website design by Timothy Graichen
N10PG
KITFOX5 Project
In 1995, after 43 years of work in the tire industry and in sales of related equipment, I decided to retire. In preparation of this upcoming retirement, I decided to have my Christen Eagle, that I built and had flown for over twelve years, completely restored. That restoration process took over thirteen months, with the goal of winning an award at Oshkosh in 1996. However this absolutely immaculate and magnificent Eagle was destroyed in a fatal accident the day before I was to take delivery.
My retirement was planned around flying and puttsing around the hangar and the airport. Now I found myself retired but without an airplane. After recovering from the trauma of the loss, it was time to think about building another airplane. Jackie, my wife, asked me to consider an airplane other than another aerobatic airplane, as she had always been ill at ease with my doing (competition) aerobatics. I agreed and decided that after years of loops, rolls and negative G’s, it was time to do some slow and low level flying, looking into farmers' barnyards and occasionally scaring some cows. It did not take me long to decide on a Kitfox5, since I had followed the development of that airplane from the very beginning at Denny Aircraft. My friend, Vic Syracuse, took me for rides in his various kitfoxes and I had developed an appreciation for that airplane.
In January, 1996, I placed my order with SkyStar for the airframe and with NSI for the Firewall-forward package, i.e. 120 hp SHO complete with CAP and bump cowl. In the meantime, I discussed with both Merle Williams in Phoenix and Accipiter in Longmont, CO, their builder assistance programs. I decided to use Accipiter strictly on the basis of earliest possible accommodation. Merle’s facility was tied up until July, too late to complete an airplane for Oshkosh. Accipiter could accommodate me as of 18 March, which gave us a shot of having the airplane completed in time for Oshkosh. I instructed both SkyStar and NSI to ship their parts to Accipiter; they where there waiting for me when I arrived at 7:00 am on the 18 March.
Between Doug Marcy, Bill Ray, and myself, we never worked less than thirty man-hours per day, generally 7:00 am to 10:00 pm, Monday through Sunday. After 100 consecutive days of this concerted effort, N10PG flew for the first time on 25 June 96. I returned home to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, for Easter and Memorial Day to be with my family and to do laundry :>
Despite the rush to complete the airplane, we never lost sight of our goal to build a potential Oshkosh award winner.
We did achieve our goal:
1996 – "Outstanding Workmanship"
1997 – "Bronze Lindy for Best Kit-built Airplane"
What makes an Oshkosh winner? Attention to detail, and the final finish, (i.e. the paintjob must be flawless). The outstanding paint job on my Kitfox is thanks to Ross Blair of Lone Pine Collision in Estes Park, CO. He applied his magic in the form of PPG’s Concept paint system. Even the finest paintjob means little if the fabric underneath is not installed with the utmost of skill. This was accomplished by the skillful hands of Susan Mathes of Berthoud, CO.
Following are two sections giving additional information on N10PG:
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me via e-mail at n10pg@neo.rr.com .
