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.
Back Country!
Ahhhh... this is what utility planes are for! They're not about getting halfway across the country in a day, not about aerobatics, and not...
A Secure Feeling
I like harnesses - especially ones that make me feel secure. Our Tundra came with standard lap and shoulder belts that used the age-old...
Yup, its an Oshkosh Plane
How can you tell this plane has been to Oshkosh (or, to be fair, maybe Sun 'n Fun)? By looking in the passenger side...
Simple Days
Whenever I get a chance to wander through the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, as I did last week, I like to stop and pay tribute to the older, early planes that represent the roots of homebuilding. Sure, there are all sorts of neat high performance and record setting airplanes - but these simple planes that harken back to an earlier era are what got this whole "experimental aviation" thing going for us.
Extreme Fun
To some, extreme sports are jumping off mountains with a wing suit, snowboarding off cliffs, or mountain biking on a razor's edge ridge in...
Care and Feeding
One thing about having multiple airplanes around - it takes a considerable amount of time to keep them all happy and healthy. (Hint -...
Drilling a Straight Hole in Aluminum.
One of the fundamental skills a builder needs to develop on just about any airplane project is drilling a clean, straight, well-centered hole in...
Shop Memories
It doesn't take long for a brand new shop to generate its own memories: holes drilled in a once-pristine worktable, aluminum shavings collecting in...
In Case You Missed It
Stressing Structure Series Reference Library
The engineering publications referenced in the KITPLANES series "Stressing Structures" by David Paule.
Makin’ PC Boards
Looking back at projects in prior issues of KITPLANES®, I realize I’ve given you...
