Shop Talk

This month, we look at how an airspeed indicator works and rig up a simple calibration tool for it;

This month we get into actually building the portable antenna that was described last month;

In this first of a two-part series, Jim Weir builds a low-cost, high-efficiency portable ground-based antenna system that he used to great effect in the recent CAFE 400 (fuel efficiency) race in Northern California. You can do it, too.

If your hacksaw has been relegated to the bottom of your toolbox, chances are its because you don't know how to use it properly. Author Bob Fritz offers a primer on the subject that may make you think more highly of this underused tool. A discussion of cam construction and keyless chucks rounds out this installment.

Impressed by the quality of the cheap headsets he encountered on a recent commercial airliner flight, Jim Weir dissected the airline unit and has come up with a way to replicate it in your own shop.

Columnist Jim Weir comes up with what he thinks is the optimal design for getting power from the 12-volt aircraft battery to the LED without wasting any.

Charlie Taylor, the Wright brothers trusted right-hand man and machinist, made their early powered flight experiments possible. And he built the engine using only a drill press, a lathe, a simple scale and more than a little ingenuity; by Bob Fritz.

This month Home Machinist Bob Fritz answers readers letters and passes along some of their better ideas.

Columnist Jim Weir puts two, two, two LED lights in one hole, angled to ensure the maximum nav light visibility in any direction. He explains how to put the system together and explains why heat matters.

Before you decide you cant build a plane because you don't have enough shop space, think again. After all, as author Bob Fritz points out, projects have been built in apartments. This article wont go quite that far, but it does detail some pitfalls to avoid and makes suggestions about maximizing the ease and efficiency of working in a limited-space environment.