Experimentals

The FAA is investigating the collision between a piloted 35 percent scale replica of a B-29 with a golf cart at Glenndale Airport near Kokomo, Indiana, that sent a woman to the hospital on Sunday. Howard County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement the woman was at the side of the runway at the small […]

The Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) says the number of amateur-built fatal accidents dropped by 28 percent compared to the previous year. During the FAA’s 12-month period, which concluded Sept. 30, 2023, there were 28 fatal accidents in amateur-built aircraft—down from 39 fatal accidents in the previous year. Additionally, experimental category aircraft saw a nearly 30 […]

Eddie Sanches herds an American Airlines 777 around for a living, but on the weekends he enjoys the rough and tumble world of STOL drag racing. Three years ago he purchased and raced a Just Aircraft Highlander with a Rotax 914 engine, which he later upgraded to an EP 912, putting out 155 hp. At ArkanSTOL 2022 (what a […]

Zenith Aircraft Company hosted its 32nd annual Homecoming fly-in last week, welcoming an estimated 500 visitors during the two-day event. The fly-in took place Sept. 15-16 at the kit aircraft manufacturer’s factory on Mexico Memorial Airport (KMYJ) in Mexico, Missouri. Zenith Homecoming organizers reported that around 50 aircraft flew in for the event with a […]

So what can you do with a multi-engine seaplane rating? You can fly firefighting aircraft that scoop water from lakes and dump it on big fires. You can fly an air taxi at a couple of small operations in Florida or Washington. You can fly PBYs with the Commemorative Air Force. Or, perhaps best of […]

With all the kits available, why did Art Zemon choose a 50-year-old design? It’s a question he gets often, usually followed by “Are you nuts?” The BD-4 “is not pretty,” said the 59-year-old computer engineer based at the St. Charles County Airport west of St. Louis, Missouri. “It looks like the box the airplane came […]

So here I am. A 23-year-old with my own airplane. I’ve made the investment but don’t (yet) know how to fly it or fix it. I knew that N2165U, my Van’s RV-6, was going to need a lot of love, and I wanted to start immediately so I could fly it as soon as possible. As […]

You never know quite what to expect from CubCrafters these days. The company started by the late Jim Richmond in 1980 grew conventionally enough at first, refurbishing the Piper Cub in its many forms and then seeking to improve the design with more modern materials and practices than could ever be envisioned by Piper during […]

Kitfox Aircraft showed not one but two Experimentals powered by the new 160-hp Rotax 916 at AirVenture 2023. We caught up with Kitfox’s Brandon Petersen, whose own Kitfox has pride of place at the corner of the company booth. Builder of the “no-compromises” airplane, he describes the performance and capability of Kitfox’s newest model. For more information: www.kitfoxaircraft.com […]

Van’s Aircraft responded to reports of cracking of dimpled parts found in recent kits here at AirVenture on Tuesday morning. The defects are the result of changes in the process for laser-cutting parts by an outside vendor. From February 2022 through June 2023, Van’s transitioned some parts from traditional punch-press manufacturing to an outside vendor […]