floats can be used to land on airstrips too, right, just not on dirt or grass i would imagine?
This is what I need to know before pursuing this endeavour.

[Esser]

Amphibs are floats that have retractable wheels to land on pavement. The disadvantage is that they are heavy and if you land on water with the wheels down you will flip over. But yes you could only land on a very smooth grass runway with amphibs.

I really don't know how a kitfox performs on floats so someone else will have to chime in on that.

I have a friend who has 2000 hours on floats and he says for a small plane to have a home based lake, 2 miles minimum. Sure you can get down in 2000' IF the conditions are good but if the wind is wrong or the lake is "glass" where you cant tell where the water starts it can take a long time to land. If you had Amphibs though, in bad conditions you could go to the local paved strip.

[AndrewSpagnolo]

Thanks for getting back to me again Esser. After seeing your post, I read this article about amphibs and don't see that as a good option at all, too risky. What if the wheels get stuck down, or god forbid you forget to put them up, and die, and anything to keep insurance costs down is always a good thing. I am a little disappointed, because I really like this planes stats and was hoping I would be able to make it happen, perhaps it is just best to go with more of a boat plane for this sort of location, like a searey or something. Hopefully down the road at some point i will have plenty of land for a private strip, or just the resources necessary for hangar space at the local airstrip and whatnot! Thanks again!

[AndrewSpagnolo]

Honestly though, I think you are wrong. I think this plane can probably get off the ground in about 300-400 feet of open water with amphibians. From videos I have seen, it looks like it gets off the water in about 12 seconds from rest. it it takes off at 50 mph, it could not travel more than 450 feet in that time. with a body of water over 300 feet wide and 2000 feet long, seems like an excellent natural runway is already built for me.

[Dave F]

Honestly though, I think you are wrong. I think this plane can probably get off the ground in about 300-400 feet of open water with amphibians. From videos I have seen, it looks like it gets off the water in about 12 seconds from rest. it it takes off at 50 mph, it could not travel more than 450 feet in that time. with a body of water over 300 feet wide and 2000 feet long, seems like an excellent natural runway is already built for me.

First off you had better let us know what model you have
what the weight is
what kind of floats
what engine

They are all contributing factors


Let us know what you got.

[AndrewSpagnolo]

Oh, I don't have one. What i have is a piece of land next to a body of water as described. I am considering the prospect of accessing it via small plane and using said plane to bring things back and forth to develop said property with efficiently and effectively. Plus it would be really awesome to have, so that is something I am working towards.

[Dave F]

Oh, I don't have one. What i have is a piece of land next to a body of water as described. I am considering the prospect of accessing it via small plane and using said plane to bring things back and forth to develop said property with efficiently and effectively. Plus it would be really awesome to have, so that is something I am working towards.

If you want a Kitfox you will want a 912S powered plane.
amphib floats will take a beating on rough runways.
min investment 40K