Shipping a Kitfox

[wino59]

I am looking for a Kitfox, and many that are for sale that I am interested in are projects that mostly complete, including the wings on the plane, and motor attached etc, yet are not airworthy.

So my question is does anyone have a good experience with a shipping company to transport a kitfox?

It seems to me I should be able to transport it cheaper, than paying for fuel and renting a trailer to go get, especially if it is across the country.

Any thoughts are appreciated. I am just at a lost on how to get one shipped to me. I went through the archives, and could find anything.

I guess a reasonable solution is wait for one that comes up for sale closer

[MotReklaw]

I flew to Homedale, ID and rented a 16' box van and drove our kit back to Alabama. The cost over having it shipped by Partain was about the same. The airline ticket, hotel rooms, food, gas, and cost of the rental were the same, or almost. It was the adventure of a cross country trip that I was interested in so I didn't mind the time or inconvenience.

I bought a partial built kit in Kingman AZ once and rented a box van to bring it back to Bama. Another fun trip across country on the ground.

Lots of people here use Partain and are pleased with his rates and the care taken with their kits. His link is at the bottom of the page.

[foxkit3]

I had mine shipped from arizona to michigan. $2000.00. I rented space in a 18 wheeler. Seller made a wing carrier and landing gear was removed. Down side to it is you have to have someone load it and unload it. Plane was damaged and could not be flown.

[Av8r3400]

I transported a flying IV from ny to wi in a 26' uhaul. Had to remove a wing and horizontal tail for width but it fit.

[dholly]

OK, this will be windy (sorry) but something might prove helpful...

I recently had to move a similar size, folding wing tri-gear from TX to NY. The estimated distance was 1447 miles. I really didn't have the time to do it myself, so I put the job for enclosed transport up for bid on www.uShip.com (ever watch Shipping Wars on A&E cable channel?). I also placed a free Hauling Ad in the classifieds on YesterdaysTractors.com. It's an antique tractor site and they have a hauling schedule to facilitate moving large equipment and securing backhauls.

I received (4) bids from uShip: $4076, $3773, $3250 and $2460, the low bid was an offer for open transport. I had to decline them all because of date or equipment conflicts. Ie., maybe they had a 24'-28' enclosed trailer which would accommodate the wings on and folded, but either the interior width or rear door opening was insufficient.

I rec'd a (3) phone calls from the YTM haul ad, all were in TX and heading north but did not want to wait the additional day or two necessary to finalize my purchase deal. These quotes were cheaper, but on large open 18-wheel transport trailers. Regardless, they all seemed expensive to me, especially for a straight hot shot through several major cities loaded with tons of available backhaul listings.

You didn't mention whether you will be moving a smaller KF1-3 or larger KF4-7. I am willing to bet a KF4 and up with spring gear will be difficult width wise and require anything from 'pinching' your gear together with ratchet straps to having to remove the wings and/or gear altogether. Here are the specs I posted to provide some reference:

Length: 21 ft 6 in., Width: 7 ft 11 in., Height: 7 ft 8 in., Weight:650 lbs. Easily moved on it's own landing gear. Both wings can be removed from the aircraft and are each approx. 13'0"L x 4'7.5"W. Wings may be secured to the inside trailer wall, with leading edges down, using E-Track straps and appropriate padding. Aircraft Dimensions w/ wings removed: 46" max fuselage width, 7'10.5" max width at horizontal stabilizer (can be removed if necessary), 7'6" max height at rudder (nosewheel can be blocked up and tail lowered to approx. 6'0" height), 18'6.5" max length, 7'6.5" maingear max width. This airplane wings on and folded fits in a trailer with the following specs: 8.5' wide with 98" interior and door-opening width, 78" interior and door height, 24' long + 5' V-nose. Note this trailer does have a custom full width door opening.

In the end, after nearly a month of trying, I simply couldn't find anyone with the schedule, equipment or reasonable cost to do the haul. I ended up driving down with a buddy to pick it up myself. One guy drive, one guy sleep, one day later we're in TX. Hmm, that wasn't too bad after all. I took one of my own trailers with me, an aluminum Triton Elite5 w/ 12'x5' bed. 375lb empty and 2200lb gvwr. The trip cost under $1000. ~$650 in fuel and tolls, $180 motels, another $100 for food and drink, $40 uHaul supplies and Duct Tape.

I have towed my Avid and both KF's for 3-4 hour trips on a modified boat trailer nose back without issue but this time, to be safe, I decided to remove the wings, landing gear, HS, elevator and rudder, and bolted the fuse onto a cradle bolted down to the trailer nose front. Used large quilted mover's pads (rented from uHaul ridiculously cheap, no local return requirement or time penalty) to wrap the wings etc., and 'shrink-wrapped' the cockpit with cellophane mover's stretch plastic wrap from uHaul. It was worth the effort for this length trip and everything tracked perfectly at 80mph for hours on end. It was quite the adventure, drove right through the hurricanes that hammered TX in April. Made it home dry without a scratch!

[Northof49]

Have you looked on kijji ?

[wino59]

Thanks for the responses. It seems the consensus is... if you want it done right, go get it yourself, you will save money, and ensure there is no damage, and if there is damage you don't have anyone to blame but yourself

I was looking for a ball park pricing on moving a Kitfox, and you guys have been more than helpful, and that was exactly what I needed, thanks...The money I would save buying something across the country would not justify the cost to transport. It would be a couple of thousand dollars, so I will look for something probably within a 1000 miles of my home.

I will start working on building a Kitfox trailer based off a boat trailer platform, so when something comes available I will be able to go get it.

[rogerh12]

Did someone say boat trailer?

This was a pontoon trailer (see attached).
Moved my BD-4 !!!!!

Roger

[farmboy]

Last night Partain showed up with my series 6 talk about top notch service. Driver Michael has top of line equipment ,friendly and better yet very careful. I would hire them again in a heartbeat.

[DesertFox4]

Congrats. on your delivery. Yes Partain does a great job moving precious cargo across the U.S.

Enjoy your model 6.