![[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}
Coming of Age at Reno
As I start this month’s column, it hasn’t fully sunk in that I won’t be going back to Reno, but I still feel a...
A Fine Specimen
There’s something you probably can guess about so-called factory airplanes—examples of Experimental aircraft built for design evaluation as well as press and customer exposure—but...
LSA Tail Stand
I decided I needed a tail stand after my transponder inspection last spring. A normal transponder inspection is pretty basic: Turn on the avionics...
Complex Impedance
A loyal reader writes, “I have a homebuilt Bugsmasher with a couple of com radios. They are a FlashBoom 32X and a LoudenWhapper 22A....
Cooling Inlets, Part 2
As we saw last month, an ideal cooling air inlet system should ingest air from the free stream and bring it to rest or...
Archive: August 2014
As our industry continues to mature and anniversaries come hurtling at us, it’s worth recalling that in our August 2014 issue the venerable Van’s...
Inserting Bolts, Installing Nuts
I never set out to write a hardware trilogy, yet here we are. A little ditty on washer usage begat a column on bolt-length...
In Case You Missed It
Viewfinder
Vertical Power’s VP-400 stands ready to locate the nearest airports and help you plot and execute an emergency landing—welcome assistance for the pilot experiencing an in-flight failure. By Marc Cook.