Table of Contents
August 2009 Issue
Flight Reports
Marc Cook flies the capable ready-to-fly Kitfox Super Sport Series 7 SLSA, and spotlights owners John and Debra McBean’s deft handling of the company in a crowded market and rocky economy.
Builder Spotlight
All About Avionics: Wiring Bundles
Anyone can make wiring look good. The bonus is that your installation’s maintenance and future upgrades will be much easier. Stein Bruch shows you how.
Flight Testing: Finding TAS from GPS Data
Math works! Kevin Horton shows you how to use GPS data to calculate true airspeed.
Despite losing the use of his legs to childhood polio, John Deneke has done what he’s always done: found a way to fly, and to build. By Bob Fritz.
Everything old is new again. Paul Lamar looks at the turbo-compound engine, developed in the post-WW-II era. Thrown over for jet engines, it may yet hold promise today as we search for more energy efficient ways to get the most out of increasingly expensive fuel.
Builders share their successes.
Shop Talk
Jim Weir shows you how to create and install LED lights and run them from ship’s power inexpensively and easily.
Designer's Notebook
Barnaby Wainfan explores the optimum size of a wing and the best ways to balance performance and efficiency.
Exploring
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook takes note of the good, bad and the uncapitalized in public reactions to a recent aircraft accident. He encourages knowledgeable pilots, builders and enthusiasts to counter the public rantings of armchair crackpots with kindness and courage. Also, a tip of the buttonless cap to Omar Filipovic, KITPLANES.com’s new webmaster, for his savvy work to create a more lively and flexible web site.
Lycoming offers zero-time, factory-rebuilt engines to pilots and owners for the cost of a factory overhaul, in exchange for a first-run core; RPX Technologies introduces the simple and straightforward DynaVibe prop and rotor balancer. Edited by Mary Bernard.
25th Anniversary: Rutan’s Take
Burt Rutan’s elegant and efficient aircraft—and spacecraft—designs are in a league of their own. Amy Laboda looks at Rutan’s legacy, what he’s doing now, and why he may never retire.
Insurance Update: Experimentals and LSAs
Despite recent economic traumas, the aviation insurance industry has continued to support Experimental and LSA aircraft. The keys for the builder/pilot? Proficiency, training, and availability of parts and service for the airplane.
Are All Battery Chargers Alike?
Bob Fritz tests battery chargers and desulfation systems, and finds it’s easier to keep a battery in good shape than to raise it from the dead…and that a good charger is a better bet than a new battery.
Steve Ells immerses himself in the art and science of fuel-injection systems during a weekend course at Airflow Performance headquarters.
What’s the difference between the FAA’s SLSA (Special Light Sport Aircraft) and ELSA (Experimental Light Sport Aircraft) designation? DAR Mel Asberry clears it up.
What makes an excellent Experimental exhaust system? High quality 321 stainless tubes, neat welds and flex points. By Steve Ells.
Dave Martin finds a Light Sport seaplane at the 2009 Sebring LSA Expo that made a real splash.
Kit Bits
Drawing on experience; by cartoonist Robrucha.
Download the complete August 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 August issue.
What’s New
Lycoming
RPX Technologies
Kitfox
Kitfox
Performance Measurement
David Rogers’ Horseshoe Heading Technique
Doug Gray’s “Using GPS to Accurately Establish True Airspeed”
NeoOffice (for OS X only)
NTPS GPS PEC.xls Spreadsheet
OpenOffice for Windows, Linux or OS X
Insurance
Avemco
Experimental Aircraft Association
Falcon Insurance
Glasair Aviation
High Performance Aircraft Training, Inc.
Lancair International, Inc.
National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI)
Van’s Aircraft
Airflow Performance
Airflow Performance
Light Stuff
SeaMax 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
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.
