Jon Croke
As the founder of HomebuiltHELP.com, Jon Croke has produced instructional videos for Experimental aircraft builders for over 10 years. He has built (and helped others build) over a dozen kit aircraft of all makes and models. Jon is a private pilot and currently owns and flies a Zenith Cruzer.
Those Rivet Holes
In a prior Plane and Simple article (“Debunking Deburring,” March 2023), we discussed the importance of removing the burrs created by drilling holes in...
One Step Drill and Tap
We use quite a few small machine screws in our homebuilt projects. These small screws might be found, for example, holding the instrument panel...
The Inside Corner on Reducing Stress
It is common practice for builders to cut openings in aluminum aircraft structures. Popular examples include creating inspection or access panels in the wings...
Debunking Deburring
If you are building an aircraft kit that requires drilling holes into metal parts, there is no doubt that the subject of deburring will get mentioned.
Learning To Identify Solid Rivets
Nearly every homebuilt aircraft kit has at least a few solid rivets helping to hold it together. Some kit designs use thousands of these—others,...
Which Fabric Are You Going To Use?
If you are building a fabric-covered aircraft, you have multiple fabrics to choose from: polyester, Dacron, Stits, Ceconite, Poly-Fiber, Superflite or Oratex. Which one...
Taking Your Engine’s Temperature
Your aircraft’s engine requires monitoring of various temperatures for you to know that it will continue to purr along reliably for the entire flight....
Badland Aircraft Speeds Up Production
Badland Aircraft, a manufacturer of Part 103 legal ultralights with folding wings, have been working through an order backlog that has customers waiting months...
Flight Sensor Pack
RADIANT Technology, headed by James Wiebe, has just announced a new pocket-sized artificial horizon instrument. Measuring less than 3” square, this extremely portable unit...
In Case You Missed It
Down to Earth
Amy Laboda finds a way to keep her RV-10s engine cool-until she runs into hot, South Florida summer weather, that is.
Bleeder Coupling
Bleeding hydraulic brakes of trapped air is something everyone who builds or works on...
Vacuum Bagging for Homebuilders
Pleats, punctures and vacuum loss, oh my! Patrick Thomson addresses all of these potential problems and more in the last installment of his series on vacuum bagging at home.