Homebuilt

Now you can get in the air, in a Belite ultralight under FAA Part 103 regulations, for $28,655. The aircraft weighs just 254 pounds, and is powered by a 50-hp Hirth engine. The Belite Superlite aircraft was named the 2010 Grand Champion Ultralight at Sun ‘n Fun earlier this year. The standard Superlite has upgraded features including...
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The Experimental Aircraft Association announced today that pilot and EAA member Rod Hightower will succeed Tom Poberezny as the organization’s president. Hightower was introduced by Poberezny, during his opening day remarks. Poberezny will remain as EAA chairman and chairman of the annual AirVenture convention. Hightower, a Missouri native, has a distinguished career in business leadership. His...
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The first flight of a homebuilt RV9a aircraft – built by Bill Letcher. He shares his reflections on the build.. and video of the flight.
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EMC News – From the road, The Rideau Lakes Airfield is virtually invisible, tucked away behind a wall of trees and down a narrow laneway. In fact, if not for the periodic drone of small aircraft overhead, visitors to Westport may not even be aware of its existence. Created in the mid-1970’s by local aviation...
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The sleek, beautifully engineered RV-7 is the most popular kit plane in the world — and Ashland building contractor Robert Peyton wanted to make sure he assembled his meticulously. The $15,000 kit took eight years of work, and on Friday morning at the Medford airport, Peyton, a longtime aircraft mechanic, smiled as test-pilot instructor Robert...
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TULSA COUNTY — The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has confirmed that there are two fatalities in a small, private plane crash near Collinsville. The plane came down near the 12600 block of North 75th East Avenue at about 10 a.m. Saturday. Officials on the scene said the plane took off from Airman Acres, a private landing strip, then had...
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CHESTER — At 11:03 a.m. Saturday, eight-year volunteer firefighter Josh Powley was asleep in his Tinicum home when a call came over his radio. “Aircraft down and rescue with two victims in the water,” it said. He jumped up and raced down to the Tinicum Township Fire Co. station. He then boarded a boat docked at...
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A Hollidaysburg man died Friday afternoon when his experimental plane crashed into a field short of a runway in southern Virginia. Herbert G. Rutter, 80, of 1101 Hedge St. may have been flying his self-built Long-EZ to an airplane festival being held at nearby Suffolk Executive Airport this weekend. Authorities don’t know the cause of the...
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Esprit ultralight motor glider, Aero Dovron Esprit experimental aircraft, Aero Dovron Esprit experimental lightsport aircraft, Aero Dovron Esprit homebuilt aircraft, Aero Dovron Esprit amateur built aircraft, Lightsport Aircraft Pilot News newsmagazine.
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The step-by-step construction of a Glasair homebuilt aircraft in a garage. The building time was four years or 3200 hours to complete. The aircraft cruises at 200 mph with a stall speed of 60 mph. It has a retractable gear landing system and is FAA approved for instrument flying. The fuselage, wing, tail and...
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Experimental aircraft flight along a river. An earlier flight along the same course is described at: Learn more
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Jerry Lynch declares he has the bug. An all encompassing high flying sickness for aviation. Flying he says fondly, “is like a disease.” A disease so impermeable that two years ago when Lynch decided to sell off his fleet of planes and take up another hobby, the bug bit back and Lynch willingly bought a kit...
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Jerry Lynch declares he has the bug. An all encompassing high flying sickness for aviation. Flying he says fondly, “is like a disease.” A disease so impermeable that two years ago when Lynch decided to sell off his fleet of planes and take up another hobby, the bug bit back and Lynch willingly bought...
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MERCER, MAINE — A Federal Aviation Administration investigator was sent to Mercer today following the crash of a homemade “experimental” aircraft.  The aircraft appears to be a Super Kitten. Alton Carter, 75, of Industry, walked away from the crash with only scrapes from the seatbelt, he said. The crash happened around 10 a.m. in a...
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A little bit of Valparaiso’s history has come full circle. An experimental aircraft that flew for the first time in 1949 at Urschel Field, now Cumberland Crossing, is now hanging in the lobby of the Valparaiso Family YMCA, which anchors the shopping center on the city’s north side. Valparaiso resident Maurice Anderson, now 83, built...
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Flying the Remos GX to Florida was a lot of fun. And moving along at 130 mph while burning less than six gallons an hour is great — and affordable. But we’re no strangers to looking up the ladder to other options available for travel, especially if they include a cruise speed of 385...
