The Denney Kitfox is a series of small side-by-side, two-seat, high-wing, single engine kit aircraft, designed and originally manufactured by Dan Denney and his company Denney Aerocraft of Boise, Idaho. The aircraft is amateur-built and not type-certified. Over 4500 kits have been delivered in 42 different countries. A derivative of the Avid Flyer, the Kitfox was an early kit plane to feature quickly-folding wings that greatly simplify carriage and storage. The appeal of the aircraft was that it could be built in a two-car garage. Then it would be towed to the airport with the wings folded. The landing gear may be easily converted to floats or skis.
Development and history
First flown in November 1984 from the Denney Aerocraft factory in Boise, the Model 1 Kitfox was a two-seat STOLtaildragger aircraft capable of flying from unimproved strips. The design was originally intended to use a new radial engine then in development and the early Kitfoxes had round cowls with bumps to accommodate the cylinder heads. Although this radial engine did not materialize, and a Rotaxtwo-stroke engine was adapted instead, the "retro" radial cowling proved popular and was retained on many models. In 1984 a total of six Model 1 Kitfoxes were delivered and then the model range was expanded to include the improved Models 2, 3, 4, and Classic 4. In June 1992 Denney Aerocraft sold the rights to the design to SkyStar Aircraft. Skystar started work on a new aircraft, the Kitfox Series 5. This aircraft was designed to be larger, with an increased useful load, cabin and cargo space, and to use certified aircraft engines. The Series 5 was produced as a conventional landing gear-equipped aircraft with the names Outback and Safari and also as a tricycle gear aircraft, the Vixen and Voyager. An employee consortium took over SkyStar Aircraft in January 2000, and this reorganized company launched the Kitfox Series 6. Later in 2000 the company also introduced the Kitfox "Lite Squared", a lightened version of the Kitfox Classic 4, as a two-seat ultralight trainer for the single-seat ultralight Kitfox Lite. In 2002, SkyStar introduced the Kitfox Series 7. This aircraft can cruise at speeds in excess of , with a service ceiling above. The Series 7 design conformed to the then-proposed Federal Aviation AdministrationLight Sport Aircraft category better than did the Lite Squared and it became the company's main model. As the LSA rules were further developed and gross weights increased, it became evident that a special version of the Kitfox Series 7, to be known as the Kitfox Sport, would not be needed and that all three Kitfoxes then in production — the Lite, Classic 4 and Series 7 — would meet the revised LSA category definition. In late 2005 SkyStar Aircraft filed for bankruptcy. In April 2006, the assets of Skystar were purchased by Kitfox Aircraft, a newly formed company owned by John and Debra McBean. John McBean is a former SkyStar employee, having left the company in 2003.
Variants
;Model 1 ;Model 2 ;Model 3 ;Model 4-1050 ;Model 4-1200 ;Model 4 Speedster ;Kitfox XL ;Kitfox Lite ;Kitfox Lite2 ;Series 5 ;Series 5 Speedster ;Series 6 ;Series 7 Series 7 STI A version of the Series 7 with a larger airfoil to increase STOL performance. Series 7 Speedster A version of the Series 7 with shorter wings to increase speed much like the Series 4 Speedster. ;Kitfox SLSA
Derivative designs
Since early 2009, Belite Aircraft, a new company based in Wichita, Kansas has produced the Belite Aircraft Superlite derivative of the Kitfox Lite single-seat ultralight design. Belite extensively redesigned the aircraft to incorporate carbon fiber reinforced polymer wings, struts, spars and ribs, lowering the empty weight to. Belite Aircraft "has acquired the production rights to a previously designed aircraft, the Kitfox Lite" and has "acquired the tooling, existing parts and manufacturing rights to the aircraft in March of 2009. As a condition of the transaction, they agreed to rebrand the airplane to prevent any confusion with the larger, two-place light sport Kitfox". It has a metal airframe and is covered in poly-fiber fabric. In Europe, the Apollo Fox and Aeropro Eurofox are based upon the Kitfox, with their Junkers flaps and folding wings. Both are Rotax-powered, side-by-side two-seaters, and are available either as taildraggers or with tricycle gear. The LAA's chief engineer, Francis Donaldson, tested a Eurofox and declared that "the manufacturer Aeropro has refined and greatly improved a kit plane classic".
