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Event Prep

Steve Ashby -
Homebuilt camaraderie and local cuisine kick off another unforgettable Sun ’n Fun.

Homebuilt Tecnam Arrives Early at Sun ’n Fun

Steve Ashby -
A rare homebuilt Tecnam P96G-100 arrives early at Sun ’n Fun, highlighting its legacy.

Summit Day

Steve Ashby -
First day of Sun ’n Fun camping feels like reaching the summit—minus the oxygen, plus the buffet.

Early Arrivals at Sun ‘n Fun

Steve Ashby -
Homebuilts are already arriving at Sun ’n Fun, including Len Leggette’s Van’s RV-8A after an adventurous flight from South Carolina.

Sun ‘n Fun Camping Preflight

Steve Ashby -
Camping, walking, dreaming—one pilot’s spring ritual for Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Florida.

Van’s Aircraft 2025 First Quarter Update

Kitplanes -
Gaining momentum by enhancing operations, supporting the RV community, and making significant progress on the RV-15.

Video Series

Magazine

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Exploring

A Good Decision

Paul Dye -
1
Exploring

Evolved Composites

Jeffrey Bedrosian -
0
Builder Spotlight

The Baby Lakes is Small-Scale Fun

Jonathan & Julia Apfelbaum -
0
Exploring

One Thing Leads to Another

Marc Cook -
0
Shop Talk

Fixing Axle Fooly

Bob Hadley -
0
Builder Spotlight

Building the 750SD XTREME: Part 15

Jon Humberd -
0
Exploring

Van’s RV-9: New Rotax Power

Larry Anglisano -
3
Kit Bits

Artificial Stupidity

Lisa Turner -
0
Exploring

Where Do Airplane Parts Come From?

Kerry Fores -
0
Exploring

Dawn Patrol’s Last Hurrah

Dick Starks -
7
Buyer's Guides

2025 Propeller Buyer’s Guide

LeRoy Cook -
0
Builder Spotlight

Something to Crow About

Paul Dye -
0
Designer's Notebook

Build, Test, Refine and Fix—Part 2: Taxi Testing

Barnaby Wainfan -
1
Exploring

Building an Addiction

Tom Wilson -
0
Flight Reports

ScaleBirds P-36 Hawk

Paul Dye -
1

Flight Reviews

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ScaleBirds P-36 Hawk

Paul Dye -
ScaleBirds, a newcomer to the kit manufacturing scene, chose to start their line of replica fighters with one of the first all-metal U.S. military pursuit ships of WW-II—the P-36.

Kitfox Speedster 916

Marc Cook -
The feistiest Kitfox gets feistier yet.

Sling Shot

Paul Dye -
Rotax’s 916 enlivens Sling’s four-seaters.

Nothing Small About It

Tom Wilson -
The Gweduck is a hero-class Experimental three decades in the making.

On the Nose!

Paul Dye -
Lockwood’s Rotax-powered RV-9A is more than just fancy rhinoplasty.

Excess Horsepower!

Paul Dye -
Kitfox’s Super Sport gets more than new pep from Rotax’s turbocharged 916 iS.

Builder Spotlight

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Eating the Elephant—Part 2

Paul Dye -
One step forward, two steps back

Second Chance Six

Tenley Ong -
Part 14: To fix or not to fix?

Final Flight

Scott Brumbelow -
The rest of the story.

The Baby Lakes is Small-Scale Fun

Jonathan & Julia Apfelbaum -
Tiny but mighty, the Baby Lakes still impresses.

Building the 750SD XTREME: Part 15

Jon Humberd -
Why is this airplane xtreme?

Something to Crow About

Paul Dye -
A visit to see how Crow builds harnesses.

James Aircraft’s State of the Art

Mark Timney -
Under new ownership, James Aircraft continues to support RV builders

Eating the Elephant

Paul Dye -
One person can’t imagine eating a whole elephant. It’s simply impossible. But the answer to the idiomatic question remains: one bite at a time!

Shop Talk

Old Fiberglass Parts—Good as New

Paul Dye -
Fitting the RV-1’s fiberglass tail tips highlights the art behind careful craftsmanship—flanges, filler, and all.

Gelato Aids Aircraft Construction

Ted Luebbers -
Talenti gelato containers help organize fasteners in EAA Chapter 534’s hangar—plus, there’s dessert involved.

Close Quarters Fuel Pump

Paul Dye -
When building from older kits or plans, visiting other builders can reveal ingenious solutions, saving valuable time and trouble.

Wrenching with Friends

Paul Dye -
A few days in the shop with KITPLANES Senior Editor Tom Wilson refreshing an IO-540 engine makes the job enjoyable.

Multi-Use Water

Paul Dye -

Fixing Axle Fooly

Bob Hadley -
Flat tires seem to come in clusters. You can go years without getting one, then for some reason, “boom” (actually, more like “psssss”), more flats in a month than a year or years.

Exploring

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The Value of a Mentor, and Mentoring

Jon Croke -
Building and flying a kit aircraft is a rare achievement—share your journey, mentor others, and strengthen the builder community.

A Good Decision

Paul Dye -
Sometimes, the universe throws you a curveball.

Evolved Composites

Jeffrey Bedrosian -
JMB’s expansion fueled by the evolution.

One Thing Leads to Another

Marc Cook -
It started simply enough. With a mistake. OK, maybe just a misapplication of learned behavior.

Van’s RV-9: New Rotax Power

Larry Anglisano -
Lockwood Aero’s Rotax 916iS firewall-forward package pushes the RV-9 to 190 knots.

Where Do Airplane Parts Come From?

Kerry Fores -
Building your own replacement kit parts, which is no different than scratch-building from plans, may save you money and time.

Products

Radiant Technology Unveils Taxi Camera

Cayla McLeod -
A flush camera and accompanying 7-inch LCD display grants tailwheel pilots forward visibility while taxiing.

EFIS Roundup 2024

Marc Cook -
Big screens available now.

DuraWear and UltraWear Brake Discs From Matco

Jonathan & Julia Apfelbaum -
Matco presented new DuraWear and UltraWear components which provide an upgrade to their standard brake discs and pads while maintaining the same pricing.

Tundra Tailwheels

Tom Wilson -
Tundra's line of no excuses off-road tailwheels.

NORAD and Sunglasses

Kerry Fores -

Aircraft Specialty Flightlines Brings Three New Smart Components to AirVenture

Steve Ashby -
Aircraft Specialty Flightlines, an AirVenture Veteran, has been innovating safer, more capable and easier to use components for experimental amateur aircraft builders for years.

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In Case You Missed It

Safety Is No Accident: Van’s RV series

Ron Wanttaja - 0
It’s been a couple of years since we looked at how homebuilts generally fared in the accident statistics vis-à-vis certified aircraft. This time around we’ll look at the safety records of specific homebuilt designs, starting with the Van’s RV.

Rudder Jam

Vic Syracuse - 0
Inadequate rudder stop.

Build Your Own Annunciator Panel

Tom Brusehaver - 2
When you use an Arduino processor board, it's easier than you think.

Metal Magic: Shop Safety

Kitplanes - 2
In the first episode of the new KITPLANES Metal Magic video series, our host...

Homebuilt Accidents: The Pilot’s Condition

Ron Wanttaja - 2
Bushy-tailed optional, bright-eyed mandatory.
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