![Ten hours of dual instruction in a tailwheel-equipped aircraft is usually required for proficiency. [Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AdobeStock_354747155.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Learning How to Drag Your Tail")
![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=265&h=198&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")
Shop in Comfort
I’ve confessed to building Metal Illness in a space that many, or most, would rate less than ideal. In my defense, my brain’s right...
An Open Mind
Normalcy had evolved in a fair way. Overcast and cool in the morning, the afternoon had opened to a moderate haze punctuated by a...
Speed Is in the Air
Air racing at Reno is part iron-age anachronism but also leading-edge development of the airplanes flying today. Where else can you say “4360 cubic...
Color Country
When I was mired in some of the more frustrating and tedious parts of building a kit aircraft, I would often reenergize myself by...
Your Head, Your Heart, Your Hands and the Truth
Three chords and the truth. That’s how songwriter Harlan Howard, who, with Hank Cochran, penned “I Fall to Pieces,” described country music. I got...
Glasair Aviation to Restart With Kits, Not Two Weeks to Taxi
Glasair Aviation is planning to emphasize kit sales and production first and restart TWTT later.
Pack Your Spotted Cow and Go
I heard Jester’s coarse voice and felt the impact of each syllable, “You. Nev-er. Leave. Your wingman.” I’m foreshadowing the past, though, so let...
Old School Solution
It doesn’t seem that long ago, but maybe it was, that the essence of a sport airplane was a biplane.
In Case You Missed It
Flight Testing
Personnel roles, emergency contingencies, communications-there are many moving parts involved in the first flight of a homebuilt. Paul Dye catalogs them and offers a sample flight plan that worked for him.
