![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")
See How Pioneer Control Grips Are Made
KITPLANES columnist Ari Rayment takes us on a tour of Pioneer Control Grips with new co-owner Skylar Thody. These handmade control grips are works...
Bingo Fuel
Having more gas on board than needed for a given flight seems easy enough to comprehend, yet every year an alarming number of flights...
A Cautionary Tail
One Monday morning I opened an email from the second owner of a Onex. It was sent at 8:12 p.m. on Saturday. An attached...
My Home Airport
Recently I walked into Van’s Aircraft and kissed the cutest engineer I could find. He didn’t seem that thrilled. I suppose that’s what happens...
Archive: April 1985
Built by John Tumilowicz, the Sirocco on our April 1985 cover was the fifth design by Marcel Jurca. Candidly, author Howard Levy related that,...
Nothing New
Apparently having done something evil in a former life, I’ve been consigned to toil on this magazine’s Engine Buyer’s Guide in this life. I...
CubCrafters EX-2 363 Walkaround Review
CubCrafters' Brad Damm details all the differences in the EX-2 with the CC 363i engine. The updated Carbon Cub has more power and less...
Executing the Execution
Airplanes are born of time and tedium. Mostly tedium. A harsh statement, yet a true one. There’s just no way around deburring the thousands...
In Case You Missed It
Build a Bear: Moving Right Along
It’s starting to look like a Sport Cub. Dave Prizio gets to work on the systems and finishes the wings.
Build Your Skills: Metal, Part 2
How to meld with metal and bash rivets without blood or tears; by Dan Checkoway.