![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")
AeroLectrics
Why we need regulated voltage in our aircraft and how zener diodes, resistors, transistors and semiconductors help us get there.
Wind Tunnel
When the airflow separates from a surface, the result can be unsteady forces or turbulent wake shedding, neither of which is desirable.
Kerosene Dreams
Designer John Monnett has been waiting more than three decades for his SubSonex very short-winged glider to take off, and now it just might.
More Than You Bargained For
It doesn't take a fortune to get a homebuilt aircraft completed and flying, and we look at a few designs that prove the point. By Marc Cook and Mary Bernard.
Fly By Night
Equipping your homebuilt aircraft for night flight has become both more complicated and more flexible thanks to a wide variety of LED lighting solutions. By Mary Bernard.
Cover Story: Carpet and Panels
Now that you've fabricated your seat upholstery, its time to tackle the rest of the interior with a look at carpeting and door panels.
Europa Returns!
Europa Aircraft is gearing up for the future with new leadership, a larger, more sophisticated manufacturing facility, and a sales force on the move.
Around the Patch
Editor in Chief Marc Cook finds himself in the unique position of being able to compare performance of his GlaStar Sportsman with two different Hartzell props.
What’s New
DRE has a new ANR headset, Approach Fast Stack Pro-G Hub is issued a PMA, and the Hummingbird heli quickbuild kit gets FAA approval.
Alternate Pitch Control
When elevator control is lost, there are ways to get the plane on the ground safely using power and trim.
In Case You Missed It
Alternative Energies
Experimental Soaring Workshop: This annual gathering of designers and builders of sailplanes, hang gliders and paragliders is an idea festival, and a must-attend event for enthusiasts. By Dean Sigler.
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.