![[Credit: Lisa Credit]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Experimental.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Have You Seen Your Oplims?")
![[Credit: Andrew Robinson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/737_VGs2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Vortex Generators")
![[Credit: Van's Aircraft]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Vans_RV14A.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Something New On The Horizon")
![[Credit: Lisa Turner]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Chute-Topaz-Gigapixel-2x-scale.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Should You Consider A Whole Aircraft Parachute?"){kind=tracking}
25th Anniversary: Builder Assistance
Builder-assistance programs continue to grow and change to accommodate both builders needs and FAA regulations. By Mary Bernard.
Ask the DAR
This month our DAR answers questions about the size and placement requirements for N numbers on Experimental aircraft.
Anywhere Map Travel Companion
Bob Fritz takes Anywhere Maps new PDA Travel Companion for a test ride, and discusses what features are winners and what comes up short.
Meet the Grizzly
AeroTek Aviations Beaver-size amphibious kit airplane, the Grizzly, showcases the company's 550-shaft-horsepower Pratt & Whitney PT6A engine conversion, which has also flown in the Murphy Moose. By Ed Wischmeyer.
Shockwave
There's a new anti-icing option for high-end Experimental/Amateur-Builts. Its called Therm-X. By Jack Cowell.
Air Power
The art of porting cylinder heads, whether by hand or by CNC machine, is a valuable part of blueprinting detailed engine builds or overhauls, and surprisingly subtle changes can determine how efficiently the engine will breathe.
The Home Machinist
If you need to send a part out to be built by a professional shop, a good drawing, well identified, is essential. The KISS principle applies, and be sure you don't request closer tolerances or more exotic materials than you really need, or it will cost you.
To Launch a Light Sport
This month builder Bob Fritz searches for a better alternative to last-century circuit technology for his panel and finds it in a Polyfuse.
Build Your Skills: Fabric
Everyone could use a little sunscreen, and the fabric on a fabric-covered aircraft is no exception. This months installment, the last in the series, discusses pre-paint protection to minimize sun damage. By Ron Alexander.
Wind Tunnel
Aerodynamics Engineer Barnaby Wainfan dissects one of the most common and possibly least understood flight maneuvers: turns.
In Case You Missed It
Light Stuff
Roy Beisswenger reports from Beach Blast 2011, the third annual PPG beach fly-in held each May at Panama City Beach, Florida.
Unusual Attitude
Vans Aircraft founder Richard VanGrunsven considers flight safety, and how improving our building and piloting skills would do more to reduce the number of mishaps than additional regulations would.