![[Credit: Lisa Credit]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Experimental.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Have You Seen Your Oplims?")
![[Credit: Andrew Robinson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/737_VGs2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Vortex Generators")
![[Credit: Van's Aircraft]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vans_RV14A.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Something New On The Horizon")
![[Credit: Lisa Turner]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Chute-Topaz-Gigapixel-2x-scale.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Should You Consider A Whole Aircraft Parachute?"){kind=tracking}
Wind Tunnel
Builders are often in a rush to prove the airworthiness of their homebuilt projects, but thorough flight-testing is essential.
Virus Motorglider
Ed Wischmeyer samples the Pipistrel Virus, a versatile Slovenian composite motorglider that can be built or bought ready-to-fly.
2012 Alternative Engine Buyer’s Guide
If you’re in the market for an auto-conversion engine for your homebuilt aircraft, here’s a definitive guide to the options. By Patrick Panzera.
Firewall Forward: New, Used, Something Else?
For some builders, new aircraft engines may just be out of reach. Dave Prizio explains what to look for in a used Lycoming or Lycoming-type engine along with what you need to consider before buying.
Building With a Partner
Building an aircraft with a partner can be a rewarding experience. Dave Prizio discusses his relationship with longtime building partner Ed Zaleski, and how to go about forging your own successful building partnership.
What’s New
Garmin offers a GTN 750 training app for iPads; Dynon Avionics and Pocket FMS announce availability of worldwide AeroData for SkyView EFIS;
Viewfinder
By getting an up-close look at the Sandberg reporting station in Southern California, Editor-at-Large Marc Cook finds out why the weather there is almost always worse than it is anywhere else in the L.A. basin.
Wingtip To Wingtip
Formation flying offers challenges beyond those you’d encounter on a $100 hamburger run. Dave Klages spends a day with the West Coast Ravens as they put their RVs through their paces.
Alternative Energies
Electric motorgliders are leading the way in low-cost, fuel-efficient flight. In the second installment of his two-part series, Dean Sigler profiles seven designs at the forefront of this emerging field.
In Case You Missed It
Ranting About All Those &%#@$! Screws
It’s condition inspection time again for the ol’ box kite, hence my grumbling mood....
Ask the DAR
Whats changed with the advent of the revised 51% rule? Fortunately, not as much as you might think.
