The EuroFox Offers Affordable Quality

A proven design done to perfection

While the EuroFox shares ancestry with
the Avid Flyer and Kitfox designs, its
Eastern European designers have added
a number of refinements, while still offering
a reasonably priced ready-to-fly LSA.

Standard instrumentation includes an airspeed indicator, tachometer, and compass
as well as a Rotax FlyDat digital engine monitoring system, which provides engine
rpm, oil temperature, oil pressure, water temperature, and four EGT readouts, plus
an hour meter.

This view from the
tail of the EuroFox
shows the clear
overhead canopy
and the windows
over the baggage
area, which provide
entry into that area
and add to the
visibility from the
aircraft.

With the throttle and flap handle both
mounted in the center offering access to
both pilots, the EuroFox is a good candidate
for flight training.

Gull-wing doors offer more elbow room
in the Eurofox’s 44-inch wide cockpit,
and they’re removable for open-air flying.
The doors are equipped with gas
pistons to hold them open when lifted to
the full open position, a nice feature for
entering and exiting the aircraft and/or
putting baggage into compartment behind
the seats.

EuroFox has a proven wing-folding system that allows owners to trailer they aircraft home, avoiding expensive hangar fees.

Repatriate means “to restore or return to the country of origin.” That’s exactly what’s happening with the Aeropro EuroFox, an Eastern European-built light-sport aircraft (LSA) based on American design work. It’s coming to this country as a ready-to-fly LSA through importer Rollison Light Sport Aircraft (RLSA).
Just as a car made in Detroit may incorporate a considerable number of parts that were manufactured overseas, LSA can be a combination of United States- and foreign-built parts as well. That’s not unusual in the aviation world. Consider that a new Boeing airplane is likely to have many parts manufactured in other countries. When Boeing competes against Airbus, it may be important to give some work to a country that may buy billions of dollars of airliners. Therefore, even a Boeing aircraft is not 100 percent made in America.
In the LSA world, aircraft manufactured in foreign countries may be delivered to the United States without instruments or other accessory equipment, or that equipment may have been built in the United States and shipped overseas for installation in the aircraft. LSA, like many products, are participants in the global economy.

What Do You See?

When they first see the EuroFox, many American pilots will say it’s a copy of a Kitfox. That isn’t accurate- it’s actually a descendant of the Avid Flyer, with some European influences added by its Slovakian manufacturer, Aeropro. Longtime importer Rob Rollison explained that Aeropro bought Avid Flyer plans from a Canadian company and built an Avid. Given their background in aviation, the Aeropro owners saw ways to enhance the Avid design. Today, the EuroFox shares only the basic shape and planform of the original design. “However, I think Dean Wilson deserves the credit for the great tradition that was started,” said Rob.
Considering the differences between the still-available Kitfox and the EuroFox, they should be able to coexist peacefully. To begin with, SkyStar has not announced whether it will fully build any Kitfox model as a special LSA (S-LSA). The Idaho company can easily supply LSA kits; it’s as prepared as anyone right now, yet few American companies have committed to deliver ready-to-fly airplanes. From a production and financial standpoint, that’s a big step that must be carefully considered.
Meanwhile, Aeropro and Rollison Light Sport Aircraft are ready to sell fully built aircraft as soon as the FAA accepts the remaining consensus standards that must be completed before S-LSA can be sold. (See “Consensus Standards” in Hotline.)
RLSA has been developing a fleet of potential S-LSA from European and South American sources. Rob has represented numerous brands over the years, first American designs and more recently international ones. Today he imports the German Remos G-3, the Slovakian Aeropro EuroFox, and the Colombian Ibis GS240. Of these, the one that looks the most familiar to American pilots is the EuroFox.

