KITPLANES的October/November 2025目录

THIS IS ONE of those “features” of a plans-built airplane wherein the builder gets to figure it all out--in this case: how to tie down the airplane. The nice thing is that this is a smaller project that I was able to do in about an hour or so. The Thorp T-18 is a “bent wing bird” (like the F4U Corsair) with a break midspan, and the wing joint provides a logical location for the tie-down brackets. The outer wings’ forward spar attaches by sliding between very stout fittings on the center spar, loading the two 3/8” bolts in double shear. Nice and strong. The business end of the bracket will be in this mid-span joint and require a slot to be cut in the gap cover. That and longer…

IF YOU’VE always wanted to build a light aircraft, but were uncertain you had the time, expertise or money to put together a plane that fit your needs, SilverLight Aviation might have the kit for you. The company’s Recon is a mission adaptable, convertible gear EAB with folding wings that can be put together with factory assistance in about 17 days. And, you can have that plane flying as a Light Sport with a fuel-injected Rotax 912 and glass avionics for less than $130,000. Build it yourself and/or go with simpler avionics and a carbureted 912 and you can knock about $15,000 off that price. Or, you can play with the numbers a little more and add a larger Rotax that allows for a 1500 lbs maximum take off weight.…

WHERE ARE they now? While that question has been asked many times, this time it relates to amateur built aircraft. A look through my bookcase led me to the 1973 Air Progress annual that claimed to list all of the plans built aircraft of the day. This 190 page epic sold for just $2.95 so that will tell you – yes things have changed. Aircraft kits were virtually non-existent. Instead, builders would spend fifty to one hundred dollars for a set of plans and then source all of the material, mostly wood to construct their dream aircraft, for in some cases just $5000. Air Progress listed 143 different sets of plans that ranged in price from $50 to $125. Just like today, many were started but fewer were actually built…

How to Buy, Install, and Use Starlink in Your Aircraft The long cross-country got quiet some where over Nebraska when the last cell tower faded below the horizon. Email stopped updating, weather services went dark, and the kids in the back seats started asking if there was anything to do besides count corn fields. For builders who’ve spent years crafting aircraft capable of extended cross-country flying, that dead zone between departure and arrival has been the final frontier—until now. SpaceX’s Starlink 8,300+ satellite constellation has opened internet access to pilots in ways that seemed impossible just a few years ago. What started as rural broadband for remote farms has become a legitimate option for experimental aircraft, bringing streaming speeds, realtime weather, and full connectivity to altitudes where cell service never…

MANY OF YOU are likely reading this wondering ‘who in the world is this new girl with a funny name and how could she possibly be qualified to lead KITPLANES?’ Allow me to bore you with my quick backstory before I explain where Kitplanes, and Firecrown’s aviation group as a whole, is headed for 2026. I am privileged to call myself a spoiled brat of aviation. As the last of three kids, my father, Bill McClure, was intent on having one of us carry on the aviation tradition in my family, and since my brother and sister didn’t show much interest as the older siblings, I believe I was his last ditch effort to see that vision through. On the way home from the hospital after my birth, we made a…

MEASURE TWICE, cut once. That’s sound advice, though no guarantee you won’t measure wrong twice. Some measuring errors occur before the ruler is in hand, while interpreting plans. Other errors spring from the physical tool and others from how a ruler is employed. A builder’s success can also fall to the mercy of kit documentation; designing and drafting are different skills (an engineer told me he got his degree without a single drafting class) and blueprint reading, once taught in middle school, is a dying skill. I digress. Plans Accuracy vs. Part Accuracy Before CAD, human hands and eyes drew blueprints for human hands and eyes to interpret into parts. Now computers “draw” parts for CNC machines to make. This technology ushered in the matchedhole era of homebuilding, but came with…

