Aerostar Wing Spar

[brcase]

Was the Kitfox the Chartreuse/Maroon "Speedster"? I saw that act at Oshkosh the first time I attended and was extremely impressed. Great flying, close to show center the entire time, and very quiet, which I prefer to the roar of transonic props from the unlimited aerobatic acts.

yep, that is the one. I was watching him practice for the Oshkosh Show at a little private strip near the factory in Idaho. I was actually working at the Kitfox factory at the time. Dan said you may not like the color (of that airplane) but you will notice it.

Brian

 

[tspear]

Lucky! I would love to own one some day. How come you sold?

The jet looked very promising, it wasn't just vaporware, they had a flying example out that got a decent amount of press...

Oh, the jet was built and flies.

I sold the A* for three basic reasons.
1. Mission changed. I no longer had the requirements from a schedule perspective to have "all weather capability", did not need to get over bumps anymore, was not flying as far.
2. two kids in college. I could not feed the plane and them. Still sold it at a big loss, but needed to be done.
3. I made the mistake of calculating the hourly and per mile costs. Then every time I took the plane up, I was thinking about the costs. At some point I knew this would cause me to make a dumb decision. So I knew I had to sell the plane before I did something stupid.

Do not get wrong, I love the plane. I was awesome to fly, it was really cool. It could carry incredible amounts of stuff really fast. I could often beat older KA-90s... I would cruise at 230 KTAS without trying, and could hit 250KTAS if I pushed. It was just awesome. But at the end of the day, did not make sense to keep it.

Tim

 

[Tantalum]

I made the mistake of calculating the hourly and per mile costs.

haha, that'll do it! I went through my logbook recently when I loaded it up into Foreflight and that forced me to really comprehend all the money I'd spent on rentals, instruction, etc... and renting Archers is a fraction of the cost of any twin ownership

Bet it made for some great memories though, they are badass machines

 

[denverpilot]

However it is attached, I'd say Ted Smith designed it in a structurally sound manner. Jimmy Franklin used to put one (Zar) through its paces on the air show circuit. Seen it in person myself.

OMG, I had forgotten about Franklin's "Zar" routine in the Aerostar!

I saw it in person, and holy hell it was cool. For those asking if the video is sped up, no. He hauled in that routine. I remember it sounding and feeling quite different than most other routines of its day.

Man, I remember watching that right down to the cheesy music.

Thanks for linking that. And of course, RIP to both Jimmy and Amanda... And Younkin... :-(

 

[denverpilot]

P.S. Anyone else notice the Eagles Aerobatic Team aircraft parked on the flight line in that video, too?

Man, the late 80s / early 90s was a good time for airshows... well other than the whole dying thing...

Soucy and Hoover survived. Soucy *still* puts on a great show.

And Hiliard's Sea Fury was wrecked again here locally. And is being rebuilt again. I haven't heard any updates on it but JT has been flying the P-51 and I think his kid is also flying it a bit now.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hillard#Eagles_Aerobatic_Team

 

[Velocity173]

P.S. Anyone else notice the Eagles Aerobatic Team aircraft parked on the flight line in that video, too?

Man, the late 80s / early 90s was a good time for airshows... well other than the whole dying thing...

Soucy and Hoover survived. Soucy *still* puts on a great show.

And Hiliard's Sea Fury was wrecked again here locally. And is being rebuilt again. I haven't heard any updates on it but JT has been flying the P-51 and I think his kid is also flying it a bit now.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hillard#Eagles_Aerobatic_Team

Yeah, seen the Eagles perform in Daytona. Think it was one of their last shows. The 80s and 90s were great for shows. Ramps full of military statics. Performers like the Holiday Inn Team, Northern Lights, Coors Light Silver Bullet.