![[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")
Homebuilding-In the House!
Building a hoist allows a builder to construct a full-span wing assembly inside his house-and keep it out of the family's way.
Ask the DAR
Recertifying a Homebuilt after major changes. Changing the gross weight when putting a Rans S6S on floats.
Highly Evolved
The Lancair Turbine Evolution might be the ultimate Experimental kit aircraft. By Doug Rozendaal.
Editor’s Log
Paul Dye explains how it was possible for him to become editor-in-chief of KITPLANES before he actually left his old job at NASA and what you can expect to see in KITPLANES in the near future.
What’s New
AeroLEDs introduces new landing/recognition lights, Wicks Aircraft offers a comprehensive assortment of O-rings. Edited
Free Flight
When developing a strategy for a flight, it’s important to know the limitations of XM weather, NEXRAD radar, moving maps and other tools.
The Dawn Patrol
Bent landing gear on a Kolb Twinstar MK-II? This is a job for the Flabtrolic press—or maybe not.
In Case You Missed It
Going Overboard
Have you ever lost anything out of an airplane? Gravity being omnipresent—and apparently increasing...
Firewall Forward: Electrical Systems, Part 1
Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of wiring—plenty of homebuilders didn’t know how to do it when they started their projects. Get yourself the right tools, then jump in and start learning. Dave Prizio outlines the basics.