CopperState 2014 has come and gone. It may be remembered as one of the warmest in past memory but that didn't quench the enthusiasm.

John flew down from Homedale,Id Wednesday in 5 hours and 40 minutes with one fuel stop. True airspeed was 130 mph plus and that was with no tail wind or only 3 to 4 mph tailwind at times. So much for any thoughts on the Kitfox not being a viable cross country machine.

Thursday started out rather quietly, as expected, with early arrivals and intermittent visitors at the Kitfox Aircraft booth. Weather was beautiful in the mornings with barley measurable "winds" that hung around the whole day. The Arizona skies were as usual. Intense blue with just a hint that high, extremely scattered cirrus clouds would be allowed to form and then dissolve. Temps would slowly work their way into the mid 90's. The last hurrah of summer trying to influence our behavior before surrendering to fall, then winter, here in the desert southwest.

Friday picked up considerably in aircraft arrivals and people and Saturday was busy. All in all not bad for a small fly in compared to others earlier in the year.

It's the highlight of this event getting to see old friends and meet new Kitfox enthusiasts. Those of us that have built or been flying this great design for sometime now may take for granted the capabilities of our chosen aircraft. Seeing someone new to the Kitfox community slowly discover through asking questions at fly in's or talking with current builders and owners or the fastest way to a purchase decision, a demo flight, discover what this aircraft can do for their aviation enjoyment is always exciting to watch. I got to see it several times this week.

I even saw it happen in reverse order. Tahoe Tim came down to get a demo flight after he put his order in some weeks ago for a 7 Super Sport kit. Tim it was great meeting you and talking Kitfox. Welcome to the Kitfox community. You're going to have the time of your life. Best of luck on your build.


Something happens here at CopperState almost every year. It happened twice this year and that is, having someone walk up to you and say " you took me for my first Kitfox flight 11 years ago or 5 years ago" and finding out they now are building their own Kitfox. That's just rewarding. There's no other word for it.

I tried to take a photo of every Kitfox that arrived but I know I missed at least one, maybe more.

Great seeing the Wilson's from Utah. Hardly recognized SkySteve. He's worked very hard since I flew with him up at Homedale, ID just a couple years back increasing 85DD's useful load. You look great Steve. Congrats on the weight loss. You're the man.

A big thank you to John McBean for his friendship and hospitality. Three days goes by way too quickly. We missed not having Debra with us this year.

My thanks goes out to Phil Laker for letting me fly his sweet 7SS to and from CopperState this year. His is one of the best Kitfox's I've ever flown and a huge reason I'm building again.




IMG_0503.jpg

IMG_0504.jpg

IMG_0505.jpg

IMG_0515.jpg

IMG_0561.jpg

IMG_0544.jpg

IMG_0520.jpg

IMG_0575.jpg

IMG_0549.jpg

IMG_0585.jpg

IMG_0588.jpg