![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")
Around the Patch
Its unclear what will constitute the standard fuel for General Aviation once leaded fuel is phased out by the EPA. But what is clear is that the stakeholders need to become informed and voice their opinions to the decision-makers. By Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook.
What’s New
Lancair is under new ownership, Dynon updates its SkyView software, design rights for the Murphy Renegade are for sale, and you can treat your pet to in-flight oxygen with Aeroxs system. Edited by Mary Bernard.
All About Avionics: Flight-Control Systems
As the industry matures, the sheer variety and capabilities of autopilots for Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft are flourishing. By Stein Bruch.
The Home Machinist
Bob Fritz visited the TechShop workshop in Menlo Park, California, and got to play with lots of big, shiny toys that any homebuilder would covet.
Mind the Gap
An ill-fitting joint where the wing joins the fuselage doesn't leap to mind as a foremost source of induced drag, but the effects can be significant.
Flight Review: Lockwood Super Drifter
Like piloting an AirCam, only more so, the Lockwood Super Drifter is for those who can’t get enough of that wind-in-your-hair feeling.
Flight Review: Revival of the Fittest
Part Husky, part Cub, the Bearhawk Patrol evokes 1940s-era shapes but with the benefit of today’s advanced manufacturing. By Chuck Berthe.
Letters
Fenced Goods (Best Letter) Thank you, Dave Martin, for your lucid and rational letter in support of airparks and TTF operations....
In Case You Missed It
Zen Four a Day
Flying four of Zeniths designs at the factory in Mexico, Missouri, prompted a deeper appreciation for the company's utilitarian approach to design. By Marc Cook.