![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")
My Home Airport
Recently I walked into Van’s Aircraft and kissed the cutest engineer I could find. He didn’t seem that thrilled. I suppose that’s what happens...
Nothing New
Apparently having done something evil in a former life, I’ve been consigned to toil on this magazine’s Engine Buyer’s Guide in this life. I...
Executing the Execution
Airplanes are born of time and tedium. Mostly tedium. A harsh statement, yet a true one. There’s just no way around deburring the thousands...
How I Cross-Country
Way back in the previous century—closer to the middle of the century than the end—I learned that the secret to cross-country navigation was a...
Top Ten Favorite Tools for Maintenance
As I start this article, we are between Baker, Nevada, and Hinckley, Utah, which is quite remote. We are stranded “MOG’’ (motor home on...
Gone Pro
In the last three years I’ve been rewarded by the older of my sons taking up aviation in a most serious way. Every devotee...
The Virtue Of Simple
I had all the best intentions. When I bought my GlaStar, I had hoped to keep some of its very simple nature intact, but...
Mods and Ends
One of the most desirable and intrinsic benefits of building your own airplane under the Experimental/Amateur-Built rules is the ability to deviate from the...
Which Fabric Are You Going To Use?
If you are building a fabric-covered aircraft, you have multiple fabrics to choose from: polyester, Dacron, Stits, Ceconite, Poly-Fiber, Superflite or Oratex. Which one...
My Ten Favorite Tools for Building
A common question on the minds of potential builders is what kind of tools will they need to complete a kit-airplane project. A potential...
In Case You Missed It
Bush Hog
How do you say ginormous in Russian? Bush Hog. Ed Wischmeyer flies the E-7 prototype, and finds the development team is on top of things.
Alternative Energies
Dale Kramer invigorated the ultralight movement in the 1970s with the Lazair. Now he's doing it again-with a battery-powered version. By Dean Sigler.
