A Cautionary Tail
One Monday morning I opened an email from the second owner of a Onex. It was sent at 8:12 p.m. on Saturday. An attached...
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...
In Case You Missed it
What’s a Nice Guy Like You Doing in a Plane Like This?
Making the transition from certified aircraft to Experimentals.
Build It Better: Hope Is Not a Plan
There are always unknowns in any human endeavor, but in aviation, we must think about the ways we can minimize them.
