![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")
Angle of Attack vs. Airspeed
Angle of attack indicators have been used by the military and airlines for years and have made their way into general aviation as well,...
Conflicting Cues
Many years ago, after a visit to my snowbird parents, I was IFR and climbing to my eastbound altitude of 9000 feet. We all...
Chemysteries
All machined things (parts, tools, etc.) eventually have to be “finished” in one way or another. This may include tumbling, sandblasting or burnishing, but...
Solder It Up
We are almost to the end of our romp through the solder pads. We’ve learned about the solder itself, and now it is time...
Beware the Scammer
We don’t talk about scams a lot in Experimental aviation. Yes, there were probably a few companies in our realm we might have accused...
Glass Blowing for Wing Lights
Building and installing Flyleds’ landing and taxi lights in a GlaStar's wings.
Pilot Not In Command
An audible sigh and an acceptable landing punctuated the end of a stuttering cross-country. It punctuated it on a Wednesday, however, not the previous...
Night Flight
The theme of this month’s treatise is centered on flight operations at night. But I specifically chose the title because “Night Flight” happens to...
Thunder Struck
Some of my fondest memories are nestled in the early days of various race weeks—a special time in which those in the Sport Class...
In Case You Missed It
Build Your Skills: Fabric
Fabric has been used to cover a wide variety of aircraft since the Wright brothers first started tinkering with flying machines. But fabric-covering processes have changed a lot in the last century, becoming more systematic in addition to being more reliable. Part 1 of this new series by Ron Alexander details the evolution of fabric covering and discusses some of the basics of getting started.
Know Your (Operating) Limitations
Experimental aircraft are issued "special" airworthiness certificates, and those come with specific operating limitations.
Wind Tunnel
When is an airplane in trim? At least to the pilot, the airplane is trimmed when no stick force is required to maintain equilibrium. So how do we achieve this? Barnaby Wainfan explains any number of ways to go about it, including the use of trimtabs, spring systems, sparrow strainers and variable incidence tails.