![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")
Wire You Surprised?
There are three basic methods of marking your wires so that 10 years from now you’ll be able to go back and track down trouble.
Build, Test, Refine and Fix—Part 1: Ground Tests
At some point, a configuration of the airplane is frozen, a prototype is built and testing begins.
IV Tube for Crankcase Ventilation
Recently, my neighbor Ed needed a part to upgrade the installation of his crankcase breather/oil separator kit.
Master Caution
My original intent for this month’s treatise was to produce the first installment of my upcoming Kitfox build series, which I have been greatly looking forward to. However, as often happens in life, life itself got in the way.
Wanted: Engine Competition
Imagine a time not too long ago when pilots embarking on the delicious endeavor to build their own airplanes could consider multiple sources for just about any engine on the menu.
In Case You Missed It
Around the Patch
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook looks closely the TSAs proposed badging plan for GA aircraft, which was buried in the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP). Also, is there a chance for a Superior Air Parts revival?
Home Machinist
Let’s take it to the edge. Where is the edge? If, up to now, all you’ve done is scribe a target and eyeball the position of the drill bit, this is for you. By Bob Fritz.
Unusual Attitude
As Dick Starks rouses the Dawn Patrol, he recalls his aeronautically inspired familiarity with grain crops, and a nimble performance of the Nieuport Stomp.
The Paint Shop Experience
Deciding that you don't want to paint your homebuilt airplane yourself means placing your baby in the hands of a paint shop. Susan Brunner offers some tips to help manage this important aspect of the building process successfully.