Builder Spotlight

If you want sound and long-lasting fabric covering, proper shrinkage is essential. And an accurately calibrated iron is a means to that end. Ron Alexander details the process and offers tips on how to avoid damage to the underlying structure during tautening.

There are seemingly few more mundane tasks than making holes, but there are as many ways to do them, as there are different sizes and shapes of holes. This month, Stein Bruch describes how to cut holes in the panel yourself, using tools you may already have around the shop.

Once he decided on a kit, builder Bob Fritz went full-speed ahead on the project and has made remarkable progress in a short time. He’s nearly ready to start making airplane noises.

RV builder Kathleen Evans makes a case for airplane building as a true partnership between spouses based on mutual interest and respect.

Builders share their successes.

John W. Thorp has had a profound influence on both homebuilding and on aviation in general. If you've flown Piper Cherokees or know of the all-flying tail, you're familiar with his design principles, and his T-18 is still a favorite worldwide.

This month, fabric expert Ron Alexander discusses attaching the fabric to the aircraft parts using either a pre-sewn envelope or individually cut pieces of fabric. The process is optimized for strength in flight as well as aesthetic appeal.

Heres something to ponder: By the time you get to the point where you are ready to build the panel in your homebuilt aircraft, you've already mastered many of the skills and techniques you'll need to do it by virtue of completing the airframe. That statement is all the more credible when it comes from someone with a vested interest in the subject, our own avionics expert Stein Bruch.

Almost from the beginning of aviation, the idea of a plane you could drive/car you could fly has captured both the popular imagination and the hearts of some dedicated experimentalists. The dream remains alive, and realization, the author says, is fettered only by the lack of willing investors; by Murry L. Rozansky.

Author Bob Fritz got the bad news that he would likely not pass his FAA medical and was faced with a choice: Finish the RV he was working on and resign himself to flying with a partner, or try to find a suitable Light Sport Aircraft that he could build and fly solo. In this first installment in the series, he details his search for the right design and reveals the decision he ultimately made.