![Careful planning and determination will get you to your goal of building and flying your own airplane. [Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Pulsar-Sunset.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Last Bits")
![[Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/AdobeStock_262642207_AGCuesta.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Winging It")
![Lowell Farrand spent years serving as an FAA DAR and is in the EAA Hall of Fame. He offers sound advise to builders. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/unnamed-4.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Think Like a Builder")
![The 160 hp turbocharged Rotax 916iS is a four-stroke piston engine with redundant electronic fuel injection and ignition. [Credit: BPR Rotax]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/PIC_916-iS_iSc-2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "2026 Engine Buyer’s Guide")
![The alternative to bending down as the propeller is pulled through the compression stroke is to keep the back straight and bend the knees slightly, stepping away in a crouch. [Credit: LeRoy Cook]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_1519-scaled.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Manual Starting Methods")
Aero ‘lectrics
Jim Weir offers a solution for how to regain reception when your rubber ducky antenna fails.
It Pays To Heed Convention
Barnaby Wainfan looks at unconventional flight-control configurations in the cockpit and why they can throw even a seasoned pilot.
Building on a Budget
Building his VW-powered Zenith CH 701 taught Wayne Clagg a lot about the consequences of powerplant choices… and much more.
2011 Engine Buyer’s Guide
We take another look at the current offerings of traditional aircraft engines. Compiled by Marcie Moody with text by Marc Cook.
Flight Review: Return of the Ultralight
A few hours piloting the Belite may make you reconsider your preconceived notions about ultralight aircraft. By Ed Wischmeyer.
Around the Patch
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook discusses his recent visit to a Zenith Aircraft factory workshop where he had the pleasure of flying some airplanes and pulling some rivets.
What’s New
New landing lights from AeroLEDs, a lightweight headset from MGL, the electric Waiex makes its first flight, and FatBoy offers throttle quadrants for Vans RV kit aircraft. Edited by Mary Bernard.
Safety Is No Accident: Fatality Rates for Homebuilt Aircraft
The accident fatality rate for homebuilt aircraft is higher than the GA rate, but why?
One Builder’s Headache is Another’s Project
Sometimes picking up a project that needs a little work is just the ticket for (re)building satisfaction.
Experimotive
Necessity is the mother of invention, and the Corvair engine for aircraft has inspired a host of innovative aftermarket solutions. By Rick Lindstrom.
In Case You Missed It
All About Avionics: We Came, We Saw
There are seemingly few more mundane tasks than making holes, but there are as many ways to do them, as there are different sizes and shapes of holes. This month, Stein Bruch describes how to cut holes in the panel yourself, using tools you may already have around the shop.
One Thing Leads to Another
It started simply enough. With a mistake. OK, maybe just a misapplication of learned behavior.
Makin’ PC Boards
Looking back at projects in prior issues of KITPLANES®, I realize I’ve given you...