![[Credit: ChatGPT]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/What-did-you-miss-Topaz-Gigapixel-4x-scale.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Last Bits"){kind=tracking}
![The best builders learn to combine both mindsets. They build like engineers but think like future mechanics. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_0037.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Building vs. Fixing")
![[Credit: Wikimedia Commons]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/F-117_Nighthawk_Front.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Odd and Unusual Aircraft")
![After nearly 75 years, the basic Tailwind design remains sound. [Credit: LeRoy Cook]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_4636.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "The Wittman Tailwind")
![Trimming composites gets the full PPE job. [Credit: Eric Stewart]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/7-2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "A Few of My Favorite Tools")
Wooden Props
While composite props are making inroads, the century-old technology of wood more than holds its own. By Paul Bertorelli.
Error Chain
Bubble, bubble, boil… and trouble! Vapor lock stops a Lycoming during Phase 1 testing. By Bill Repucci.
Give Yourself a Brake
Brakes are pretty simple to install and maintain, but they are also pretty important. The stopping, and in many cases steering, of your airplane...
Practical Electrical
Battery facts and fables for the aircraft builder–Part 1. By Robert L. Nuckolls, III.
In Case You Missed It
Preparing For First Start
Steve Ells discusses the preparation and procedures for starting your new or newly overhauled engine for the first time.
Archive: October 1999
Mike Arnold’s hyper efficient AR-5 was on our October 1999 cover with a report...
Ask the DAR
Engine data plate, airworthiness certificate issued by an IA, ELT requirements with ADS-B.
