![The alternative to bending down as the propeller is pulled through the compression stroke is to keep the back straight and bend the knees slightly, stepping away in a crouch. [Credit: LeRoy Cook]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_1519-scaled.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Manual Starting Methods")
![The newly-restored F-24 enjoying the morning sun. [All Images Credited to Mike Davenport]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_0001.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Golden Age Revival")
![[Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AdobeStock_176619176.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Instructional Inflexibility")
![sideview shows the Better Half with the full VW case. [Credit: Legal Eagle Airplane]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Milholland-V-Twin_Side-View.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Better Half VW")
Pilot Not In Command
An audible sigh and an acceptable landing punctuated the end of a stuttering cross-country. It punctuated it on a Wednesday, however, not the previous...
Night Flight
The theme of this month’s treatise is centered on flight operations at night. But I specifically chose the title because “Night Flight” happens to...
Thunder Struck
Some of my fondest memories are nestled in the early days of various race weeks—a special time in which those in the Sport Class...
Going Overboard
Have you ever lost anything out of an airplane? Gravity being omnipresent—and apparently increasing annually according to an equally decrepit friend while digging post...
IMSAFE
Early in my flying career, I had the good fortune of securing a part-time corporate gig in a new-to-the-boss Cessna 340A. My first trip...
The Art of Putzing About
Ahhh, putzing about. Is there anything more satisfying? Of course there is. Thousands of things, I’m sure. But like an ointment on an itch,...
Commander Klutz and the Lost Planet Airmen
It’s a fair assumption most KITPLANES® readers were not big on essay writing in school, which at least left me with a job (I’m...
Tail First
“Where did you get this?” my mom demanded, shaking a thick brown envelope at me. One that had been hidden under my mattress. I...
Do Diligence
About 25 years ago, my wife and I designed our home. We were intrigued by a new home heating and cooling technology called Triathlon....
Always Attack
As I settle into my new life in Oregon, where I know hardly anyone but hope to know more, I find myself in the...
In Case You Missed It
Supercharged F-1 Rocket
While builder Wolfgang Meyn loved the F-1 Rocket quickbuild kit, things got a little more complicated (and exciting) when he decided to add an Aero Supercharger Solutions supercharger teamed up with a modified Airflow Performance fuel-injection system; by Ed Wischmeyer.
Maintenance Matters
In Part 2 of his discussion, Steve Ells delves into more detail about patching, repairing or replacing aircraft aluminum.
Homespun Router Table
I’m drawn to the simple, low-cost end of the airplane market. The first airplane...