His Rollison Light Sport Aircraft (RLSA) company has been building a fleet of aircraft for sale from European sources. Rollison has represented numerous brands over the years he's been involved in light-sport aviation. First he represented American brands and later European. Recently he's traveled to South America to see what's available. Today, Rollison sells the Remos G-3 Mirage, the Ikarus-Comco C42, and the EuroFox. He's associated with Allistair Wilson who is making his own Astra trikes. Of the fixed-wing models in RLSA's hangar, the EuroFox is the most modestly priced with the C42 next highest and the G-3 as RLSA's top-of-the-line model. More Than Familiar? Many Ultralight Flying! readers will say the EuroFox looks to be a copy of a Kitfox. In fact, says Rob Rollison, this simply isn't true. The EuroFox certainly shares heritage with the Kitfox but is actually a downstream development of the Avid Flyer. In the Slovak Republic, where the four founders of Aeropro live, plans were used to build an Avid. In the passage of time, they saw ways to enhance that design and the EuroFox today shares only the basic shape and planform of the original. Since the Kitfox also emanated from the design work of Avid designer Dean Wilson, the EuroFox is definitely not a Kitfox. If anything, it's more accurate to call this an Avid copy, but even that detracts from the work of Aeropro engineers. "I'd sort of like for Dean Wilson to be given proper credit and respect for being the originator of this very practical and popular aircraft design," Rollison says strongly. "The Kitfox, EuroFox, and other planes are descendants of his Avid Flyer, and I think Wilson and the Avid Flyer deserve the credit for any 'great tradition' that was started (and I do think that's a pretty good way to put it) instead of giving the credit to the Kitfox." Rollison wasn't involved in light-sport aviation when Dean Wilson first introduced the Avid Flyer, so he adds, "I hope I've got the story straight about Wilson and the original design, and the Avid Flyer, and all that. I wasn't at Oshkosh '83 when Wilson introduced his first plane. I wasn't involved in aviation during those first years of this aircraft development, and Dan Denney getting involved in [Avid's] business and then breaking away, but I think the information that I have about the history of all of this is pretty accurate." I was around in those days and Rob has his facts straight, from my perspective. The design clarification is worthwhile and it shows how much aviation, at all levels, shares ideas. I've long thought someone invented the first wing and after that everyone has simply made variations on the theme, improving the technology along the way. As long as the state of the art is advanced, pilots welcome all developments. Today's EuroFox is manufactured by the Aeropro company in Slovakia and exported from the Czech Republic (the countries were once joined as Czechoslovakia). It has been in production since 1990 and, to date, a reported 143 aircraft have been produced. The EuroFox is now available in the U.S. and Canada, and offers superb workmanship with excellent performance at a very good price. As I looked over the EuroFox, I was struck by Aeropro's precision work. Most judges would agree that the Slovaks build a very tidy aircraft. All elements that can be hidden are tucked away and all components look thoughtfully assembled. In all, the EuroFox is a class act that is a credit to the craftsmen who build this reasonably priced aircraft. A glance inside the engine compartment continues to show the close attention to fine detail in the assembly of the EuroFox. For example, a stainless steel exhaust system looks beautifully tailored to the compartment. Without having to unbutton the nose cowl, pilots will see desirable features in EuroFox systems: a U.S.-made vernier throttle offering very precise power settings, flaperons, in-flight trim, and hydraulic brakes with parking feature. The flap lever is a knob forward of the trim lever; both are reachable by either occupant. Most ultralights have no carburetor heat control but Aeropro has created a special air box design that incorporates a carburetor heat system. Since most climates in the country can experience carb ice, this control may be appreciated. The EuroFox's trim was highly effective. In flight, I commented to Allistair that I could probably pitch the aircraft sufficiently for an emergency landing by the use of trim only. He agreed. Well Appointed The EuroFox doors use gas pistons to hold them open and they latch very securely with one, easily accessible door handle. On the exterior that door latch can be key locked for some additional security. The doorframes bow out noticeably at the elbow, giving you the impression of more interior room than the EuroFox actually has. Allistair's a big guy, I'm of average size, and we weren't crowded. The doors are made of a clear polycarbonate and operate gull-wing style with gas-lift struts to help keep the doors open during entry (quite important when using a swing-upwards opening). The EuroFox doors are a quick-removable type, allowing you to fly with the cockpit open. You may not always