Dan Checkoway

Columnist Dan Checkoway appreciates the flexibility of owning a homebuilt rather than a certified aircraft. On a recent condition inspection of his RV-7, he detected small cracks in the front spar of the horizontal stabilizer. A week later he was working on replacing it, without any intervention from the FAA.

Sometimes its surprising to see homebuilt aircraft kits languishing in garages or hangars or workshops. Especially the quickbuilds, which raises the question of whether there's something about buying a QB kit that leads to procrastination. Columnist Dan Checkoway ponders the question, looking to his own experience for an answer.

Columnist and RV builder Dan Checkoway advocates keeping it simple so that you can actually afford to fuel and fly your homebuilt aircraft. He claims many builders buy into the hype about the latest and greatest equipment must-haves, and then complain about the price at the pump.

How to meld with metal and bash rivets without blood or tears; by Dan Checkoway.

An RV builder begins our journey through the gritty details of working with metal.