I Spent 1 Year Flying The Airplane I Built (Was It A Mistake?)

One year ago today, I strapped into a custom Kitfox Series 7 Super Sport that I spent over 1,200 hours building in my garage and took off for the very first flight. People warned me that homebuilt airplanes become hangar queens. They warned me about maintenance headaches, engine trouble, and the fear of taking an experimental aircraft cross-country. 365 days later, here is the raw truth. In this video, I break down what year one of owning and daily-driving a homebuilt bush plane actually looks like. From battling high winds at Boulder Canyon on our first-ever airplane camping trip, flying past the Chicago skyline to land on the yellow dot at Oshkosh AirVenture, to crossing miles of open water to camp on the grass at North Fox Island with friends and family. Plus, we are opening the vault to share never-before-seen footage from spontaneous weekend breakfast runs, giving rides to my mortgage teammate Case, and inspiring the next generation of aviators at local EAA Young Eagles rallies. Did spending 1,200 hours building this plane buy back true freedom, or did I build an expensive headache? Let's check the logbook. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CONNECT WITH ME: ✈️ Subscribe to the Channel:    / @jeremydrobeck   🏡 Mortgage & Financing Inquiries: https://www.1stclassmortgageservice.com Time Stamps 0:00 - Happy Birthday Kitfox: 1 Year & 187 Landings 1:30 - The 1,200-Hour Build vs. 365 Days of Flying 2:37 - Stick & Rudder Training: Short-Field Practice 2:57 - Battling High Winds at Boulder Canyon 3:20 - In-Flight Emergency: Lane Light Warning Scare 3:51 - Flying Past Chicago Skyline to Oshkosh (Yellow Dot) 4:31 - Crossing Open Water: North Fox Island 5:46 - Backseat Flying & Island Banter 6:33 - The Vault: Unseen Adventures 7:10 - Flying Formation with Rob: Abel's First Campout 9:40 - Morning at Chesaning 10:45 - Taking Case South: Indiana Wing Campout 11:53 - Making the Hard PIC Call (Skipping Mackinac) 13:45 - Inspiring Future Pilots: Plainwell Young Eagles 14:04 - Letting a Friend Fly 14:29 - 365 Days Later: Was Building It Worth It?