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Paul Dye

Paul Dye
890 POSTS 25 COMMENTS
Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor at Large, retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 40 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the Space Shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 and SubSonex jet that he built, an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra and an electric Xenos motorglider they completed. Currently, they are building an F1 Rocket. A commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 6000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an A&P, FAA DAR, EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor; he was formerly a member of the Homebuilder’s Council. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country.

The Process

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To the uninitiated, it looks like it’ll be done soon, doesn’t it? But “The Process” still has a long way to go.

Fear Not the Rivet Cutter

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Kits these days are pretty good, as are their instructions. When they tell you to use an AD4-7 rivet in a particular hole, it's...

We Have a Fixture!

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I needed a fixture – and I decided that I’d just “Go Big” ad make it out of steel. This baby isn’t going anywhere!

Crew Coordination, Working the Weather

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Having a reliable and well-trained partner can help to evaluate not only a course of action—but the decision-making process that goes into that plan.

Sling Shot

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Rotax’s 916 enlivens Sling’s four-seaters.

Twelve Volts Anywhere, Anytime

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A handy tool to have in the shop, avoiding a bunch of random long wires that always seem to get in the way.

Buy the Thousand-Pack

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Cheap and colorful ties: there is a place for them in the building process.

Becoming a DAR

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A designee is a private individual with the experience and skills necessary to do the work mandated for the FAA.

Hard-working Brakes

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You wouldn’t think that a little 1,000-lb MGW aircraft would require this much braking.

The Final Steps

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What you need to get your airplane’s experimental airworthiness certificate.

In Case You Missed It

Completions

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Fernando Courreges' SonexMy Sonex took to the air for the first time on...

Kit Stuff

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Field Notes on an Installation

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What you need to consider before installing Garmins new GTN 650/750 series navigators in your homebuilt.

Always Learning

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While I see lots of recurring maintenance problems every day, tough ones that require...