![Maintenance technician William Vergonet conducts an inspection on a Cub. [Credit: Lisa Turner]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/IMG_3535.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Post-Flight Maintenance Debrief")
![Pat McKiernan has found that he and his dad who built this beautiful RV-7 simply learned to enjoy the build. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Builder.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Life Lessons From Building an Airplane")
![[Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AdobeStock_51865118.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "FAA MOSAIC Rule Fully Implemented")
![My 36 year old clipboard from when I started at Boeing. Engineering ruler and fastener/fastener hole cheat sheets. [Credit: Andrew Robinson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Liaison_clipboard.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "What Is a Liaison Engineer?")
![At Sun ‘n Fun 2026, Viking Aircraft Engines surprised the crowd with its first complete kit — the V-42, a high-wing twin powered by two Honda-based engines. Here’s an early look. [Credit: Andrew Robinson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/P1020293.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Viking V-42 Twin")
Fast, Flat and Simple
Nearly every kit aircraft will require a large, flat worktable for some part of its construction. Large and flat are the important qualities that...
Stage Right
Of all the milling machine jobs I do, 99.99% involve clamping work in the mill vise. Occasionally, a project comes up where the part...
HOG Prime Mover
Time to stop messing around. Time to fish or cut bait. Time to…oh, you know all the rest of that stuff. Me? I’m getting...
Design Process: Ailerons
Last month we looked at roll control schemes for airplanes where high lift or other requirements do not leave enough room on the wing’s...
Missing Safety Wire
The jam nut on this flap motor is required to be safety wired to prevent the nut from coming loose. There is a lot...
Metal Magic: Installing Nutplates
Every screw needs a place to go, and for many metal airplanes, that's into a nutplate. KITPLANES editor at large Paul Dye shows you...
Good Fundamentals
I am often asked what it takes to fly many different airplanes, especially when some are prototypes for which very little data exists. My...
Failure to Launch
This month’s column is not about unmotivated or overaged adolescents living in Mom’s basement, nor honeymoon disasters. This is much more serious than those...
In Case You Missed It
Maintenance Tools
If you are going to do a proper job of maintaining your airplane, you will need some tools that don’t have much use outside of aviation.
Archive: September 2013
Our cover featured a SeaRey amphibian chilling out on the water. Inside, Dave Forster...
