![[Credit: ChatGPT]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/What-did-you-miss-Topaz-Gigapixel-4x-scale.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Last Bits"){kind=tracking}
![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=265&h=198&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")
Temporary Resuscitation
Last month we tackled the wobbly control stick on Kevin King’s SQ2000. This month was going to be about making an adapter to fit...
Can You Keep It Together?
Part of your aircraft kit-building journey will require you to temporarily fasten various components together. For example, maintaining precise alignment while drilling parts that...
QLF–Amateur Radio in Your Aircraft
To find the earliest recorded amateur radio in an aircraft, we have go back to 1912 when Lieutenant B.T. James (RAF) strapped a pair...
Avgas Next Steps
It had to happen. Ever since leaded automotive fuel was phased out in the 1970s, there’s been talk about getting the lead out of...
Design Process: Tail Trim Functions
In addition to stabilizing the airplane in pitch, the horizontal tail must also trim the airplane. In steady-state level flight, the airplane flies at...
See Fit
Recently, a former airline colleague was killed when his Experimental aircraft impacted rapidly rising terrain while in level flight. It is easy to know...
Metallic Puce and Other Considerations
Airplane people tend to be drawn to all Machines That Move Us. Cars, motorcycles, boats. (Trains, too, but it’s cumbersome, as an individual, to...
In Case You Missed It
Archive: June 2013
Sonex’s blazing yellow Onex was on our cover this month—proclaiming “half the seats, twice...
Building the ‘Beater – Part 4
It’s hard to believe that several months have gone by again and it’s time...
Lockwood Super Drifter
Throttling back to enjoy the Florida scenery, Marc Cook is reminded of the reasons he first fell in love with flying as he pilots the new Lockwood Super Drifter.