want to remove the doors, however, and when it gets cool, you can use the standard cabin heater and effective dual fresh-air vents to control cockpit temperature. I found the EuroFox to be reasonably quiet even with my headset removed. Allistair took his off, too, and we agreed we could talk quite easily. From my earliest training in a Champion Citabria and numerous Cessna 150s, I'm one who prefers high-wing airplanes, but they do block your visibility in turns. However, the EuroFox uses a large skylight area not only above the occupants, but also somewhat to the aft. When you turn opposite the side on which you're seated, you can get a great view of the turn ahead. Four-point pilot restraints help you stay in the comfortably upholstered seats. Allistair and I spent less than an hour aloft, so I didn't get a chance to see how the seats would feel on a longer flight - the EuroFox has a range of more than 400 miles - but the cushions and back rest are certainly comfortable for shorter flights. "I have flown the EuroFox back and forth to Florida for Sun 'n Fun with the flight each way being a little more than 8 hours, and I have found the EuroFox to have the most comfortable seats of any plane I have ever owned," Rollison says. Behind those beautiful seats is a luggage area, also nicely upholstered. However, this space only accommodates 22 pounds, which is a bit slight for any longer travel you may envision. However, this may be European ultralight regulation limitation (as they must contain gross weight to 992 pounds). Rollison feels the space is capable of holding more than 22 pounds of gear and that his weight-and-balance calculations after loading more baggage into the space were acceptable. On either side of the baggage area are shoulders that cover some mechanisms. In these shoulders on some airplanes Aeropro has mounted headset plug-in receptacles; the location is good in that it is easily seen and relatively convenient to reach but also located where you won't kick them inadvertently while entering the cockpit. Rollison's aircraft was not so configured but I'd want to order mine this way. Quick On the Ground Or In the Air The EuroFox has easily manipulated, quickly understood toe brakes. You rest your foot on the main rudder pedal arm and tilt your toes to another tube that activates hydraulic brakes. Despite their ease of use, we hardly needed them. At first glance the EuroFox's nosewheel appears to be the castoring type that requires braking to steer the aircraft, but this is incorrect. It's merely the far forward mounting of the nosewheel strut, which gives it a trailing link appearance common to castoring systems. However, the nosewheel is fully steerable and has a heavy-duty suspension. Dual flexible pushrods route to the rudder pedals in typically neat assembly on the plane's underside. Wheel pants are standard on all three wheels. Mounted neatly under the prop and above a small air inlet are dual landing lights, which can be used along with strobe lights to alert others in the pattern to your presence. Coming in for landing at AirVenture's ultralight strip, I had the runway to myself, which turned out to be a good thing, because I didn't slow down enough to get the EuroFox down properly. As we ate up the strip's length, I told Allistair I thought I should go around and try again. He quickly agreed. The problem isn't the EuroFox, though she does have a good glide. Rather, my approach to AirVenture's ultralight strip required that I make a dogleg turn to final. Since I also approached over a few trees and a roadway, I'd stayed too high and flown too fast. After that one trial I had quite a good landing and we never even used the adequately powerful brakes. However, this tale reveals the 14:1 glide Aeropro claims for the EuroFox and when you need more reach, it's certainly nice to have it. I prefer a full-stall landing and in trying to assure a good landing on the second try, I held the nose quite high. A tailskid protects the rudder from damage on such full-stall landings that are easy to do in this trigear aircraft. Keeping the ball centered perfectly requires time in the machine.But I found it much easier than the Kitfox IV I last flew. This design series, starting with the Avid, is known for having light-touch, fast-response handling. Some beginners may find it too quick, but Aeropro has done a credible job of taking out the twitch found in the earliest Avids and Kitfoxes. Allistair said the factory has worked long and hard to place the full-flying ailerons in precisely the right location to make them as effective as possible while maintaining the light handling for which this design shape is known. I'd say they did their job well and this speaks highly of the engineering and test-flying capabilities of the Slovak manufacturer. Small tubes at the outboard section of the ailerons are mass balances to assure no flutter will start. Like all fittings on the EuroFox they were cleanly integrated. Always a Performer Besides the handling for which Avids and Kitfoxes are known, performance is a strong suit of this design shape. While Aeropro made changes over the years, my guess is they left the airfoil