![Aircraft designs now can be built in a fraction of the time necessary in the early days of homebuilding. [Credit: Adobe Stock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/AdobeStock_1336488-534x462.jpg "Kit Building Then and Now")
![[Credit: Mike Davenport]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/DSC_0053-265x198.jpg "Pre-War Porterfield")
![Members of the North Idaho High School Aerospace Program gathered at KSZT [Credit: North Idaho High School Aerospace Program]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IMG_3499-265x198.jpg "North Idaho High School Student ACES Fly the Aircraft They Built")
Starlink In The Air
How to Buy, Install, and Use Starlink in Your Aircraft
The long cross-country got quiet somewhere over Nebraska when the last cell tower faded below...
Homebuilding Is Getting Expensive-Or Is It?
The question comes up regularly at fly-ins and EAA chapter meetings, usually voiced by someone shopping around the homebuilding community for an affordable project:...
A Note From The New Editor
The primary focus of a new editor at a magazine like Kitplanes is where the work happens—not in an office, but in a garage,...
Horizons Past And Present—Peter Egan
A summer of open-cockpit adventures, from biplane fly-ins to Peter Egan’s cross-country Cub journey, capturing America low and slow.
Coloring Outside the Lines
Enhance your homebuilt aircraft with clever, lightweight mods like glove boxes, armrests, and cargo cleats—without sacrificing safety or balance.
Build, Test, Refine and Fix—Part 6: High AoA Tail Effects
We explore how the tail design can improve pitch stability at high angles of attack.
Companion DIY Drill Guide
Build a simple aluminum jig to drill AN bolt threads for safety wiring—perfect for when your hardware bin is missing just one critical part.
Build Smart: Make Mods That Matter
Some mods are better than others. Know how to pick the right ones.
In Case You Missed It
Light Stuff
The rules around Letters of Deviation Authority are labyrinthine, which helps explain why they are relatively rare. But the problems could be—and should be—corrected through a few regulatory changes. By Roy Beisswenger.
Editor’s Log
The explosion of ADS-B technology, the new Van’s RV-14 and an editor in a ballistic-parachute simulator—AirVenture was full of exciting developments, as always. Plus: a send-off for Editor-at-Large Marc Cook. By Editor-in-Chief Mary Bernard.