Table of Contents
December 2009 Issue
Homebuilt Aircraft Directory
2010 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide
Looking for a new project? This year’s edition of the Kit Aircraft Buyer’s Guide features a feast of 313 kit aircraft models you can build and fly. Compiled by Cory Emberson.
Flight Reports
How do you say ginormous in Russian? Bush Hog. Ed Wischmeyer flies the E-7 prototype, and finds the development team is on top of things.
Builder Spotlight
Avionics Special: Surfing the Rapids
Marc Cook’s installation of Grand Rapids Technologies’ Horizon HX synthetic vision EFIS is darned near plug-and-play, and works beautifully.
Build a Bear: Put the Fabric in Fabrication
Dave Prizio evaluates the two major fabric covering systems – PolyFiber and Air-Tech – and sets to work, patiently covering his Texas Sport Cub airframe.
The Independence Project: We Start the Finish Kit
The Independence Project presses on, this time tackling the multiple tasks that make up the finish kit on the RV-12. By Dave Martin.
Shop Talk
Jim Weir borrows a trick from the world of computers to provide a cool breeze to your radio stack.
Designer's Notebook
Barnaby Wainfan brings aerodynamics to life with an illustrated field guide to the various devices seen at AirVenture 2009.
Exploring
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook reflects on the past year’s celebration of KITPLANES’ first quarter century, and finds that predictions for the next 25 years don’t come easily.
CHR International acquires the Safari helicopter kit, formerly known as the Baby Belle. Flight Data Systems unveiled its T-30 digital tachometer. Edited by Mary Bernard.
Amy Laboda discovers that a newly installed EFIS, six-weeks away from her RV-10 and an acute caffeine deficiency challenge her inner student.
Ben Haas’s STOL Zenith 801, featuring a Ford V-8 auto conversion, made quite a first impression at AirVenture ’09. This month, he tells Rick Lindstrom what makes it all work.
Dave Martin revisits the Evektor SportStar, and even after a three-year hiatus, he found the Max IFR to be a forgiving and delightful airplane.
Kit Bits
Drawing on experience; by cartoonist Robrucha.
Download the complete December 2009 issue of KITPLANES® in one PDF file.
Web Links in this Issue
Follow these links to visit the web sites of companies you read about in the December issue.
What’s New
Safari Helicopters
Flight Data Systems
Bush Hog
Contact Eugene Novinsky
Avionics Special: Surfing the Rapids
Grand Rapids Technologies
Build a Bear: Texas Sport Cub
Texas Sport Aircraft
The Independence Project: RV-12
Van’s Aircraft
Experimotive
Belted Air Power
Ben Haas
Ivoprop Propellers
Light Stuff
Evektor Aircraft
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
IMPORTANT CUSTOMER SERVICE NOTICE TO KITPLANES SUBSCRIBERS:
The Kitplanes Magazine Customer Service Center has moved from Palm Coast, FL to Big Sandy, TX. Our toll-free number, 800-622-1065, and website, kitplanes.com, remain the same. All mailed correspondence, including subscription invoices, renewals, and gift notices, will bear our new address:
PO BOX 8535
Big Sandy, TX 75755
We look forward to serving you from our new location.
At AOPA Summit in Hartford, Garmin will unveil its latest portable, the touchscreen aera 796. Take a video tour of the navigator's features, which include synthetic vision, enhanced chart functions, and a new touchscreen interface.
KITPLANES talked to PS Engineering’s Mark Scheuer about the new PAR100EX Experimental-class audio panel with a communication radio.
KITPLANES talks with Zenith Aircraft’s Sebastien Heintz at Sun ‘n Fun 2011.
KITPLANES gets the scoop on Garmin’s developments and rebates for the G3X EFIS at Sun ‘n Fun 2011.
KITPLANES caught up with Dynon Avionics at Sun ‘n Fun to get a glimpse of the new DX15 handheld com radio.
KITPLANES tours the Whirlwind Propeller factory where the firm's fixed-pitch and ground-adjustable propellers are made, as well as the blades for Whirlwind constant-speed props.
