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.
Where The Magic Happens
The Reno Air Races have a lot of great things, but when you talk to those who’ve spent a lot of time watching all...
And They’re Racing!
It’s September in Reno, and to aviation buffs, that means one thing - Air Racing!
Hangin’ It Out There
Strolling through the Formula 1 hangar at the Reno Air Races, we came upon Steve Temple's Heat Stroke with its cowling off, and thought...
Build, Maintain, Inspect
One of the big reasons that people build their own airplane is the flexibility afforded by the FAA when it comes to maintenance and...
Spirit of Flight
Every year the Society of Experimental Test Pilots present the Spirit of Flight Award in recognition of outstanding work in the field of homebuilt...
They’re Only Slightly Off
You’d think that an organization as large as the EAA could reliably count something like conventions, so we have been slightly amused over the...
The Perfect Getaway
It had all the makings of a great caper movie - two guys opening a hangar in the dark with a surreptitiously obtained key,...
Nose(Gear) Job
If you find yourself at AirVenture, wandering around the Van’s Aircraft booth, make sure to take a look at the fuselage they have tucked...
In Case You Missed It
Headlong For Headers
Tom Wilson, an avowed hot rodder, details his foray into the world of custom exhausts and the performance gains found on his Lycoming IO-540.
The Home Machinist
This months feature offers a three-in-one discussion that includes how to use the steady rest to work with any material that extends beyond the chuck, a review of Googles SketchUp program that will allow you to get designing on your home computer quickly, and notes on how to make an indispensable tool for the home machinist; by Bob Fritz.
The Big Toot
The Big Toot Tommy Meyer built is not the two-seat biplane his father envisioned....