Experimentals

I have often written that before you start building an airplane, you should set your requirements: What is the airplane designed to do? What design satisfies that goal? How does it need to be equipped to perform that mission? Once you have decided on a project for a specific mission, it is important to keep those […]

Keen to show off their new High-Wing variation of the well-regarded low-wing TSi, South African airframer Sling has done so in spectacular fashion by flying the prototype and production serial numbers one and two from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The trio landed at AirVenture yesterday afternoon. The epic jaunt was flown in daylight in legs up […]

The Sling High Wing is evolutionary and revolutionary at the same time. It’s an entirely new concept for low-wing-producing Sling Aircraft. According to Sling Aircraft founder and chief designer Mike Blythe, the High Wing stemmed from a request by an older, less flexible and larger customer who said, “If you build a high-wing airplane that […]

Every so often we catch a glimpse of something. You do a double-take and your heart flutters before your brain can make sense of it. You feel your cheeks lift as you realize what it is. Oh, that. Cool. I know what that is. I’m a part of that club. It could be a Grateful […]

What’s that? A custom-built Zenith STOL CH 701 taildragger? Now that’s something you don’t see every day. As we all know, Experimental aviation provides builders with more room to, well, experiment. Ivan Gromala of Quality Sport Planes (QSP), took advantage of this additional room to roam and put his STOL CH 701 on conventional landing gear. Originally […]

One of the best things about going out to visit kit companies—aside from the airplanes of course—is meeting the people that make up our community and industry. I have spent time at so many kit companies that it is hard to visit with all the acquaintances I have made over the years when I get […]

“For the time and money invested, there is no other airplane of this type that I would rather have,” said Paul Cox of Fort Myers, Florida. Without context, his opinion leans toward the homebuilder hyperbole side of the dial. The Experimental/Amateur-Built design he’s talking about is the Mustang II. He’s scratch-built two of them from […]

When you write about kitbuilt airplanes, every now and then a unique opportunity pops up. I recently heard a rumor that after 30 years in the aircraft manufacturing business, Darryl Murphy had sold Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing LTD and was now able to spend time fishing the lakes around Vancouver, British Columbia, with one of his […]

If the name MOAC seems somehow military to you, there’s a reason for that—it sort of is. A couple of years ago, American Legend, the company from Sulphur Springs, Texas, that reimagined first the J-3 and then the Super Cub, built an airplane for a U.S. Army project. The Army realized that there are times when sending […]

Every year at Sun ‘n Fun one or two planes generate a buzz that sparks everyone’s interest. This year, that plane is the Scale Wings SW-51, straight from Eggenfelden, Germany. What distinguishes this 70% replica of the iconic P-51 Mustang fighter of World War II is the unbelievable attention to detail. The whole airframe is […]