![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=534&h=462&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")
![[Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AdobeStock_125628775.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Roll Recovery, Part 2")
Building the Affordaplane, Part 2
From a construction standpoint this ultralight design is quite unusual in some ways and very traditional in others.
Bending Your Brain
Humans are amazingly adaptable but sometimes we lack imagination. Here’s one example.
Sounding Off
Like some sort of verbal restricted area, certain subjects are such tropes in aviation scribbling that I steer around them like they were cumulonimbus....
In Case You Missed It
New to Homebuilding?
With so many options available, how can you choose a kit aircraft to build? From financing to storage to operating costs (and don’t forget insurance), a few factors can point you to a project that will fit your needs. By Scott “Sky” Smith.
The Unintimidated Builder
Builder Walter Treadwell has taken on projects that many of us would find daunting, and he keeps upping the ante. First came a Lancair 235, then a plansbuilt Jenny JN-4, followed by a P-38 and then his current project, a resized Sikorsky S-38. Some 4000 hours into the new project, Treadwell has a ways to go, but fortunately he has a mini AgCat to fly in the meantime; by Bob Fritz.