![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")
2025 Engine Buyer’s Guide
Traditional engines dominate, but the alternatives are looking more mainstream.
A Baker’s Dozen
Vic shares his decision process for both choosing another RV-10 as well as choosing some of the “upgrades.”
Precious Metal
My wedding might not make it into Vogue, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make it into KITPLANES!
Buying an Unfinished Project
There are plenty of things to look out for before committing to an unknown collection of parts and pieces from another fellow builder.
The “Flying by Feel” Fallacy
Smart pilots embrace tools like AoA systems to reduce risk—not ego-driven notions of flying solely 'by feel.'
Here We Go Again
Looking ahead to the aircraft kits and plans—for airplanes and rotorcraft—available for 2025
How Bad Could a Prop Strike Be?
A prop strike, even at very low speed and power, is a serious matter.
In Case You Missed It
The Dawn Patrol
When the chainsaw starters they'd been using on their airplanes for years finally started to give out, Dawn Patrol members searched for a replacement. It turned up in a garden tractor.
What’s New
The Jabiru LSA was certified, a new Sport Hornet is introduced, Vertical Power offers climate control in the cockpit, Cirrus is taking orders, an old favorite book title is back in print, the PT-6 firewall-forward package is now on a Turbo Grizzly, and an LED pilot pen lights the great write way; edited by Mary Bernard.
Do-It-Yourself Ejection Seat
Adding lift to the seat allows a builder to exit his Fly Baby easily (plus it’s virtually undetectable to bystanders).
Free Flight
The words "test pilot" conjure images of steely-eyed derring-do, but the reality is often a world away from all that.