![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=534&h=462&crop=1 "Viking V-42 Twin")
![[Credit: Van's Aircraft]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_5238.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Part 22 Gets Real: Van’s Delivers the First MOSAIC-Certified Airplane")
![Backcountry manners intact: the ULT sits on a grass strip with the turbine spun up, built on the STOL-capable Carbon Cub UL airframe. [Credit: CubCrafters]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-20-at-11.12.13-AM.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "The New Jetprop Carbon Cub")
![[All images credited to Mike Davenport]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DSC_6716.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Glasair Sportsman 2+2, Part Two")
![Dragging it in low and slow for the STOL competition. [Credit: Andrew Robinson]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SnF_dragging_in.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Sun ’n Fun 2026 Recap: Avionics Upgrades, Thorp Kits, and STOL Action")
Proposed FAA Guidance on Homebuilts Is Announced
Offering a 30-day comment period, the FAA has announced its much anticipated Official Notice of proposed guidance pertaining to the regulation of Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft....
New Product: AeroPulsar TSO’d LED Nav/Strobe Introduced
AeroLEDs has announced its latest contribution to aviation lighting products. The new Pulsar was designed from a “clean sheet,” using advanced mechanical/electrical computer modeling...
New Product: Speed Brakes for RV-10
RDD Enterprises, LLC announced the availability of the electrically actuated Speed Bra-X for the Van’s RV-10. RDD’s David McRae headed up the development program...
New Product: Klein LED Flashlights
Klein Tools has introduced a new line of flashlights designed for long life and superior lighting. Made from polymers and using LEDs for illumination, the products range from a pocket-size X3 penlight to the Xenon X44 NiMH rechargeable spotlight, whose head pivots 180; it can lay flat or stand upright.…
New Product: Speed Brakes for RV-10
RDD Enterprises, LLC announced the availability of the electrically actuated Speed Bra-X for the Vans RV-10. RDDs David McRae headed up the development program for the design, working with Precise Flight, Inc., which holds a number of Supplemental Type Certificates for speed brakes on a range of aircraft, many of which are installed as original equipment. At cruise speeds, Speed Bra-X deployment will give you a steady speed descent rate of 1000 feet per minute…
VedaloHD Sunglasses
We recently tried out a set of VedaloHD sunglasses and are quite impressed with them. They're made in Italy and have the look...
New Product: Klein LED Flashlights
Klein Tools has introduced a new line of flashlights designed for long life and superior lighting. Made from polymers and using LEDs for illumination,...
New Product: Anywhere Travel Companion
Anywhere Map made quite a splash in the pond of low-cost GPS devices when the company introduced its PDA-based systems in 1999. Early users...
New Product: SVT for G900X Is Like G1000
EFIS in light aircraft is approaching its eight-year anniversary, and all I can say is, you’ve come a long way, baby. Just this past...
Sportair Sirius SLSA Makes First Flight
TL-Ultralight has recently completed a series of test flights of the TL-3000 Sirius in the Czech Republic. The Sirius is a two-passenger, high-wing, carbon-fiber...
In Case You Missed It
Precious Metal
My wedding might not make it into Vogue, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make it into KITPLANES!
Alternative Energies
As the powers that be debate the future of 100LL, participants at the Fifth Annual Electric Aircraft Symposium pondered how to make the alternatives more practical and efficient. By Dean Sigler.
Understanding Lithium Batteries
Kathy and Reg Nicoson of EarthX, Inc. explain what you need to know.