Facebook Twitter Youtube

Newsline

Continue to the category

Big Changes Coming to Sun ’n Fun in 8–10 Years

Steve Ashby -
Sun ’n Fun's future includes new runways, AC vendor hangars, and more—without disrupting the fly-in.

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.

Video Series

Magazine

Continue to the category
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

Continue to the category

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

Continue to the category

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

Continue to the category

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.

Sign up to receive a weekly email update from KITPLANES Magazine with news stories and feature articles inluding our Homebuilder's Portal.

Sign Up

Subscribe to get access to our Aircraft Buyer's Guide!

Get Access

Download Digital Issues

Follow Us

7,946FansLike
1,052FollowersFollow
5,930SubscribersSubscribe

In Case You Missed It

An Icon Passes

Marc Cook - 1
Chris Heintz left behind a legacy of innovative, functional design and successful kit-company strategies that relied on keeping the designs simple and costs low.

Camera Mounts

Jim Fleischman - 0
Action cams are pretty popular.

Aero ‘lectrics

Jim Weir - 0
Multimeter musings.

Challenge Yourself

Marc Cook - 0
It’s human nature to learn a new skill, work hard to “perfect” it and...

Wind Tunnel

Barnaby Wainfan - 0
Taxi testing may seem to be a mere formality, but it is a vital step toward bringing a new aircraft to flight, and is not without its dangers.
© 2025 Firecrown Media Inc. All rights reserved. ® KITPLANES is a registered trademark of Firecrown Media Inc.