![Careful planning and determination will get you to your goal of building and flying your own airplane. [Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Pulsar-Sunset.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Last Bits")
![[Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/AdobeStock_262642207_AGCuesta.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Winging It")
![Lowell Farrand spent years serving as an FAA DAR and is in the EAA Hall of Fame. He offers sound advise to builders. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/unnamed-4.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Think Like a Builder")
![The 160 hp turbocharged Rotax 916iS is a four-stroke piston engine with redundant electronic fuel injection and ignition. [Credit: BPR Rotax]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PIC_916-iS_iSc-2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "2026 Engine Buyer’s Guide")
![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")
Build, Test, Refine and Fix—Part 2: Taxi Testing
All aircraft testing, including taxi tests, requires planning and discipline.
Building an Addiction
The greatest of a successful builder’s attributes is an unshakable belief in tomorrow.
ScaleBirds P-36 Hawk
ScaleBirds, a newcomer to the kit manufacturing scene, chose to start their line of replica fighters with one of the first all-metal U.S. military pursuit ships of WW-II—the P-36.
Pie in the Sky
Now that the wedding is behind us and house projects have slowed, Brian and I have more time to focus on what matters most—airplanes.
James Aircraft’s State of the Art
Under new ownership, James Aircraft continues to support RV builders
Best of Both Worlds
Can we convert a certified aircraft into an Experimental so we can get the freedoms we really want?
Eating the Elephant
One person can’t imagine eating a whole elephant. It’s simply impossible. But the answer to the idiomatic question remains: one bite at a time!
The Iceman Cometh
Every pilot who has ever experienced icing conditions will remember their first time.
In Case You Missed It
Setting Up Shop
Before you decide you cant build a plane because you don't have enough shop space, think again. After all, as author Bob Fritz points out, projects have been built in apartments. This article wont go quite that far, but it does detail some pitfalls to avoid and makes suggestions about maximizing the ease and efficiency of working in a limited-space environment.
Around the Patch
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook reflects on the past years celebration of KITPLANES first quarter century, and finds that predictions for the next 25 years don't come easily.
