![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")
Reinventing the Wheel
Do you really need to spend your time coming up with a better solution when the one provided is more than good enough?
The Dawn Patrol
Dick Starks recounts the tall tales and travails that The Dawn Patrol encountered at this years Salute to Veterans Airshow.
Letters
That Guy Ive heard about him since I first started flying. Hes usually at a small airport and just happens to...
Aero ‘lectrics
Jim Weir presses the venerable LM317 variable voltage regulator (plus a few other parts) into service as a way to juice up a discharged battery.
Wind Tunnel
Pilots, especially those in low-powered aircraft, must always know how much energy they have available to maintain flight.
Flight Review: The Enduring Eagle
For pure flying excitement and adventure, the Christen Eagle remains hard to beat. By Bob Grimstead.
Flight Review: CGS Hawk Arrow
Chuck Slusarczyk’s lightweight Hawk Arrow can hold its own as a solid cruiser, even in the realm of so-called “real” airplanes. By Ed Wischmeyer.
The Cost to Build
When a kit airplane or plans purveyor provides an estimated cost to complete a project, consider it with a wary eye that's tempered with real-world experience.
The Kitchen Window
BD-4 builder Steven Mahoney commandeers the family's four-burner kitchen appliance to complete a mod for his airplane, and lives to tell the tale.
In Case You Missed It
Archive: March 1995
Rich Trickel’s KIS Cruiser was the subject of our March 1995 cover. KITPLANES® Managing...
