Make Your Aircraft Look Fantastic!
Who doesn't want their homebuilt aircraft to look like a million bucks?
Cleco Pads
I recently painted the glareshield section of the top forward fuselage skin before gluing the canopy. Lots of work was invested, and I...
Fine Line Paint Masking
Masking curved lines can be an exercise in frustration. Most tape will not bend without forming a crease. Multiple strips don't work because...
Build Your Skills: Metal, Part 1
An RV builder begins our journey through the gritty details of working with metal.
Metal Working 11-part Series
Now the exceedingly popular and extraordinarily useful 11-part Build YourSkills: Metal Series is available as a single PDF. This must-have additionto your library was written by RV-7 builder Dan Checkoway and carefullyillustrated for first-time metal-workers and old hands alike. Mosteverything you need to now, from material handling and cutting to deburring,drilling and riveting is in this series.
The Home Machinist, Part 6
Paying attention to the working environment and maintaining machining tools in tip-top shape can yield a more polished finished product, while also making the fabrication process easier.
In Case You Missed it
Inside KITPLANES: Flight Review Procedures
KITPLANES has a system for conducting flight reviews of airplanes, much like homebuilders may (or should) when they are considering which project to build. Editor-at-Large Marc Cook takes you through the evaluation process.
Turbine Moose: The Ultimate Amphib
Its said that sailors make good floatplane pilots because they understand the nature of wind on the water. Sailboat racer and pilot Rick Orchard took that sentiment to heart in a big way when he decided to pump up an already large homebuilt (the Murphy Moose) by adding Aerocet amphibious floats and a 550-horsepower Pratt & Whitney PT6A-20 turbine engine.
The Personalized Grip
There comes a time, fairly early in the kit-building process, where if a builder...
Remember When: The BD-5 Micro
The BD-5's reputation precedes it: long in development, company bankruptcy, investor losses, challenging to fly, early accidents. With an introduction like that, who would think this micro plane would be such a positively straightforward blast to fly?