How the Supplier Sees It
You and I look at a plane and see it from our perspective. The importer, however, does a closer evaluation to determine if the aircraft will meet the broader spectrum of customers that it’s hoping to satisfy. Rob performs a thoughtful, detailed inspection of any aircraft he plans to represent, and he offers this summary of the EuroFox.
“The EuroFox is a two-seat, side-byside, high-wing, tricycle-gear aircraft that features the same quick-folding wings familiar to Avid or Kitfox buyers. It takes one person only eight minutes to complete the job. The aircraft is factory-built and test-flown and delivered completely checked out and ready to fly.
“A welded 4130 chromoly steel tube fuselage is mated to aluminum wings. The fuselage and wings are covered with Poly-Fiber fabric for long durability. A heavy-duty, five-point firewall engine mount braces your choice of the standard 80-hp Rotax 912 or the 100-hp 912S coupled to a three-blade composite prop with spinner.

“The steerable nosewheel works with hydraulic disk toe brakes to give good ground maneuverability. A parking brake helps secure the EuroFox while stationary on a ramp.
“Inside the cabin, you’ll find comfortable seats with durable upholstery and four-point seat/shoulder belts plus a large luggage compartment. A cabin heater extends the flying season, while dual fresh air vents cool you off in the summertime. Clear polycarbonate gull-wing doors with gas pistons ease entry and exit, but you can also quickly remove the doors for those lovely warm flying days. Aeropro completes the interior with large skylights, door locks, and a carpeted cockpit. For dusk operations, the company even includes dual landing lights.
“Controls include a vernier throttle, elevator trim, flaps, and a large instrument panel with flight and engine instrumentation including airspeed indicator, 20,000-foot precision altimeter, vertical speed indicator, compass, and slip indicator. A Rotax FlyDat digital engine monitoring system provides engine rpm, oil temperature, oil pressure, water temperature, four EGT readouts, plus an hour meter.”
Time to Fly the ‘Fox

Everyone will like the EuroFox gullwing doors with their gas pistons. The doors prop open easily, which is very accommodating, especially while loading gear into the airplane. The doors latch securely with a single, easily accessible door handle, and the doorframes bow out noticeably at the elbow, giving the feeling of more interior room.
The EuroFox’s cockpit measures a shade more than 44 inches wide, a significant improvement over a Cessna 150’s 39-inch width. In flight with Rollison’s associate, Allistair Wilson, I found the cockpit roomy and reasonably quiet even without headsets. It is not as quiet as the Remos G-3 that RLSA also sells, but the EuroFox’s price tag is so much lower that you can afford the best headsets in the business.
The EuroFox has effective toe brakes. You rest your foot on the main rudder arm and tilt your toes to another tube that activates hydraulic brakes. For maneuvering during taxiing, the steering has a generous range of motion such that I hardly used the differential braking. I was on turf, however; the toe brakes might be more valuable on paved ramps.
As with most LSA that use the Rotax 912 series engine, takeoff was rapid. RLSA lists 160 feet as the takeoff distance at gross weight. Landing takes a bit more at 225 feet, but both are so short that short/soft field operations are easily handled.

When I first flew the EuroFox at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh from the ultralight/lightplane strip, I didn’t slow down enough to set the EuroFox down comfortably. As we ate up the strip’s length, I told Allistair I thought I should go around. Traffic was light on the normally busy strip, so Allistair quickly agreed. The problem isn’t the EuroFox; the design has a respectable 14-to-1 glide at 60 mph. But the southeast runway in the Ultralight area requires that you make a dogleg turn to final. Because you also approach over a few trees and a roadway, I’d stayed too high and flown too fast. After that first attempt, I had quite a good landing, and we never had to use the powerful brakes.
When you slow it down, using flaps and a good approach speed, the EuroFox can deliver a short landing. The best touchdowns come from fullstall landings where the nose is rather high. A tailskid protects the rudder from damage on such steep deck-angle landings, which are easy to do in this tri-gear aircraft.
Dean Wilson’s Avid design, which led to the Kitfox and derivatives like the EuroFox, all exhibit lively handing that some feel is “too light.” Keeping the ball centered perfectly requires time in the EuroFox, but it is noticeably easier than the Kitfox IV I last flew. Light handling is something to which most pilots will easily adapt. And it will train new pilots well, I believe. But some ultralight pilots who are accustomed to more relaxed controls could be initially surprised by the EuroFox’s quick response and rapid roll rate.
Though the EuroFox will zip along at good speeds-a 110-mph cruise is easily achieved-aileron flutter should never be a concern. Small weighted tubes at the outboard section of each aileron sport mass balances to keep ailerons in line. Like all component parts of the EuroFox, they were cleanly integrated. 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 is known.

