Ignorance at it's best

[C5Engineer 1170]

This is the response a guy who has already bought a Kitfox got back from a CFI regarding learning to fly it. I can't believe this guy went so far out of his way to discourage someone from learning how to fly. What kind of instructor does that??The list of inaccuracies in unbelievable. I guess I'll have to park my plane because it will only fly if it's below 60 degrees and it's obviously unsuitable for any type of mountain flying. I must of dreamt about all those cool Idaho Backcountry strips I've been to. Most importantly if I do fly it the engine will quit and I will DIE!

 

"The Kitfox 2 is a Sport Pilot qualified plane but I don’t instruct in them for a number of reason.

1. The useful load (legal maximum weight above the airframe) is 524 lbs. With full fuel, plus you and me, plus any density altitude (look up that definition), plus a low horsepower output engine, that aircraft is only safe to fly in temperatures below 60 deg F. (very easy to over load the weight & balance of the airplane)
2. The engine is a Rotax engine; They started their life on snowmobiles, and was “redesigned†to put on very small airplanes. The common perception is not if it will quit running, but “whenâ€, If you look up in the NTSB aircraft accident data base you will find that the small homebuilt kit-type planes and the rotax powered airplanes are 6 times more involved in accidents and 8 times more fatal in aircraft accidents.
3. The Kitfox is a tail-wheel aircraft and there is a reason why the insurance companies charge a whole lot more to insure them. The ground handling characteristics ie; take off and landings, not even to consider crosswind landings, require a very experienced tail-wheel pilot to consistently accomplish safely.
4. Add to all of that, you being a hunter you probably have visions of looking for game from the air, ie; mountain country – which requires very high pilot skills. (see this mornings northwest section in the local paper about the fatal accident at Johnson Creek in the past couple days. This is a completely unsafe aircraft in any type of mountain country.

Now being in the airplane flying business, (started flying airplanes in the early ‘70s), there is a reason I don’t own this type of aircraft to instruct in. To my knowledge there are no traditional flight schools that have a Kitfox on the line for instruction in the Northwest.

I fully understand that learning to fly is an expensive proposition. However it is a lifetime investment that will bring great joy and utility to one’s life, - life long term. Consider this, if you had cancer would you go to the hospital in Grangeville or Orofino, or would you go to Spokane or Seattle? Would you trust the equipment in those small communities or would you want the best medical equipment available? A fair consideration of your life and those who fly with you – is exactly the same comparison. Scrimping on dollars when your life is on the line, - and it is – is the wrong way to go. Is there a fair number of these types of planes flying around, - yes there is – and a lot of the people in those airplanes lose their life in them too – many more so than in general aviation aircraft.

 

Disclaimer-If you are on the world wide web researching this type of airplane and didn't pick up on my sarcasm the above letter is a bunch of BS! Find a Kitfox owner/builder/pilot watch it fly and make your own assumptions.

[akflyer 1427]

Wtf??? Damn, I guess I should be dead too as well as 98% of the other kf drivers out there.. Not to mention, there is no " legal" maximum gross weight.. It seems obvious to me that this guy is a dick who does not know his ass from a hole in the ground!!

[EDMO 1078]

This turkey completely ignores that heavy "spam cans" with "certified" engines and mags can quit running without warning, and can be overloaded, and crash, and ice-up below 60 degrees, and.....

So glad, "he is experienced, starting in the 1970's" - I could have flown a S&R looking for him...

Ignorance is like bullshit - it spreads easily. Bet he never flew a radial engine either....

EDMO

[Av8r3400 1179]

As I said on TKF, this guy isn't qualified to teach dog walking...