Something to Do
Upon his retirement, Jim Shy embarked on a lifelong dream of building his own airplane. But before he even decided on a design, he bought a place to keep it: his own airport.
Buzzwords: Maneuvering Speed
Ed Kolano unravels some of the misconceptions of the oft-misunderstood term, “maneuvering speed,” and explains the implications for pilots of homebuilt aircraft.
Maintenance Matters
In Part 2 of his discussion, Steve Ells delves into more detail about patching, repairing or replacing aircraft aluminum.
Build It Better: When 1+1 Does Not Equal 2
Paul Dye explains how to achieve unlike (or dissimilar) redundancy on the various systems in your homebuilt.
Gross Weights and “Destroyed” Airplanes
Where you you find the gross weight of an aircraft? And can you re-register an airplane that the FAA has deemed "destroyed?"
Building as a Group
The Independence Five is an Oregon-based group building a bevy of DH.2s. Dean Sigler explores their approach to building and reports on how the project is progressing.
Headlong For Headers
Tom Wilson, an avowed hot rodder, details his foray into the world of custom exhausts and the performance gains found on his Lycoming IO-540.
Firewall Forward: Choosing Your Engine
Many factors go into choosing the right engine for your homebuilt. In Part 1 of this new series, Dave Prizio provides an overview of the options available in Lycoming and Lycoming-type engines, and what you need to consider when making a decision.
Free Flight
Perfection is unattainable for most builders, yet it is what many strive for. Paul Dye posits that sometimes “good enough” may be just what you need to finally get out of the shop and into flying.
In Case You Missed It
All About Avionics
A clear definition of the mission along with a realistic assessment of the type of flying you'll do are key to successfully completing an avionics retrofit. By Stein Bruch.
Ask the DAR
Avionics certification, ops lims for self-designed aircraft, house paint on Experimentals.