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.
Exhausting!
We visit Vetterman Exhaust for a behind-the-scenes look at how exhaust systems are made.
Cleco Card
If you are like most metal airplane builders, you probably have a couple of plastic cups or buckets full of Clecoes in your shop....
Risk and Reward in the Thin Air
Losing people in a flight program is gut-wrenchingly hard and today I feel for all of the folks at Scaled Composites. None of them...
In Case You Missed It
What’s New
Master Mechanic introduces the Swift Driver, Aircraft Spruce launches an online magazine and offers a simplified FAR/AIM book, and California Power Systems carries Rotax 912 engine rubber replacement kits.
Comp Air 9
Chuck Berthe flies the turbine-powered Comp Air CA9, an impressive work in progress. With a combination of a massive airframe and a Honeywell turbine, the CA9 is a heavy hauler that will really scoot.
Van’s RV-14
The latest RV prompted quite a buzz. So what exactly is different about this roomy two-seater—and how does it fly? Taking off from the Van’s factory in Oregon, Paul Dye samples the new design.
