Marc Cook
Marc Cook is a veteran special-interest journalist who started as a staffer at AOPA Pilot in the late 1980s. Marc has built two airplanes, an Aero Designs Pulsar XP and a Glasair Aviation Sportsman, and now owns a 180-hp, steam-gauge-adjacent GlaStar based in western Oregon. Marc has 5000 hours spread over 200-plus types and four decades of flying.
Marc's Sportsman: The Second “Annual” Begins
I snuck out to the hangar in late February to make a simple modification to my Glastar Sportsman and inadvertently began the annual condition...
The $30,000 RV-9A
Two builders helped each other build RV-9As, each employing significantly different outlays of cash. The results are impressive in both cases, but for different reasons. They help us ponder the question as we build: “What is something worth?” By Marc Cook.
The $30,000 RV-9A
Two builders helped each other build RV-9As, each employing significantly different outlays of cash. The results are impressive in both cases, but for different reasons. They help us ponder the question as we build: What is something worth? By Marc Cook.
PS Engineering PMA9000EX
After a quick and easy installation, PS Engineerings new PMA9000EX audio panel is test-flown by Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook in his Glastar Sportsman.
Around the Patch
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook discusses the potential impact of changes to the FAAs 51% rule, which are the result of increasingly complex aircraft being constructed with the aid of builder-assistance programs.
Commentary: Experimental "51%" solutions—is Primary Category the answer?
In February, when the FAA published the final report from the working group looking at “major portion” guidance, another proposal was floated to help...
News: On Changes to 51% Rule Guidance, VanGrunsven “Cautiously optimistic.”
Among the current kit manufacturers, Van’s Aircraft is indisputably the volume leader. Nearly 5600 RVs are flying, and like all other kit manufacturers, the...
News: Reworked Guidance for Kitbuilt Aircraft on the Way
Will revised Advisory Circulars kill builder assistance?Last Friday, the FAA published the final report from the Amateur-Built Aircraft Aviation Rulemaking Committee that outlines plans...
KITPLANES Magazine Newsblog Goes Live!
Welcome to the KITPLANES newsblog, where you will find the latest news and views on the world of homebuilt aviation. This is not intended...
RANS S-19
When new aircraft from two very different designers, in this case Randy Schlitter and Richard VanGrunsven, surface with considerable similarities, consensus about basic design tenets must be blowing in the wind. Certainly Light Sport regs do constrain performance considerations, but human factors are more up for grabs, and that’s where one or another design can truly shine; by Marc Cook.
In Case You Missed it
Around the Patch
Velocity Aircraft has been acquired by Rocket Racing Group, and Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook discusses the implications for the company specifically and the industry in general. Also, Dick Starks has a new book out that regales readers with tales of his wacky Dawn Patrol adventures.
Light Stuff
The dream of flying cars remains alive and well, and several companies are taking on the challenge. By Roy Beisswenger.
Around the Patch
In keeping with the spirit of this years Directory of Plansbuilt Aircraft, Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook extols the virtues of enjoying the process of building of an airplane as much as the flying of it.