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Paul Dye

Paul Dye
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Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor at Large, retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 50 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.

What Do I Call It?

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According to all of the Facebook reminders popping up on my feed, its been almost exactly two years since I did the first flight...

Turned On—We Fly an Electric Xenos!

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The electric Xenos is a bonafide motorglider. Paul Dye previews the aircraft.

There Are Always Alternatives

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My recent Kneeboard Note on drilling bolts to create lighter weights for prop balancing generated a fair number of responses - all the way...

The Future of Homebuilding: Builders

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If we could magically transport a modern homebuilder back to the 1960s, they would probably be amazed at just how far we have come....

Final Steps to Flight

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Part 4: Overhauling Your Own Lycoming

Hollow Bolts for Propeller Balancing

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Lighten the steel bolts for dynamic propeller balancing.

Building Trust—Reliability vs. Redundancy

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It is hard to fly without a little trust. Call it faith if you will, but we fundamentally can’t leave the ground without some...
Hartzell 3-blade Explorer propeller

Another Week, Another Prop

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This week, we’re flying the new “Explorer” three-blade composite prop from Hartzell on our RV-8.

The Art of Assembly

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The day will come when all of your engine’s parts come home from their exciting trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Remember that, in the last...

Cracked!

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Take a deep breath–it can be fixed.

In Case You Missed It

Design Process: Planform Shape

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Last month we took a look at the effects of span and aspect ratio....

Mike and Laura Starkey’s RANS S-21: Part 15

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Prepping for paint.

Archive: June 2013

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Sonex’s blazing yellow Onex was on our cover this month—proclaiming “half the seats, twice...

Checklists: Live By Them

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There isn’t a pilot alive who doesn’t know what a checklist is. There are, however, pilots no longer with us who failed to use one.