Builder Spotlight

Builders share their successes.

Norm Ellis does the math and shows you how to select the right oil cooler for your engine-cooling package. Given the critical role oil temperature plays in engine health, its a good idea to go beyond selecting the smallest, lightest and cheapest cooler you can find.

Bob Fritz presses on! In this installment, he powers up the Grand Rapids Technologies EFIS panel, solves a curious com antenna problem, installs the Zaon PCAS, fits the door to the fuselage’s curvature, and streamlines the air flow to the oil cooler.

Builders share their successes.

Phillips? Flat head? Double blade? Bob Fritz clears up questions you didn't even know you had about screwdrivers. When you're building a plane, the right tool for the right job (and right space) really does matter.

Don't let unsightly cable-exit holes spoil the look or performance of your aircraft.

Want to be fresh at the end of a long flight? Experimental-only autopilots beat their certified counterparts. They're usually less expensive, more capable and far more user-serviceable (if you know what you're doing). By Stein Bruch.

Let’s take it to the edge. Where is the edge? If, up to now, all you’ve done is scribe a target and eyeball the position of the drill bit, this is for you. By Bob Fritz.

As homebuilders, we are accustomed to doing a lot of preliminary and/or tooling work to build a couple of pieces for our aircraft. Tom Kuffel created an auxiliary fuel transfer pump controller for his GlaStar Sportsman for next to nothing, a real savings over the retail price of $300, and he describes how he did it.

Bob Fritz finds that in the midst of making progress, the build process has its own value. Here, he walks through the process of designing and installing an on-board fire extinguisher system for his Jabiru J250, and offers a few tips for locating holes and installing the wings.