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Milford and Charlie Visit Charlie’s shop to check out his replica homebuilt aircraft. The project is under construction and nearing completion. The airplane is a replica of a 1939 Piper Cub J3. The original aircraft were used as primary flight trainers for the Army Airforce prior to WWII, they were used in WWII as...
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Aviation experts said a crash involving a kit-built helicopter in Middleboro last week highlights safety issues with do-it-yourself aircraft, which they say are involved in a disproportionately-high number of aviation accidents. According to data reported to the National Transportation Safety Board, at least 55 amateur-built helicopters have been involved in accidents since 2005. Those accidents...
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April 10, 2010 – Sonex Aircraft is the first to receive official FAA National Kit Evaluation Team (NKET) checklist acceptance and publication under the newly revised rules governing experimental amateur built aircraft for the Sonex, Waiex and Xenos aircraft kits. NKET checklist participation also opens the opportunity for Sonex Aircraft builders to legally obtain...
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April 8, 2010 — After LoPresti Aviation’s Corkey Fornof, chief pilot for the company’s Fury airplane, was asked repeatedly over the past year on the air show circuit, “Are you ever going to kit the Fury?” the company decided to explore the possibility. The focus of their research was obvious, and right in their...
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James Wiebe, CEO of Belite Aircraft, has another new venture. Wiebe has started Belite Electronics, offering avionics suited for experimental and homebuilt aircraft. The individual instruments weigh half an ounce and are designed to fit into the instrument panels of the planes. The line is called the Patch Flyer. Many of the instruments can be carried...
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The aircraft conforms to FAI UL and LSA definitions. MTOM is 240 kgs (533 lbs). Maximum payload is 130 kgs (289 lbs). The design Philosophy of the SD-1 is to keep weight as low as possible while keeping good performance and handling suitable for low time pilot, at the same time keeping it simple to build. Historically...
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State police identified the two victims of a plane crash Friday evening near Summit Airport that left a man dead and his wife in critical condition. Phillip Lopez, 69, of Brandywine Hundred, was killed and his wife, Patricia Lopez, 69, remains in critical condition in Christiana Hospital, state police Sgt. Walter Newton said. A spokeswoman at...
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LANTANA — Authorities pulled an experimental aircraft from the waters of Lake Osborne after it crashed following take-off from the Lantana Airport Saturday afternoon, claiming the life of its pilot. Michael Cupaiole, 58, of Boynton Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies pulled him from...
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He is considered the father of the homebuilt airplane movement, Bernard Pietenpol. Back in the 1930’s he designed a Model A powered aircraft that was featured in the pages of “Modern Mechanics”, now know as Popular Mechanics. Hundreds upon hundreds have been built with many still flying today.  While a few still use Model A engines,...
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This is a time-laps video we made of the fabrication of the first set the new 1430 MukTuk floats. These floats are laser cut and all pieces fit together by means of simple aligning tabs. Material is 4mm Okume marine plywood. These floats are amphibious with main gear and nose gear activated by air. Check out...
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Statistics that show a high accident rate for homebuilt aircraft may not reveal the complete picture, EAA said this week. The Nall Report, compiled annually by AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation, reported last week that in 2008, amateur-built aircraft had an accident rate almost five times the rate of type-certificated aircraft and a fatal accident rate more...
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Richard Van Vleet has seen plenty of pretend drama in a long career as an actor, but on Friday afternoon he got some of the real kind when he was forced to make an emergency landing of his experimental aircraft on a remote road in Ventura County’s rugged backcountry after the engine lost power...
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While the MachNoneFlying.com team heads out on vacation for three days, we offer you some “classic:” stories from our past. Enjoy! Welcome on the website of the Association for Promotion of the Flying Ladders. Due of the success of the Pouchel (over 120 plans sets sold to members of the APEV), our ladder manufacturer became...
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While the MachNoneFlying.com team heads out on vacation for three days, we offer you some “classic:” stories from our past. Enjoy! Good aircraft brakes have to be light, reliable and for experimental airplanes, affordable. In this factory visit to Matco Manufacturing near Salt Lake City, KITPLANES editor Marc Cook toured the factory to learn...
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While the MachNoneFlying.com team heads out on vacation for three days, we offer you some “classic:” stories from our past. Enjoy! World’s Smallest Twin Engine Aircraft The Cri-Cri, originally conceived in the mid 1950’s by Michel Colomban of France, this tiny aircraft had it’s maiden flight July 19, 1973 with two 9hp engines. It has an empty weight...
