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Annual Directory, Part 1
2009 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide
Let your fingers do the shopping with the specs and photos for 297 designs, offered along with a cross-reference that lets you easily locate the manufacturer if you know the design name; compiled by Julia Downie.

Builder Spotlight
Supercharged F-1 Rocket
While builder Wolfgang Meyn loved the F-1 Rocket quickbuild kit, things got a little more complicated (and exciting) when he decided to add an Aero Supercharger Solutions supercharger teamed up with a modified Airflow Performance fuel-injection system; by Ed Wischmeyer.

Roll Your Own
When they couldn’t find a likely single-seat homebuilt that would work as an inexpensive but reliable commuter airplane, two builders who are well versed in metal aircraft construction took it upon themselves to design and build one; by Ken Scott.

The Paint Shop Experience
Deciding that you don’t want to paint your homebuilt airplane yourself means placing your “baby” in the hands of a paint shop. Susan Brunner offers some tips to help manage this important aspect of the building process successfully.

University of Jabiru
If you’re considering or have already made the decision to use a Jabiru engine on your kit aircraft, Texas Sport Cub builder Dave Prizio says this three-day course will add to your confidence when installing and maintaining it.

Build Your Skills: Fabric
This month we look at installing the fabric on the wing and how to use rib-lacing, reinforcement tapes, pre-punched holes, and methods of mechanical attachment including pop rivets, PK screws and fabric clips; by Ron Alexander.

To Launch a Light Sport
This month’s chronicle of building a Jabiru J250 Light Sport airplane covers the assembly of the wings and tail, and discusses the value of surface preparation.

Shop Talk
Aero 'Lectrics
In this first of a two-part series, Jim Weir builds a low-cost, high-efficiency portable ground-based antenna system that he used to great effect in the recent CAFE 400 (fuel efficiency) race in Northern California. You can do it, too.

Designer's Notebook
Wind Tunnel
The aerodynamics of an airplane sometimes don’t cooperate with the pilot’s desire to roll, and instead produce both yaw and roll. Contributing factors are aileron parasite drag, induced drag between the wings and changes in the roll rate itself; by Barnaby Wainfan.

Exploring
Around the Patch
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook offers an explanation of how the annual Aircraft Buyer’s Guides are assembled, and his attempts to enhance the usefulness and relevance of the information provided.

What's New
In this month’s What’s New, ECi announces a new extended warranty on its Titan cylinders, and Vesta, Inc. offers a new Experimental aircraft engine conversion based on a V-6 Honda auto engine; edited by Mary Bernard.

Ask the DAR
This month, a new column introduces Designated Airworthiness Representative Mel Asberry, who describes his background in homebuilding and details some of what he’s looking for as a DAR. Questions welcome.

Light Stuff
Earlier this year, columnist Dave Martin had the opportunity to fly Flight Design’s CTSW (short wing) factory-built Light Sport Aircraft. This month, he flies the company’s new CTLS (Light Sport model), and he details the differences between the two.

Kit Bits
Contributors

Letters

List of Advertisers

Builders' Marketplace

The Classified Builder

Kit Stuff
Drawing on experience; by cartoonist Robrucha

December 2008 Links
Follow these links to visit the web sites of companies you read about in the December issue.


What's New
Vesta
ECi



The Paint Shop Experience
Centralia Aircraft
Century Aircraft Paint (email)
Stahr Design



University of Jabiru
Jabiru USA



Build Your Skills: Fabric
SportAir Workshops



To Launch a Light Sport
Jabiru Pacific



Light Stuff
Flight Design USA



* * * View Reader Links from previous months:
Table of Contents and Reader's Links from December 2006 to Present

Other Aviation Publications
Aviation Consumer
Aviation Safety
AvWeb
IFR Magazine
IFR Refresher
Light Plane Maintenance



Headlines
KITPLANES sits down with Advanced Flight Systems' founder Rob Hickman to examine his new synthetic-vision EFIS.
 
JPI's Lance Turk explains the features of the new JPI EDM-740.
 
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KITPLANES editor Marc Cook visits Matco Manufacturing near Salt Lake City to see how the company's brakes, wheels and master cylinders are built.
 
Get an inside look at how Dynon builds and tests its electronic flight instruments.
 
Kitplanes Magazine contributor Ed Kolano takes a first look at the Sherpa utility aircraft.
 
Video Archive