![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")
Light Stuff
Dave Martins Spacewalker II makes room for his recently completed RV-12, and heads east to its new owner in Ohio.
Letters
Point
Your article on EAA publications was spot-on. KITPLANES is the ideal magazine for homebuilders. Your how-to-do-it and how-I-done-it articles are informative and educational, even...
Combustion Pressure and the Future of the Aero Engine
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook looks at the changes within Lycoming and how they affect kit builders, as well as Superior Air Parts future since Thielert's bankruptcy.
Build a Bear: Keeping It Real
Dave Prizio and his Build-a-Bear crew get the Texas Sport Cub ready for flight testing, and take to the skies.
Dual Time
Its a stool! Its a set of chocks! Its both. Chuck Deiterich shows you how to craft one with PVC pipe, plywood and some hardware.
Aero ‘lectrics
Vibration is not good for engines, airframes or instruments. Jim Weir explains how to fashion vibration analysis equipment for less than retail cost.
Wind Tunnel
Aerodynamic flutter has been a recent concern in the homebuilt world. What exactly is flutter? What causes it? Barnaby Wainfan clarifies an often misunderstood and potentially dangerous phenomenon.
All About Avionics
Stein Bruch reviews the airborne weather choices for the homebuilder, using technology undreamed of only 20 years ago.
In Case You Missed It
Headset Trial: David Clark Pro-X2
In this Avionics Bootcamp video series, we put the David Clark Pro-X2 on the evaluation bench and took them flying for this field report.
Free Flight
Modern avionics, knowledge of the weather, a sturdy airframe and a cell phone make cross-country trips less of a gamble.
