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.
A Bright Shiny Morning
AirVenture 2017 is still officially a little less than 24 hours away, but you can't tell that if you look at the smiles and...
New Digs!
Pilots headed to camp with their homebuilts at AirVenture this year will find something new--a recently finished (they were putting metal on it yesterday)...
Becoming AirVenture
I flew in to Wittman Field on Thursday afternoon, talked to the tower, got a clearance to land... it was just a normal day...
Three Miles in Smoke and Haze
The top of that mountain is just about three miles from the front of my hangar--and this iPhone picture is making the visibility look better than it appears to the naked eye. Such is how we'll start out our Oshkosh trip if the smoke persists until morning.
Ninety Knots to Oshkosh
Practice, practice, practice - it's what we all tell folks to do before they head to the Fiske Arrival and the great Airventure experience! Flying in to the "the show" is a bucket list item for most pilots, and it requires you to be sharp - but is flying at 90 knots enough?
Kitplanes Flies the New RV-12iS!
Kitplanes was there for the first flight of the new RV-12iS in early July, and we were given a chance to evaluate the kit and aircraft improvements with a flight soon after. The new RV-12iS showcases its new engine - and many more detailed refinements that make this a capable, comfortable airplane.
Van's New Secret Project
I recently got a call from Van's Aircraft saying they had something I really needed to see--so I saddled up my favorite cross-country machine...
Priming (with) the Pump!
There is a never ending debate, with good arguments on both sides, about priming the simple four-cylinder, carbureted Lycoming engine before starting. For as...
In Case You Missed It
Chasing the Elusive Thread
Chasing a thread (B) on the lathe involves engaging the feed system to...
Metal Magic: Making Square Instrument Holes In Aluminum
You've built most of your airplane, now it's time for cutting the instrument panel...
Record Breaker
Setting the round-trip USA aviation speed record in an RV-6A. By Jeremiah D. Jackson.