![The best builders learn to combine both mindsets. They build like engineers but think like future mechanics. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_0037.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Building vs. Fixing")
![[Credit: Wikimedia Commons]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/F-117_Nighthawk_Front.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Odd and Unusual Aircraft")
![After nearly 75 years, the basic Tailwind design remains sound. [Credit: LeRoy Cook]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_4636.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "The Wittman Tailwind")
![Trimming composites gets the full PPE job. [Credit: Eric Stewart]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/7-2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "A Few of My Favorite Tools")
![[Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AdobeStock_125628775.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Roll Recovery, Part 2")
The Independence Project: Tackling the Tail
Dave Martin and the builders of Chapter 292 break out the rivet guns and bucking bars, and work on the RV-12 tail.
Flight Testing: Static System Error, Theory and Practice
Flight testing requires precise airspeed calibration and measurement. A less-than-optimal pitot-static system can compromise those numbers. Heres how to troubleshoot the problem.
Shop Talk: V-Block Drill Jig from Scrap
Having problems drilling a precise hole in a tube? Ishmael Fuentes has the perfect-and inexpensive-solution with this nifty, easy-to-make V-block drill jig.
Aero ‘lectrics
If you've got sticker shock after shopping for a main electrical system junction box, Jim Weir will ease your pain with a junction box you can build (and a cool color-coding system, to boot).
Wind Tunnel
Got separation anxiety? Vortex generators can keep the airflow attached where it belongs.
25th Anniversary: Power Shift
From scrounging engines to building Experimental powerplants: Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook looks at the last 25 years in engine choices for homebuilders.
Product Review: Garmin eLearning for the GPSMAP 696
Marc Cook tries out Garmins eLearning program for the GPSMAP 695/696.
Engine Beat
Do kit aircraft owners have to comply with ADs? Steve Ells examines the dos and donts of this tricky question.
Understanding the Scope of Your Operating Limitations
DAR Mel Asberry clarifies the confusion: Is a homebuilt owner bound by someone elses operating limitations?
In Case You Missed It
Free Flight
Expecting your avionics software to be free of bugs is unrealistic, but there is a way to avoid being bitten.
Safety is No Accident: Avid and Kitfox
This month Ron Wanttaja looks at two similar designs, Avid and Kitfox, which have some major distinctions when it comes to the accident numbers.
Down to Earth
After a reluctant transition from paper to pixels, Amy Laboda explores the options available in digital-charting apps and how she arrived at a decision.
Orso d’Italia
While its not exactly a Cub clone, Groppo's new Trail kit shares some of the same DNA as Pipers classic. By Paul Bertorelli.