Ishmael Fuentes
Engine Mounts
Many factors go into designing and building good engine mounts, including consideration of the engines thrust line and gyroscopic precession effects. They deserve our respect.
Fixed-Pitch Props
Choosing a prop for your homebuilt is always a compromise that involves consideration of cost, performance, how you'll fly and more. Still, sometimes the simplest solution is the best one.
Hose Protection
Ishmael Fuentes shows you how to protect and cool the hoses in your engine compartment by making a firesleeve.
Shop Talk: V-Block Drill Jig from Scrap
Having problems drilling a precise hole in a tube? Ishmael Fuentes has the perfect-and inexpensive-solution with this nifty, easy-to-make V-block drill jig.
You and the Tube
For some builders, the prospect of flaring hard-line tubing is daunting. Ishmael Fuentes demystifies the process, and shows you how to get good results every time.
Cable-Exit Fairings
Don't let unsightly cable-exit holes spoil the look or performance of your aircraft.
Flying in the Ford World
Sage philosopher and aviation nut Uncle Ishmael explains how, for about the price of a 4-year-old Ford pickup truck, you can own a serviceable homebuilt aircraft. Youll probably have to forgo anything certified, and hone your scrounging skills, but when all is said and done, isn't getting up in the air flying better than sitting on the ground dreaming?
In Case You Missed it
Safety Is No Accident: Van’s RV series
It’s been a couple of years since we looked at how homebuilts generally fared in the accident statistics vis-à-vis certified aircraft. This time around we’ll look at the safety records of specific homebuilt designs, starting with the Van’s RV.
Vortex Generators and STOL Performance
One way to solve the problem of flow separation—and stall—is by installing vortex generators on your kit aircraft.
The Dawn Patrol
Dick and Sharon Starks and The Dawn Patrol make their annual, magical pilgrimage to AirVenture Oshkosh. Mix in a big, surly storm, the Wild Snorting Piglet, and an Air Force Brigadier General, and you've some something to write home about.
Problemas en México
I was dismayed to receive an alert from the Baja Bush Pilots that aviation authorities in Mexico have recently turned away Experimental aircraft after entering the country.