shape as they found it on those early plans. A strong EuroFox attribute is the factory-stated glide ratio of 14:1 at 60 mph. For comparison a Cessna 150 can achieve about 10:1 and even this figure is higher than lots of ultralight designs. The Slovak version can cruise at 110 mph where the Rotax 912 engine is running at 75% power. If you select the Rotax 912S engine, you can expect to see this cruise speed at 60% power, says Rollison. Never exceed speed is set at 128 mph, a few digits below what is allowed under FAA's new Light-Sport Aircraft rule (138 mph permitted). Climb rate with the 100-hp Rotax 912S engine is 980 fpm, and it's my bet that the 81-horse Rotax 912 would perform reasonably close to this. All that power makes takeoff roll, even at gross weight, a mere 160 feet. Many lighter ultralights can do no better. An empty EuroFox is hardly a lightweight at 636 pounds. This may be competitive among all Light-Sport Aircraft candidates, but it's quite a bit higher than standard among American ultralights. The company still lists maximum gross weight at 1,232 pounds, the figure originally chosen for LSAs (now at 1,320 pounds), but I'd expect that the weight might increase as aircraft in this family of designs have used higher gross weight limits for years. Given the EuroFox's fuel capacity of 14.8 gallons and a burn rate of about 4 gph, the design can range 435 miles from home. Measured in time, the EuroFox lists 5 hours of endurance. Our test plane used a shapely prop from Fiti Designs that no doubt plays a role in keeping the noise output within Europe's tight noise standards. Other props have also been used by Aeropro so discuss your desires with Rollison. My stalls in the EuroFox were all quite benign. In power-off and power-on stalls, plus accelerated stalls, I noted no tendency to fall on a wing and nose break-through was relatively unexciting. Though handling may require more attention from beginners, the EuroFox seems well suited to newer pilots in its stall behavior. Stall speed appeared to be 40 mph with flaps down. I did not check clean stall speeds but suspect the design will have no challenges staying within the new requirement of 45 knots or 52 mph. Fox Hunt No replication of an Avid or Kitfox would be complete unless the wings folded. The EuroFox didn't miss the importance of this popular feature and its wings swing back flat and easy, just like the two American designs. According to Rollison, one man can do the wing-fold operation in less than 10 minutes, though this may not include properly securing the wings for flight or trailer transport. The EuroFox with wings folded measures 7 feet, 10 inches wide by 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and 18 feet, 10 inches long, therefore trailer transport is a clear possibility. You may be able to store the bird in a garage stall. As with many other Light-Sport Aircraft candidates from overseas, the EuroFox is factory-built and test-flown, and delivered completely checked out and ready to fly. This means that when you are comparing prices to some of our American brands, you need to remember that most American companies sell kits and they often price them without all essential equipment, for example, the engine. At approximately $48,500 with the 80-hp Rotax 912, the EuroFox actually represents a reasonable value, however,these prices are figured based on its price in euros (39,950) and currency fluctuations may change the price in dollars. You'll want to call Rollison Light Sport Aircraft for the latest details and pricing. The above price includes U.S. delivery (FOB Indiana). The EuroFox is also priced to include complete flight and engine instrumentation including: airspeed indicator, 0-20,000 feet precision altimeter, vertical speed indicator, compass, slip indicator, and FlyDat digital engine monitoring system, which provides for engine rpm, oil temperature, oil pressure, water temperature, an hourmeter, and four EGTs - one for each exhaust pipe exiting the four cylinders. Our test plane had a few options in which you might be interested. One was the striking paint job that colored the underside a deep blue with the white upper. A similar two-color paint job will add about $375 (though all prices start in euros and, given currency fluctuation on a daily basis, you'll want to check with Rollison Light Sport Aircraft before calculating the total price of your new EuroFox). The dual toe brake setup is worthy if you fly with another pilot or want to do instruction in the EuroFox. For them you need to add about $150. If you want the larger 100-hp Rotax 912S - not that you need the extra power - you must add about $2,500 at the same euro/dollar conversion. A U.S.-made Whelen strobe light system will cost $850 but the dual landing lights in the nose are now standard and they'll help tell other pilots of your arrival in the traffic pattern. You may also wish to add a parachute system, however, the price of the Light-Sport Aircraft system needs to be checked with Rollison before deciding on this equipment. Given the EuroFox's very tidy assembly work and a knowledgeable American importer, you can hardly go wrong with a EuroFox purchase.