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A video clip from “RV Rudder Workshop” ( HomebuiltHELP) showing how to use and identify rivets that are used in constructing metal experimental aircraft.
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Jack Dysart realized about 10 years ago that he needed a hobby. He didn’t have a huge amount of mechanical aptitude. But in a counterintuitive twist founded in a passion for flying and experience as a pilot since 1972, the Steamboat Springs resident made a bold choice. He decided to build an airplane. “I had never...
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Two people are confirmed dead after two small airplanes apparently collided in midair south of Williston late Saturday morning. The collision occurred in the air above a rural area about three miles south of Williston off County Road 322 at about 11:51 a.m. Saturday, according to Levy County Sheriff’s Capt. Evan Sullivan, who said he...
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PHOENIX – New details are emerging about a pilot pulled from the wreckage of an experimental plane. It turns out this was not his first crash and past Federal Aviation Administration investigations found him to be reckless. The pilot is reportedly in critical condition at the Maricopa Medical Center. The hospital is no longer releasing information...
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HUNTSVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Authorities say a Rogers man was killed when the experimental airplane he was piloting crashed in the backyard of a Huntsville residence. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford says the accident happened about 1 p.m. Thursday near the northwest Arkansas town’s airport. Madison County Sheriff Phillip Morgan identified the pilot as 36-year-old...
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SUMMERVILLE, SC (WCSC) – The plane that crashed on Hilton Head and killed a man is a Lancair IV-P aircraft, which can be built from a kit, and is often referred to as an experimental plane. John Disher who flies those types of planes says the word experimental is the biggest misconception about this type...
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GILA RIVER RESERVATION – A plane went down Wednesday morning on the Gila River Reservation near 51st Avenue and Pecos. The pilot spent more than eight hours in the desert, his body stuck underneath the aircraft. Now that man, whose name has not been released, is recovering in the hospital. Dave Martin, with the Gila River...
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Pilot Mike Curtin’s touch-and-go didn’t go so well Sunday afternoon but he won praise for landing his disabled airplane at Pearson Field. Now he needs to fix the experimental plane that he built himself. As he landed the KIT B200 craft, the damaged left wheel and undercarriage collapsed and he skidded to a safe stop on...
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SAN MARCOS, Calif.—The pilot of a experimental plane made an emergency landing in traffic lanes of a San Diego County street after the single engine died, causing no injuries or damage. The home-built, single-seat aircraft touched down safely Saturday morning in the eastbound lanes of San Marcos Boulevard in San Marcos. The pilot, William David Leonard...
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COURTENAY – A 75 year-old Comox Valley man has died following the crash of a home-built aircraft just outside of Courtenay. Several witnesses called 911 when they observed the plane break apart in mid-air while the plane was performing “stunts.” The experienced pilot was the only occupant aboard the Jodel F-11 when it experienced difficulties....
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Statistics that show a high accident rate for homebuilt aircraft may not reveal the complete picture, EAA said this week. The Nall Report, compiled annually by AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation, reported last week that in 2008, amateur-built aircraft had an accident rate almost five times the rate of type-certificated aircraft and a fatal accident rate more...
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Thousand of experimental airplanes are flying overhead. Some of them are planes built from kits in someone’s garage or hangar. But how safe are they? Federal authorities say experimental airplanes account for four percent of all the flight time in the U.S. yet they make up 24% of all plane crashes. When one crashed in the Ozarks...
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RV12 first flight – Alberto Barba. One of the first dozen and half or so RV12s to fly. Speed – Gross Weight Top Speed 135 mph Cruise (7500’ @ 5500 rpm) 131 mph Cruise (7500’ @ 5000 rpm) 116 mph Stall Speed 47 mph Ground Performance – Gross Weight Takeoff Distance 700 ft. Landing Distance 525 ft. Climb/Ceiling – Gross Weight Rate of Climb 900...
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A 75-year-old man from Courtenay, B.C., is dead after his small plane crashed in Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. RCMP received a 911 call Wednesday morning after a witness saw the small plane come apart and then crash. Read more “Witnesses said that a piece of the wing fell off and he made a descent into the...
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Two people are lucky to be unharmed, after their plane crashes just outside of Falfurrias. It happened just before 7:30 p.m. Sunday night at Cage Ranch. Officials say a San Antonio couple, Charles Mcdougal and his wife Madeline, were flying to Mcallen when they started having engine trouble. They had to crash land here...
