Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Two-seat light homebuilt sport monoplane

Power Plant:

One 48 kw (64 hp) Rotax 582 two-cylinder two-stroke liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

Denney Aircraft Company was formed in 1985 in Boise, Idaho, to build a two-seat ultralight aircraft which received the name Kitfox, being available in kit form,  21 kits were delivered to constructors during the first year. Since then the type has been very popular, with kits being sold all around the world, quite a few being completed or in the process of construction in Australia and New Zealand, a few being registered, but most flying under AUF / RAA Regulations.

Initial powerplant installed was the 39 kw (52 hp) Rotax 532; however, in later times the very successful Rotax 912 was usually fitted. By 1994 the type had become so popular a number of variants had been made available, including the Kitfox IV, Series 5, Kitfox Speedster, and Kitfox Vixen, with a variety of engines available, these including the 39 kw (52 hp) Rotax 503, 48 kw (64 hp) Rotax 532, 48 kw (65 hp) Rotax 582, and the 60 kw (80 hp) Rotax 912. In Canada one was fitted with a 67 kw (90 hp) Canadian Airmotive turbo 90 three-cylinder engine.

Over 3,500 examples of the series have been sold, and more than 2,000 are flying. In more recent years kits have been constructed and supplied by SkyStar Aircraft Corporation in Idaho. One of the latest models was the Kitfox Outback, designed for demanding back-country and off-field operations, which, in the tricycle gear variant, was known as the Voyager. This model had the 93 kw (125 hp) Continental IO-240B engine and was produced to meet demand for a larger variant of the Kitfox capable of using larger certified engines, such as the Lycoming and Continental series.

This new series of ultralights became initially known as the Series 5, and a variant with a tailwheel became known as the Safari, later renamed the Outback; whilst the tricycle undercarriage variant became known as the Vixen, later the name being changed to Voyager. Another variant was the Kitfox Lite, with a 26 kw (35 hp) two-cylinder engine, which was an easy to assemble single-seat model. Construction was of welded 4130 chrome-moly steel fuselage with fabric covering.

With the greater interest in recent years in homebuilt aircraft which could be registered under Recreational Aircraft Regulations, under General Aviation standards, and under the Experimental Category, more variations on the theme were made available, as were suitable engines, and the latter included the 2200 four and 3300 six-cylinder units from Jabiru, and the Subaru EA 81 EFI turbocharged unit.

Variants built in the United Kingdom have been known as the Skystar Kitfox VII, an example being imported to Wanaka, New Zealand where it became ZK-ROX (c/n PFA 172D-14024).

In 1992 Dan Denney sold his interest in the kit manufacturing business to SkyStar Aircraft Corporation which produced the Series 5 and Series 6, which was later developed to the Series 7.

In 2005 the company filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. The assets of SkyStar were obtained by John and Debra McBean in 2006. Construction of kits re-commenced and new maximum gross weight regulations allowed the Series 7 Super Sport to fit into the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) regulations. The Series 7 became known as “the Flying Jeep with wings “and an example completed at Mt Beauty, VIC became VH-RMQ (c/n KA13181266) on 15 December 2015. This model shared no primary structure with the previous kits and could be fitted with the Rotax 914, Continental, Lycoming or Rotec seven-cylinder radial engine.