RICK AND DAVE sat down at the airport veranda bench with lunch. “I have exciting news. I just located and bought a Christen Eagle,” said Dave. Where did you find it?” asked Rick. “Didn’t Christensen start shipping kits in the late seventies?” “Yes, this one is an early model. It’s been sitting for years in—of all places—a barn. Every time I drive past a barn, I think there might be an airplane inside. “You’re not wrong; I think the same thing, and there actually are airplanes languishing in barns. Anyway, how long has it been in storage? “Thirty years.” “That will be a project indeed. What does it need?” “Not a lot. I’m sending the engine out for checks, but actually the fabric looks pristine.” Dave got the project into his…

THERE’S SOMETHING almost ironic about how the most affordable sport aircraft on today’s market traces its lineage to the Czech Republic, a country that wasn’t even on most pilots’ radar screens twenty years ago. Yet the Aeromarine Merlin Light Sport Aircraft represents perhaps one of the best answers to the age-old aviation question: “How do I get in the air without breaking the bank?” The Merlin’s story begins in the workshops of Czech Aircraft Works, where the original design took shape, in the former Soviet era Let a.s. factory in Kunovice, Cech Republic. When Chip Erwin, a serial aviation entrepreneur with four decades of experience bringing affordable aircraft to market, encountered this Czech-designed single-seater, he recognized something special. After building over 750 aircraft through his previous company, Czech Aircraft Works,…

IT’S NEVER A GOOD SIGN when during your aircraft annual inspection the mechanic calls to report an issue. It’s sort of like getting a call from your doctor’s office following blood work and the person on the line says the doctor would like to see you within the next 24 hours! Depending on who is calling, either you or your plane has a problem! Recently I got such a call from my trusted mechanic regarding my Cirrus SR22T with 660 hours total time. During the annual inspection he was surprised to find on a hot engine compression test that two cylinders had very low compression (32/80 and 38/80). Potential options for addressing the problem included putting the plane back together and flying it for another 15-20 hours and retest the compressions,…

MORE TITANIUM components for the 750SDXtreme! This article is definitely about the controls, but it might be better suited with the title “Losing Control”. While waiting on several major pieces of this puzzle from various companies and machine shops, I have really fallen down the rabbit hole with titanium. It all started a few months ago with my first self-inflicted experience with the precious metal, when I decided to make the steering rods out of titanium. These were a simple and straight-forward design with two pieces: just a rod that is threaded on one end and has a trimmed and drilled piece of plate welded to the other end. They didn’t require any special tools to fabricate and even the Tig welding went very smoothly. Fast forward from then, to…

IT DOESN’T have the reputation of the Cub. Nor is it as well-known as a Taylorcraft, or as fast and maneuverable as a Luscomb. And, it’s not even close to being the most popular plane its manufacturer made. But the Aeronca Chief could well be the perfect aircraft if you’re looking for a side-by-side vintage plane. “It’s an absolute delight to fly… and one of the most inexpensive airplanes when it comes to purchase and long-term maintenance costs,” contends Mark Peterson, a Seattle area Chief owner and member of the Board of Directors of the National Aeronca Association. He says an estimated 700+ Chiefs are still flying, and that it’s usually not difficult to find one in good condition at a very reasonable price, especially in comparison to other similar…

THE ZENITH AIRCRAFT Homecoming marked its 34th year this September in Mexico, Missouri, continuing its reputation as one of the largest and most vibrant kit aircraft gatherings in the country. For decades, Zenith builders, owners, and pilots have looked forward to the event as both an annual pilgrimage and a practical opportunity to deepen their knowledge of building and maintaining Chris Heintz’s wellknown designs. This year’s Homecoming reinforced those traditions, blending hands-on instruction, factory tours, and social gatherings with an unmistakable sense of community that has long defined the Zenith family. Here’s a nice video summarizing the event (with nice aerial footage from Larry Nelson): https://youtu.be/91F_ JMIy0jk. The ramp outside the Zenith factory was once again filled with kit aircraft in various models and configurations. A total of 39 Zenith…