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WILLISTON, Fla. — Two men were injured but in stable condition after their small, experimental airplane crashed during an emergency landing about 20 miles south of Gainesville. The Levy County Sheriff’s Office says 65-year-old Phillip Seay Sr. and his son were flying in a 1974 experimental airplane on Sunday morning when the aircraft experienced an...
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Since first flight, the 1834cc VW-powered prototype Flitzer Z-1 has flown over 70 hrs., without any changes to rigging or trim of the machine, other than for experimental purposes. Handling is exemplary, controls being light and powerful, without the over-sensitivity associated with some small biplanes. The aeroplane has been dived to over 125 mph., controls firming-up appropriately, without any aerodynamic buzz,...
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Most of us won’t speak the language, but the video is pretty good. “The Cri-Cri is a popular homebuilt design developed in France by engineer and pilot Michel Colomban. Colomban became fascinated by small aircraft and hoped to create a tiny and economical plane with good performance and aerobatic capabilities. His goal was a very...
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An experimental aircraft carrying two people was forced to land at the Lehigh Valley International Airport this afternoon when the pilot suspected there was a gas leak, airport officials said. The Sonex Experimental Aircraft had a loose fuel cap and the pilot landed on Runway 13-31 shortly after 1 p.m. today as a precautionary measure,...
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Amateur pilot James Riordan has been in a few scrapes in his 30 years of flying, but this represented a major test: a conked-out engine and no obvious place to land. So the 63-year-old Cameron Park, Calif., businessman made an emergency landing this morning on Highway 50 in El Dorado Hills, touching...
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“I have established a new group for Belite. Not much there yet, but it will grow. Please consider joining. The Belite is a redesign of the old Kitfox Lite, using lots of carbon fiber which allows it to qualify as a true ultralight, but may also be optioned up to exceed the ultralight weight...
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EAA February 11, 2010 — Earlier this week the Iranian Defense Ministry unveiled a new twin-engine aircraft, reportedly designed and built by experts of the country’s aerospace industry. But on first glance, the Faez (Victor) looked suspiciously similar to a popular sport plane, the all-metal, French-designed Cri-cri. We asked EAA’s Experimenter newsletter editor Pat Panzera...
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For the past 10 years, Bob Worden has been building airplane in his garage. And now, it’s finished. A 20-foot long two-seat Europa with a three-blade propeller, the craft can fly at speeds of 200 mph. The Le Mars man can’t wait to take it up for its maiden flight this spring. “I love being in the air,...
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We had a nice ice flyin today on sacandaga lake. 16″ of clear ice. We had two planes land and join us that were just flying over and saw all the planes on the lake. We had a run way marked off with cones. Unexpected planes were a piper 140 Cherokee, a piper arrow,...
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A short video clip of my home-built airplane Sonex Waiex –HB-YMY– who took to the air on the 22nd of July 2008, the birthday of my beloved wife, Catherine, who agreed to sacrifice her birthday to my Waiex first flight… What an adventure, what a reward ! and another
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Here’s an excerpt from the Zenair News DVD, with Mark Townsend of Can-Zac explaining the services that they offer to builders in getting a head-start in building their own Zenith STOL CH 750 light sport utility kit plane. Building the STOL CH 750 light sport utility kitplane from the Zenith Aircraft Co. complete kit. This...
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Joe Stanko has lofty ambitions and an unusual hobby. The Seagrove Beach resident spends his spare time building an airplane. Stanko picked up the plane kit in May of 2007. He bought it over the phone, sight unseen, from a guy he found online in Palmdale, Calif., who had started it, but didn’t want to finish. Stanko...
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“Flying Runabout, Experimental Design” or FRED is an inexpensive homebuilt aircraft designed, built and flown in 1963 by Eric Clutton. Eric and FRED are still going strong today and have have inspired many around the world to pursue the dream of building and flying their own airplane. Please explore this site created...
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Van’s Aircraft, in Aurora, Oregon, is the leading aircraft kit manufacturer for a reason. The company retains its dedication to total performance–from the aircraft, to the kit itself to customer service. KITPLANES editor Marc Cook recently visited the factory and here’s his report.
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Ice pilots must take pop tarts to the North. Checking plane over and fueling it up the Kitfox ( C -47 in Derek’s mind – he a Ice pilot die hard ) Ethanol gas into the tanks and off we go.
