Paul Dye
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.
Error Chain
Forty-amp Catch-22. Accidentally bumping the alternator switch uncovered a circuit-breaker problem.
Sorta' Old School
It turns out that next week I am going to do some flying with an old friend in his old Twin Comanche. No, it's...
Awww Nuts!
The picture sort of speaks for itself, doesn't it? A long-ago completed stabilizer for our Xenos motor glider project, carefully stored in the hangar...
Now THAT's a compressor!
OK shop-hounds, we all like to talk about the size and quality of our air compressors, but I am humbled by what I found...
The After-Race
Reno Racing ends every day about 4:30 or 5:00 pm, but that doesn't mean that everyone (or anyone) goes home! Teams have pop-ups and...
Old Friend – New Look!
Back in 2014, we got a chance to fly "Last Lap Player", a Cassutt 111M owned by Creighton King, owner of the rights to...
Reno Report – Blue Thunder Emergency Landing
Things don't always go the way we want them to in aviation, and at the Reno Races, with metal pushed to the limit, it...
In Case You Missed It
Aero ‘lectrics
If you need a horn to sound when the airspeed drops below a certain level or when the power is cut and the landing gear is still up and locked, an electronic circuitry solution is the lightest, most reliable and most cost-effective way to go.
SkyView to the Rescue
When Stan Peternels Blue Mountain EFIS proved unreliable, he decided to bite the bullet and invest in a Dynon SkyView system. Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook discusses the numerous challenges of the retrofit.
