Kitfox and beginners

[maxb]

Hello all,

First of all, I'm very happy to have found this forum, which is exactly what I was searching for m(and pleas pardon me for my not perfect English: I'm Italian, living in Italy).

I started to fly 20 years ago with paragliders (which I still fly today), but I'm becoming day by day more intereted in flying with something better :-)

I have seen several ultralights, but -honestly- the only one I really like is the Kitfox. Here some of them can be found as second hand (unluckily I don't have enough time to build one byu myself, also if I would prefer doing so), but the question is another: of course I have to take flight lessons, but what is your opinion about having a Kitfox as a first plane? Does this make sense? I mean: it's a taildragger, so more challenging to takeoff and land, but in the past all the planes were taildraggrs (and I believe too they were more diffcult to fly), as well as other similar question.

You that know so well this plane, what is your opinion? I would not (as we say here) take a step longer than the leg, but also avoid to buy a plane which I will need to change in a (more or less) short time.

Many thanks in advance for any help!

Ciao,

Massimo (Max)

[Skybolt]

Hello Max.
Welcome to this forum.

I don't think it wize to go buy an airplane and teach yourself to fly it.

Do you know of a flight instructor who is familier with the tailwheel.
You will need at least some time with an instructor...maybe even getting the equivalent of a private pilots licence...that would be good.

Having an instructor go up with you in a Kitfox will also be benificial.
But getting signed off by an instructor is, for me very important.

Is the Kitfox more difficult than other tailwheel aircraft. I personaly don't think so.
Look at the thread "how to fly the Kitfox" Order the book from Kitfox, it shows and describes what to expect.

Flying the Kitfox is fun and handling a tailwheel is more fun...but have fun safely.

Greetings. Eric.

[mcguif0a]

Also remember that the Kitfox does not have to be a tail dragger. If you are nervous about the tailwheel you may be interested in the nose wheel version. They don't seem to be as common but if your patient you should be able to find one.

[maxb]

Ciao,

Thanks for the responses!

First of all, I want to underline that's NOT my idea to fly a Kitfox (or whatever else) teaching by myself. I will get a lot of flight lessons. As much as I need, and probably even more

My question was just about to know if I can think to have a Kitfox as a first plane. I would like just to avoid mistakes and getting a very difficult plane as first.

From you answers, looks like that the Kitfox can be good for this if starting the whole thing from the beginning.

Agauin thanks, and welcome to further suggestions and opinions.

Ciao,

Max

[Skybolt]

Max said;
"My question was just about to know if I can think to have a Kitfox as a first plane. I would like just to avoid mistakes and getting a very difficult plane as first."

My Classic IV is my first plane. Yes I had my training in the Cessna 152 and then the 172. Rented for a couple of years.
Got the Kitfox kit, spent no time flying and a couple of years building. When it was time to prepair for flight I found an instructor with a Piper cub and then a Citabria and finaly in the Kitfox. I personaly don,t find the Kitfox more difficult to land than these.
All three aircraft are very different from each other. The Cub was the most difficult to taxi and flair for landing because of foreward visibility.

(Of course, my interpetations of this are based on the learning factor, newness to tailwheel. Ask any Cub owner and he will say not a problem to land and taxi because he is so familier with it)

Anything can be a bit of a problem when new. Remember your first bike!

Eric

[SkyPirate]

Ciao,

Thanks for the responses!

I might be late in replying to this ,..but here's my 2.5 cents worth ..if you learn to fly a tail dragger..you can fly any other wheeled configurationed aircraft in the same class you learned in..ie 2 place single engine ...
in my opinion it is easier to fly a tail dragger ,..
one ..because you learn to be less complacent,..you have got to fly the plane until it comes to a complete stop,
two..you learn to do short field T/O's and landings without worry of the front wheel sinking into soft ground,..so runway's are not always required for tail draggers
three ,,you just can't beat the nostalgia of a taildragger it's just too dang Sexy~!!

