Kerry Fores
Kerry Fores was born and raised in Oshkosh, WI and was interested in homebuilding by age 12. Between 1998 and 2003 he scratchbuilt and polished a Sonex, which he named Metal Illness. Kerry logged nearly 500 hours in Metal Illness and was awarded Plans Built Champion at AirVenture 2006. Kerry is retired from a 21-year career at Sonex Aircraft, most of it dedicated to supporting builders.
Tunnel Vision and Troubleshooting
Confronted with a large task, we often see the whole of it and can’t get started. Cleaning a garage comes to mind. The door...
Let the Ink Dry
For as long as I can remember, and thankfully that is more than five decades, I’ve read of builders performing an aircraft’s first flight...
Booster or Bravado?
A few years back, during AirVenture, a person asked me what vibration testing had been performed on the tail of the Sonex. His jargon-filled...
The Watch List
Is anything more disheartening than dropping a piece of hardware in your airframe and not being able to find it? Yes. A loose nut...
A Crowd of One
Kitplanes contributing editor Kerry Fores, a lifelong resident of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, self-populated AirVenture's famous Brown Arch in March while self-isolating. This video is a...
Pilot: The Verb
I pretend to play guitar. To my neighbor’s irritation, I use a real guitar when I pretend, not an air guitar. While learning new...
Murphy’s Law, Occam’s Razor
Ed, an aerospace engineer, and Bill, a 14th Century philosopher, walk into your workshop…and if you’re smart you’ll let them stay and you’ll hear...
The One True Airspeed
True airspeed is coy. It hides behind the more obvious speeds who tart themselves up with a meaningless facade. It’s never overt. It makes...
The Decision to Polish
To quote a friend, “When you paint, the aircraft will never look better than when it leaves the paint shop. When you polish, it...
In Case You Missed It
The Dawn Patrol
Each stalwart member of The Dawn Patrol has had his "day in the hay" (i.e., an off-airport landing). Now Sharon Starks is initiated into that venerable club.
Engine Beat
As Lycoming and Continental vie for market share, the two power players are updating and improving long-existing engine designs and introducing new products to meet demand. By Steve Ells.