Brodstol

It was a bittersweet day as I sold and delivered my model 1 to it's new owner near Portland, Oregon. Although, I couldn't have asked for a better way to say goodbye than the 3 hour flight down through the Columbia River gorge in super smooth air and tailwinds the whole way. Thanks for the fun, frustration, adventures, and stress little Kitfox, I'll never forget the experience. Thanks everyone here for the great advice, encouragement, and used parts lol these past few years. God bless and happy flying.

Flew for a half an hour, EGTS rarely if ever peaked over 1100 through all cruise RPMS at level flight, OAT was 70 degrees. The plugs were more brown and the orange is fading away from the piston crown. I'll continue to go a tad richer with the needle jet going up from 2.74 to 2.76 just to be safe.

I made the needle jet change because I felt like I was too rich especially since it's getting warmer out but obviously raising the clip/lowering the needle just one notch got it in a lean condition. I made the changes back to where it was and will take a flight later this afternoon. Thanks all for the feedback.

Hey Craig I saw your youtube comment on my video the other day, that's cool that you're close by. I worked quite a bit with the Spokane FSDO on my airworthiness cert. so reach out if you need any help or questions in working with them.

Yeah I agree, it just baffles me cause last I flew in 65 degree weather @ 3000ft and have stock jetting outside of a slightly richer needle jet @ 2.74. Also looking at temps throughout the flight I know I never broke 1200 egts. I could be wrong and hopefully going back down a clip on the jet needle will richen things up on the top end. Gonna give a good look over tomorrow and then go from there. Hopefully I just dodged a bullet and no harm no foul on the lean/detonation condition.
 

Dang what a great deal, if I was in another stage of life I'd be already driving to the border lol. 

I just got my balance master from LEAF for about $80, here's a link 
https://www.leadingedgeairfoils.com/propeller-balance-master-6-hole-prop-black-anodized.html
This is for my 582 so I don't think it works on the 912

Yeah I think I'm sold on getting the balance master for my 582, glad there wasn't anything more damaged for ya

Ooo very nice, makes we want to get cabanes on my model 1
 

Hey everyone just wanted to update the post, I'm nearing 30hrs and I'm really enjoying it. Here's a few pictures of my adventures. I'm going to be working on a heating system over the winter. Happy flying!

Thanks everyone for the advice, the first flight was a success! Here I am afterwards with the Kitfox grin. I'm going to update my rebuild thread on some of the squawks but overall the plane did great.

Thanks everyone for the great advice and help. I just got done with my dual instruction in the J3 today and I've been taxing my KF1 around the 25-30mph range (almost lifted off once!) for the past couple of days. It's been a great help doing so and I'm feeling much more comfortable with the ground handling. First flight, weather permitting, will be this week. I'll check back once completed.

That's too cool, land, grab your skis and enjoy the slops. Thanks for sharing, it's a great video.

I wish grass was an option here. It use to be until our airport started to favor the regional airline. 

Here's a post I put on the Kitfox FB page about the process and struggle in getting my a replacement a/w certificate
"Replacement A/W cert. acquired! Let me share a cautionary tale with you all...
A little over a year ago I acquired a Kitfox 1 from an estate. They had no logs however I could see when looking up the N# on the FAA registry that the registration was current and showed an airworthiness date of 7/20/1988. I wasn't worried too much about the logs since the plane was a basket case and I'd have to pretty much rework the entire plane to get it airworthy again. I also knew I could request a copy of the aircraft records from the registry. The plane was a good deal and while looking at it with the estate they had received calls wanting to buy the plane sight unseen.  So feeling the pressure and assuring myself that all would work out, I pulled the trigger, trailered the plane home, and work began restoring the Kitfox. I used the FAA online request for a CD copy of the aircraft records and a week later I received it. I poured through the PDFs and when I came to the a/w record all that it showed was half of a calibration sheet from what I assume was their scanner from when the FAA moved away from physical records in the mid 90's. I was dismayed but had hope that my local FSDO would be of help. Thus began my nearly year long battle of trying to acquire a copy of the A/W cert. My local FSDO was initially of no help stating that they have no more physical records and whatever they did have was sent to the Oklahoma offices. I called the FAA Registry office and they said that all physical records are sent to a different branch of the government and would be near impossible to acquire. I contacted the FSDO again and asked what my options were. They said since I had no logs I had no way to prove that the A/W was issued. I presented the evidence I had which was that it had a recorded airworthiness date in the FAA registry, over 300 hrs on the hobbs, and even video evidence of it flying in early Kitfox marketing videos. It had no effect.  Frustration and reality was starting to sink in that I could just have a pile of parts instead of the aircraft I originally valued it as. I contacted an EAA representative who agreed with me that the evidence was there to support my case and suggested I contact a DAR in my area. I tracked him down and he also agreed with me however didn't feel he could do anything about it since I'm not the original builder. He did suggest contacting a new PMI within my local FSDO. This PMI was much more helpful than the last and actually made efforts to help me. He however hit a wall and asked if I could try getting in touch with the original builder to try and get anything. I had personal reservations on this since I didn't want to open a can of worms that the builder didn't want get involved with. However desperation was setting in and so I started digging. In my google searching and internet stalking of trying to come up with current contact info for the builder I came upon the solution to my problem. I did an FAA airmen inquiry on the builder, and came upon his certifications and noticed his repairmen certificate for my specific Kitfox. I researched more and found out that you can not receive a repairmen's certificate unless the A/W had been issued for that specific aircraft. The stars had aligned and when I gave my PMI this information he concluded that this was evidence enough that an special airworthiness certificate had been issued for my Kitfox and that he could issue a replacement. He still needed to physically inspect the plane for the correct placards and that it actually was an aircraft. Last Thursday the Kitfox passed with flying colors and he issued the new/replacement special airworthiness certificate. Since I have no logs to prove that phase 1 was ever completed I will need to do so but he gave me a 75 mile radius to work with so I can't complain too much. He stated that finding the builder's repairmen certificate was the only reason I could get a replacement. I really dodged a bullet and I'm thankful that I now have a legal Kitfox. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be taking it up on it's second first flight. Sorry for the wall of text, I just needed to vent and hopefully give some information and experience that might help someone in the future. It's a happy ending but could've easily been a big bummer. TL;DR summary,Before you buy, make sure to have physical records of the registration and more importantly the special a/w cert along with the conditions and limitations. Don't assume the FAA registry will have it or that the FSDO can easily issue a replacement. Don't be pressured and rushed into a deal no matter how good it is."

Wings went on tonight without a hitch. You couldn't wipe the grin off my face as the project now feels closer and closer to an airplane. Great advice on mounting the struts beforehand, it helped immensely. 

Thanks guys, I'll definitely put the struts on beforehand, appreciate the help.

It's been a while posting here but I've been making steady process. I'm gearing to hang the wings back on this weekend and have a question. Whats the best way to put them back on? I assume its get the the two spar bolts in and the slide the lift strut back into place. Any tips or words of wisdom would be appreciated.