Paul Dye
Paul Dye has been the Editor-in-Chief and Editor at Large. He retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 50 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the Space Shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 and SubSonex jet that he built, an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra and an electric Xenos motorglider they completed. Currently, they are building an F1 Rocket. A commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 6000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an A&P, FAA DAR, EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor; he was formerly a member of the Homebuilder’s Council. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country.
Perspective
Take a look at these beautiful pictures, taken over the town of Truckee (CA), just north of Lake Tahoe, at the northern edge of...
Favorite Tools
I was working on a part for our Xenos the other day - a fairly complicated bracket to hold an idler bell crank that...
Ultimate Instrument Proficiency Check
I fly a lot of new experimental aircraft, which means I do a lot of flying with the latest technology when it comes to...
Ahhh…Weather
There are a few fundamentals when it comes to aviation weather that many pilots never really get taught. These have nothing to do whatsoever...
Error Chain
Forty-amp Catch-22. Accidentally bumping the alternator switch uncovered a circuit-breaker problem.
Sorta' Old School
It turns out that next week I am going to do some flying with an old friend in his old Twin Comanche. No, it's...
In Case You Missed It
Dare To Be Bare
After checking with a variety of aluminum polishing aficionados, author Bob Fritz came up with a winning combination for maintaining the shine on metal airplanes. He details not only which products to use, but also how to use them for maximum effectiveness with minimal elbow grease.
Buying Trouble-Purchased Homebuilt Accident Rates
Up to half the homebuilt fleet is owned by non-builders.
Light Stuff
The flight-test program for Experimental Light Sport Aircraft (ELSAs) is much different from the one Experimental/Amateur-Built kit builders would employ, but they both require a plan. By Dave Martin.
Shop Safety
This article covers what you should have learned in your high school shop class, but didn't, and more. It discusses safety glasses, proper treatment of chisels, gloves, jewelry, shop coats, hand tools, urban myths, safe shoes, hardware, biomechanics, capturing wayward chips, machinery placement in the shop, air-powered tools, cleanup, pneumatic cutting tools, and other common sense advice; by Bob Fritz.