Paul Dye
Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor at Large, 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.
Ride the Wave!
Oh, for a sailplane on a day like today! I took off on a short after-breakfast flight to do a little post-maintenance test hop....
Statistics, Lies and Damn Lies…
Aviation is a numbers game. We fly the airplane by the numbers, we use numbers to navigate and we have to deal with numbers...
Flying in the Age of COVID-19
My wife and I just returned from a week-long trip to Colorado’s ski country and experienced the current airline travel system first-hand. (No, we...
It Was a Simple Job…
I was just looking for one wire—one measly wire that I knew was excess, something I had installed years ago in order to test...
Dear FAA: Model Aircraft Are Not Drones
Sometimes when you set out to fix one problem you create one (sometimes many) more. That’s what I think is happening now as the...
Socked In On a CAVU Day
Lake Tahoe can be a funny place. Surrounded by gorgeous countryside, it salutes the forested western slope of the Sierra on its California side,...
Turbine Temptation: Final Integration and Testing
It looks almost finished, but there’s still much to do before the jet is ready to fly.
In Case You Missed It
Commentary: An RV Owner’s Reaction to Van’s Bankruptcy Filing
It’s worth remembering that it’s not just Van’s we’re talking about, but a whole constellation of supporting companies that make good money from RV builders.
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.
