![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")
Droning About the Future
Elsewhere in this issue, we’ve taken a few pages to consider the future of homebuilding, a composite sketch of sorts based on interviews and...
Building Trust—Reliability vs. Redundancy
It is hard to fly without a little trust. Call it faith if you will, but we fundamentally can’t leave the ground without some...
Let’s Get Dirty
Some—perhaps even many—pilots of Experimental aircraft never operate their artfully homebuilt aircraft on any runway surface not considered “improved,” meaning asphalt or concrete. That’s...
Help! You Need Somebody
This topic came to me in a dream, probably triggered by a New Year’s Eve chili-and-pumpkin pie-eating binge. Still, it’s rooted in reality, and...
A Guide to Guides
While it never feels good to be stuck in the ribs, when you deserve it, it hurts even worse. That was our feeling when...
Fleeting Thoughts
When we talk about Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft with “regular” pilots, it’s common for the conversation to imply that our world is a mere tiny speck...
Kit Confidential—Hardware Kits
I may be guilty of sitting on this story too long. In 2003, on the eve of my employment in the kit-aircraft industry, an...
Dollars and Sense
In my decades in aviation, I have come across individuals representing a wide financial demography—from folks who could buy a Boeing with a personal...
On Mechanics
Given the benign nature of newer homebuilts and the wonders of a repairman certificate, there may be a good number of us not beholden...
Demand and Supply
We’re all tired of talking about the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m certain, but there’s no denying it’s reached into every corner of our society, impacting...
In Case You Missed It
Gathering
Longtime readers may recall that before scribbling in aviation magazines I scribbled in automotive...
Zen Four a Day
Flying four of Zeniths designs at the factory in Mexico, Missouri, prompted a deeper appreciation for the company's utilitarian approach to design. By Marc Cook.
Firewall Forward: Oil Filter Cutting and Analysis
KITPLANES editor at large and experienced engine builder Paul Dye walks you through the...