![SR-1 cowl being integrated with spinner and cooling ducts. The cowl is assembled to itself/to the fuse primarily with countersunk #8 screws. [All images credited to Eric Stewart]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/1KP.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Custom Cowl Fabrication: Building the SR-1 Composite Cowl")
![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")
![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")
Missing Rivets
This is the root rib on a horizontal stabilizer. The rivets that fasten the rib to the spar are completely missing!
KITPLANES Virtual Round Table: Shops and Shop Spaces
Whether you build in a big box or a one-car garage, you can benefit from shop organization and tool selection.
Mounting On a Curve
A long time ago, when homebuilders began installing Garmin 430s—the most popular IFR GPS/nav/com of the day—we were mostly left on our own to...
Nutsert Notes
Let me say right up front that I hate nutserts. Also called rivet nuts, threaded inserts or rivnuts. (I’m sure there’s a formal product...
Lightweight Stepladder
I affectionately refer to my Jabiru light-sport as being a “low high-wing” airplane. This is because, despite it being a high-wing configuration, you have...
Support Your Wings
Having constructed several high-wing aircraft kits, I can attest to the anxiety that comes from the exercise of mounting wings to the fuselage. This...
VHF Com–the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
With a panel full of glass and diodes turned into all the colors of the rainbow, the poor old VHF com sitting over in...
Torque Wrench Basics
Torque is a twisting or rotational force about an axis such as the length of a bolt. It is measured in foot-pounds, inch-pounds or...
Jam Nut Triple Threat
Jam nuts serve a purpose and that is to prevent actuating arms from becoming disconnected. I found three examples on the same airplane. Two...
Prepare for a Charge
The battery you install in your homebuilt kit will have nearly the same kind of life as the one in your automobile. It will...
In Case You Missed It
Editor’s Log
Editor Mary Bernard introduces the new “Build It Better” series by Paul Dye and praises Kitfox Aircraft for its ongoing development efforts.
Under New Management
An inside look at EFII's all-new electronic engine control system for Experimental Lycomings.
