Experimentals

Not long after the gas crunch of the late ’70s, I became aware of the buzz regarding a new homebuilt aircraft from this fella Burt Rutan. It was supposed to be ultra fuel efficient, unique in appearance, and built in an almost revolutionary way, sort of like a surfboard. With a lot of time spent […]

This story originally appeared in AVweb sister publication KITPLANES. Every time we go to‭ ‬a major show‭, ‬we try to make sure to drop in on Nick‭ ‬Otterback to see what he’s been working on‭. ‬The designer behind the Arion‭ ‬Lightning is always forthcoming and‭ ‬never gets ahead of himself‭. ‬He lets us know what’s […]

Sonex’s JSX-2T, a two-seat follow on to the solo SubSonex, has been making strong progress toward its live debut at Oshkosh this summer. Over the chilly Wisconsin winter, Sonex will begin constructing a prototype with the aim of having a flying example at the big summer airshow. According to the company, “Most of the work […]

This article originally appeared in our sister brand KITPLANES. It’s part of an ongoing series of articles written for pilots new to the Experimental/Amateur-Built world. Its purpose is to provide a good stepping off point for, shall we say, the homebuilt-curious. Designs to be covered in future installments include the massively popular Van’s RV-6/A and […]

With nearly 1200 experimental/amateur-built aircraft newly registered in 2019, the fleet has seen its largest growth in a decade. The 2019 figure is up from 888 the prior year, while last year 916 aircraft were removed or “de-registered,” for a net gain of 270 registrations. All told, the FAA shows 26,842 aircraft registered as experimental/amateur-built; […]

Kitmaker Sonex Aircraft has reclaimed ownership of the Sonerai design. Penned by Sonex creator John Monnett in the early 1970s, the Sonerai was developed to compete in Formula Vee racing—and is said to be capable of 170 MPH with a converted Volkswagen four-cylinder engine on the nose. The Sonerai has been supported by SoneraiWorks, but […]

Not all flight reviews are equal, and rusty pilots are not at all uncommon, but I recently faced a scenario that gave me pause. It read like the beginning of an NTSB report with a stack of extremely novel circumstances. My choice was either be one of the contributing factors to an accident or one […]

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) announced the official launch of its online EAA Builder’s Log last week. According to the organization, the Builder’s Log is designed to provide aircraft homebuilders with a way to document projects and show compliance with the FAA rule that requires 51 percent of an aircraft be built by an amateur […]

The South African kit manufacturer celebrated a milestone this week when the first Sling TSi built at the company’s Southern Californian builder-assistance center completed its 40-hour Phase I flight-test program. The four-seat Sling has been offered as a kit for some time but the company has been busy setting up a stateside builder-assist program at […]

NASA has successfully completed testing of a new high-aspect ratio wing for its X-57 Maxwell all-electric research aircraft. The goal of the wing tests, which took place at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, was to “calibrate installed strain gauges for real-time loads monitoring and to verify the wing has met design specifications.” The […]