![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")
Calculating Weight and Balance
Tackling weight-and-balance calculations is a task we have all faced with some trepidation, but it is so vital, so important, so fundamental to flight...
Build Your Skills: Metal, Part 1
An RV builder begins our journey through the gritty details of working with metal.
In Case You Missed It
Wind Tunnel
Taking off in an aircraft would seem to be a fairly simple, straightforward maneuver. But in fact it’s complicated, and a combination of factors must be just right for it to work.
Clearly the Same?
There are two materials that are commonly used for homebuilt windshields and windows: Lexan and Plexiglas.
Slide-and-Fly Audio Panels
PS Engineering and Garmin have good replacement options for the obsolete GMA 340.