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Miles Versus Knots
To put it politely, we were recently taken to task for using mph instead of knots when reporting on an aviation speed record because,...
A Spot of Bother
This title phrase can, like so much in our language, be used to convey the truth of the matter, as intended, “a little trouble”...
Pride and Progress
I was caught off guard by the sight of familiar aircraft in the Sonex Aircraft flight center. “How?” you wonder. I’ll explain. I’m often...
High Flight
All apologies to John Gillespie Magee Jr. for the title to this column, but I did fly a little higher than normal on my...
Working With Experience
Part of my job is surprisingly solitary, moving words and photos around from my home office and corresponding with my staff and regular contributors...
Under Pressure
No, this working title isn’t about sitting down close to my draft submission deadline staring at a blank screen. (But it could be.) This...
Electric Airplane Fundamentals
Hi, my name is Gabe and I’m an unabashed electric airplane nerd. I have built and flown two of my own electric aircraft, and...
Never Buy Meat From A Guy in a Parking Lot
A builder—I’ll call him D. Thomas—told me A Guy told him he needed to modify his fuel system or it wouldn’t work. The basic...
Tire Tantrums
There can’t be a single person engaged in the modern world who doesn’t have a tale to tell regarding tires. Most involve some variation...
Trouble With Numbers
For better or worse, pilots can be an analytical bunch. Not all of them, of course, since many are what you’d call seat-of-the-pants types...
In Case You Missed It
Archive: November 1997
Ron Wanttaja sampled the still-new Van’s RV-8 for our cover story in the November...
Horizontal Stabilizer Crack
In 2014 Van’s Aircraft put out a service bulletin for potential cracking in the...
Kitfox Super Sport
With 4000 kits sold, a million hours flown and a loyal customer base, you just knew that the Kitfox would somehow find itself back in production. It's been out after the previous company, SkyStar Aircraft, went bankrupt in 2005, leaving builders in the lurch.