I also found trim to be highly effective. As Allistair and I flew around, I noted that you could probably pitch the aircraft for an emergency landing by the use of trim only.
Like many pilots who did some training in Cessnas, I prefer high-wing airplanes. But they do block your visibility in turns. Fortunately, the EuroFox’s large skylight provides great upward visibility and even some aft. All turns made toward the opposite side on which you’re seated will produce an enlarged view of the area ahead.
All the stalls I performed in the EuroFox were mild, a great situation when this aircraft is used for flight training. Through power-off and power-on stalls plus accelerated stalls, I noted no tendency to fall on a wing and nose fall-through was muted. Except for the snappy handling that will take a few hours of acclimatization, the EuroFox seems well suited to newer pilots.

Like the original Avid Flyer and those similar designs that followed, a primary sales feature is the easily folded wings. The EuroFox designers didn’t overlook this popular attribute. Its wings swing back flat just like the older designs. When properly stowed, the EuroFox measures less than 8 feet wide, less than 6 feet tall, and just a shade more than 20 feet in length.
The ‘Fox and the Euro
Over the years, customers have asked Rollison Light Sport Aircraft if a kit was available. The question is reasonable given the great kit-selling success of both the Kitfox and Avid Flyer. Rob and the Aeropro owners discussed this and recently made a decision not to offer a kit. “The pricing isn’t that much better, and most folks are interested in factorybuilt, ready-to-fly airplanes,” said Rob. He added that one-third of his inquiries ask about kits, but the greater pool of potential customers prefers airplanes they don’t have to build. For those who want this design shape in a kit project, SkyStar has great experience working with such craftsmen.
As you compare prices of machines like the EuroFox to domestically produced airplanes, it can be challenging to compare apples with apples. The EuroFox is well equipped with an 80-hp Rotax 912 (worth about $12,000 by itself) plus a full range of instruments including ASI, sensitive altimeter, VSI, compass, slip indicator, and a digital engine monitoring instrument that can show engine rpm, oil temperature, water temperature, engine hours, and exhaust gas temperature. While you’re comparing aircraft, don’t forget the value of the interior finishing, especially when Aeropro’s workers do it so neatly.

RLSA prices the factory-built EuroFox with the standard equipment described in this article plus engine and flight instrumentation for 39,950 euros, which includes delivery to their home base in Indiana. The dollar/euro exchange rate varies daily, so you’ll want to check with Rob for the equivalent value in greenbacks before you order. Based on the current 1.28 rate, the base EuroFox sells for just more than $51,000.
If you want to spend a bit more to personalize your EuroFox, a few options might catch your attention. The twocolor paint job as seen on RLSA’s demonstrator adds $375, and dual toe brakes at each seat add $150. If you want the 100-hp Rotax 912S-which I don’t believe many pilots would need-you should add $2,500.
Of course, for any option installed overseas, you’ll need to check with Rob, as the euro/dollar exchange rate remains volatile. One all-American item RLSA can supply is an emergency whole-airframe parachute system for LSAs that will run just more than $4,000.
RLSA has a sister business called AirplaneGear.com that offers other goodies you might find it hard to do without. Through this related enterprise, Rob can provide headsets, GPS units, flight suits, strobe and position lights, radios, helmets (some with builtin headsets) avionics, and other items. No matter how you evaluate it, a price of about $50,000 for a readyto- fly LSA is a relative bargain. Some American suppliers have announced slightly lower prices for made-in-the- U.S.A. products, but few companies have more to offer than Aeropro’s beautiful iteration of Dean Wilson’s 1980s creation. Given the ease of repair-steel tubing covered by dope-and-fabric is common to American repair shops- the EuroFox is highly competitive.