![Trimming composites gets the full PPE job. [Credit: Eric Stewart]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/7-2.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "A Few of My Favorite Tools")
![Lowell Farrand spent years serving as an FAA DAR and is in the EAA Hall of Fame. He offers sound advise to builders. [Credit: Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/unnamed-4.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Think Like a Builder")
![Author Bill Wilson takes a break from measuring and cutting the Lexan windshield during his Onex build. [All Images Credit to Bill Wilson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-2.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Think Like A Builder")
Sausage, Law and Breadboards
Otto von Bismarck said that if you enjoy sausage and law, you should never watch either of them being made. I will add to...
Improper Bolt Length
A bolt should extend beyond the nut by 1–3 threads. If it is any longer, then the next size shorter bolt should be used....
A Seal Deal
Radial oil seals, the kind found on rotating parts such as crankshafts, cam shafts and axles, are wear items and occasionally need to be...
Pick the Best Rubber Hose for Your Fuel System
It’s hard to deny that rubber hose is still a popular choice for many homebuilt fuel systems. It is relatively inexpensive and very easy...
Horizontal Stabilizer Crack
In 2014 Van’s Aircraft put out a service bulletin for potential cracking in the horizontal stabilizers of the RV-6, RV-7 and RV-8 series of...
The Proof Is in the Putting
Putting it on the hangar roof and wiring it to the airplane, that is. This is the first of a whole lot of things...
Breaker Breaker
Your aircraft’s electrical system requires some form of electrical overload protection. This is usually addressed by utilizing a number of circuit breakers or fuses....
Yearly Condition Inspection, Part II
This time we will finish up our condition inspection and look at the sometimes controversial topics of service bulletins and airworthiness directives.
About this time...
Prop-aganda
The other day I heard about a guy at my local airport lamenting the cost of overhauling the prop on his $4 million SOCATA...
Summer-Time
I love to look at the beautiful work and magnificent instrument panels that our KITPLANES® readers show us in these pages. But I also...
In Case You Missed It
Bleeder Coupling
Bleeding hydraulic brakes of trapped air is something everyone who builds or works on...
AirCam Adventure
When a former editor of KITPLANES gets an invitation to fly with a group of AirCam pilots to the Bahamas, resistance is futile.
Around the Patch
Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook takes note of the good, bad and the uncapitalized in public reactions to a recent aircraft accident. He encourages knowledgeable pilots, builders and enthusiasts to counter the public rantings of armchair crackpots with kindness and courage. Also, a tip of the buttonless cap to Omar Filipovic, KITPLANES.coms new webmaster, for his savvy work to create a more lively and flexible web site.