[R. Griswold]

Hi: Allbee's reply that kitfoxes are tough to fly is very revealing. That one comment may keep me from making a huge mistake. I surely don't want an aircraft that is as difficult to fly as he makes it sound. But I am very curious: How and why? How is the aircraft tough to fly? I presume we are talking about landing here, probably in a crosswind situation? Perhaps in the tail dragging configuration? With a low wing loading and pretty slow approach, just what is the issue? What is it about the airplane design that tends to make it a handfull? Could it be the rather full and slab sided tail section of the fuselage. This is critical stuff. I'm way behind almost everyone on this site in any experience. The last thing I need is to choose a plane that is not the most gentle, docile, forgiving airplane ever. Is there something out there that is universally acknowledged as so easy to fly, even a caveman could do it? Rich

[SkyPirate]

Personally I think the kitfox is one of the easiest planes to fly ,..but it's going to depend on your own co-ordination as to how well you fly any airplane,..if you have really low flying time you really need to find someone with the type of plane you want to fly and get some stick time in that type aircraft,..a cub ?
The kitfox is not prone to ground loops as some tail draggers are,..or at least i don't think they are..I use to purposely land on one tire and roll down the runway until the plane slowly set down on both mains just to see how far I could do it before stopping,..but then I would take off and get to 3000ASL then shut the motor off too just for kicks to practice dead stick landings,..
In reality the only way your going to know is to put yourself in the seat next to an experienced tail dragger pilot and get some stick time ..only you know if you can handle the transitions from a tri cycle to a tail dragger,..but like I said earlier..if you can land a tail dragger ..you can fly anything fixed wing with any landing gear configuration ,..mono,..trike..tail wheel ..tail skid .. in my opinion the easiest to land is the tricycle gear .
If your still not sure of yourself after getting some stick time ..say 10 to 15 hours,..then you might not want a tail dragger

[DesertFox4]

Since allbee didn't address why it was difficult for him to fly I won't speak for him. The Kitfox is not hard to fly. The taildragger version may be a little more of a challenge for some people to master but the flying characteristics of all Kitfox models are very easy to love after one flight. They all fly exceptionally well once 2 inches in the air. The biggest problems with new Kitfox pilots is over controlling the aircraft with Cessna type inputs into the stick and rudder but this is soon mastered and the joy of responsive controls quickly becomes apparent to everyone I've ever taken up in my Kitfox. That includes high time & low time pilots and people that have never been airborne before yet alone touched an aircraft's controls. Everyone I take flying in my Kitfox gets to fly the airplane. The result is always predictable. They love it. Fly a Kitfox once and you will buy/build one.
It's amazing when you research something we are interested in and have never experienced for ourselves that we will read 1,000 positive comments and then fixate on that one negative feedback. I've done it myself. That's human nature to be skeptical. Are those 1,000 people all in a conspiracy to force a bad product on the unsuspecting? I'll let you be the judge Rich but it would be a shame to right off the best flying aircraft available today because you got spooked by one post. If you don't fly one you are doing yourself a disservice. That's very easy to accomplish with the resources Kitfox Aircraft makes available to interested potential customers. One flight alleviates all pre-conceived notions that maybe built up over years of research. That should be your next step in your quest for factual information gathering. I'd offer you a flight in mine if you were closer or wanted to get to Phoenix. If you want to fly any model from 4- Super Sport it can be arranged here in Phoenix if you can't make Homedale or one of the shows John and Deb will be attending this year. Let me know if I can help.

[Slyfox]

Hi: Allbee's reply that kitfoxes are tough to fly is very revealing. That one comment may keep me from making a huge mistake. I surely don't want an aircraft that is as difficult to fly as he makes it sound. Rich

Tough to fly is in reference to the cessna. You should start out in a training plane. The kitfox is high performance. The turn rate is fast. If you have a taildragger it is more responsive than most. If you have the long wing, it will get blown around more in a cross wind. Just things I observed between the c180 and the kitfox. It can be done. Just have a good CFI with you when starting out is all.