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OTTAWA – Andrew Phillips and two buddies flew to Lindsay Saturday to grab what they call in flying circles a $100 hamburger — an excuse to fly that includes stopping to eat. After lunch, they got back in their separate planes and headed home to Carp. Within 20 minutes, about halfway back to Smiths Falls, Phillips...
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The Super Koala A steerable tail wheel and optional electric start are your first indications that flying the Super Koala is as easy as owning it. Optional brakes assist in shorter take‐off and landing rolls. Even at the slowest speeds, the Super Koala maintains the stable flight characteristics that make for safe, enjoyable flights. Large 8‐foot...
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The little red aircraft sat on the ramp as I worked nearby. It had been noticed but dismissed as just another plain Jane aircraft. It called to me and meekly said, “Come fly me.” I responded that I would, but work and other commitments came first and I went on about my business. Later,...
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“Passenger Warning: This Aircraft is Amateur-Built,” the sign began. “And Does Not Comply With Federal Safety Regulations for Standard Aircraft…IT EXCEEDS THEM!” At that moment I knew I was in over my head, but there was no turning back. I had bugged my pilot about letting me fly in the race with him all week....
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Most of this PPC was made from conduit. The comments from cameraman, and witness are funny, and not very encouraging. Pilot was uninjured and still continues to build homemade PPC mostly out of conduit. I must admit my first PPC flight was with this pilot in his homemade PPC (not knowing it was homemade). However...
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The company website says… Versatility: Being an aircraft easy to handle both in land and water operations, many of our customers were led to switch from their older ultralights to theSUPER PETREL LS. That’s why they’re also preferred by those who are looking forward to having their first aircraft. It’s capable to land and take off in short distances. Safety:...
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Belite Aircraft will unveil two new versions based on its existing Belite 254 FAR Part 103 compliant ultralight aircraft at the annual US Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, Jan. 21-24: The new Trike and Superlite models. “Many existing pilots don’t have the tailwheel skills, so the Trike solves the problem and opens up another...
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Update of previous story OXFORD – A pilot from Maryland lost his life Wednesday when his single-engine experimental plane crashed into a utility substation off Commerce Drive while trying to land at the Waterbury-Oxford Airport. The accident occurred around 5 p.m. Lt. J. Paul Vance of the state Department of Public Safety, said John W. Foster, 50,...
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Updates : New Pictures released by Sheriff below. The scene is now being handled by the family and its insurance company. The wreckage still sits in the woods, but will be removed once insurance agents have completed their analysis. Read More BAY ST. LOUIS, Mississippi – The FAA reports that two people were killed when a small plane...
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“Destructive testing” of (alleged) Taylor Coot Model A experimental amphibious airplane wing components that were built apparently with thickened epoxy that failed the most basic test of glue-bond strength, yanking on it by hand. This wing came as part of one (of four-ish) partially completed? Taylor Coot projects that Ive acquired over the past...
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COOT VG: Vortex Generators make the amphibian fly very well by Richard Steeves – Website When EAAers get together they soon start talking about their airplanes, and it wasn’t long ago that Roger Thistle (EAA 56766) told me how he lowered the stall speed of his Kitfox by putting votex generators (VGs) on it. At...
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In the late 1930’s after the first flight by the Wright brothers still fresh in the memory of many Americans and most of the world, many flying machines were built by enthusiasts around the globe. In Medellin, Colombia, late 1930’s, one of my older of 7 brothers and his cousin began with the idea of...
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From the designer’s website: The thing that has always attracted me to airplanes is their beauty and graceful lines. From the time I was a boy, I wanted to design and build an airplane with what I liked best about the way airplanes look. I wanted it to be easy to make, economical...
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A California man is having his pilot’s license revoked this week after crashing a small aircraft in October near the North Las Vegas Airport. Koshi Ono is being handed an emergency order of revocation and must physically surrender his license. A revocation is the strongest action the FAA can take against a pilot, Federal Aviation...
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Company says: About the Aircraft WAIEX (pronounced “Y-X”) is simply a Y-tail Sonex. Built purely for it’s good looks and as an homage to earlier John Monnett designs such as the Moni and Monex Racer, the Waiex specifications and performance numbers are identical to those of the Sonex and, like the Sonex, is perfectly...
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Building the wing structure of the RV-12 wing. Rudi Greyling made movies like this when building his RV-7; http://www.youtube.com/user/greylingr Rudi Geyling thanks for the idea! The soundtrack is from Tiësto, a famous Dutch DJ. (I’m not aware if I may use this track or not for my small movie, if not please let me know and I will...
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