KITPLANES September 2024

TRUTH IS, 1984 was probably not the most significant year in Experimental aviation. Instead, you could cite 1947, when homebuilts were “legalized” by the FAA. Or you could say 1923 because that’s the year Bernie Pietenpol released his buildable design into the world. Or maybe it’s 1972 (slurring into 1974) with the first flight of the VariViggen that accompanied Burt Rutan’s move from Bede Aircraft to creating the Rutan Aircraft Factory in 1974. For sure, 1984 marked both our birth as a standalone magazine and also was among the most growth-filled and adventurous parts of homebuilt history. Van’s Aircraft was a mere 11 years old and only the year before Randy Schlitter released the first of his many (many!) RANS designs. Into this came Kitfox, which took the idea of…

IF YOU’VE BUILT and flown your own airplane, you’re familiar with the term DAR, for Designated Airworthiness Representative. In order to get your homebuilt’s airworthiness certificate and operating limitations, you’ll have to deal with either the FAA directly or a designee, like me. Considering the current FAA workload, chances are very high you’ll be seeing a DAR. So you may ask: How do you become a DAR? Well, the formal process includes an application, training and then paper-work on the part of your local FAA (FSDO or MIDO) office. But that is an oversimplification. No two people seem to go through the exact same process, but there are enough similarities that my own case is a useful example. It began when my local FSDO determined a need for a DAR.…

IT’S HARD TO QUESTION the success of the Van’s RV-10. Since its introduction in 2003, it has seen steady sales growth and positive builder feedback. Right now, there are more than 1000 RV-10s flying—that’s actually the fourth fewest of all the RV models, but it’s also the most expensive to build. Even so, it and the RV-14 are by far the best sellers over the last few years. While some doubted that Van’s should ever enter the four-place market, there’s no question it was a good decision, giving dedicated RV builders a choice of a family airplane and tempting a lot of pilots over from certified airplanes. Those pilots pined for quick, efficient, mainstream transportation for their families—the RV-10 provided it. And like any popular kit airplane, the RV-10 prompted…

This year is the 50th anniversary of the VariEze but because the VariEze changed the landscape of homebuilt aircraft, this year is what Burt Rutan likes to call the “composite canard revolution”! That’s not an unreasonable assumption considering most anything composite flying today has some connection to the VariEze. And while Rutan Aircraft has long been out of business, support and enthusiasm remains from the Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience (RAFE) and its members. RAFE’s mission statement is to “preserve and promote Burt Rutan designs.” One way to accomplish this is to display and fly RAFE’s fleet of 10 donated aircraft at airshows, fly-ins and other aviation events. The big one, of course, is AirVenture, which has already happened by the time you read this, but the lineup for the big…

PEOPLE SPEND YEARS building their airplanes. Many times the goal line appears so far ahead that it is just a fuzzy horizon, impossible to see, much less focus on. But that finish line can sometimes sneak up on them and the reality of registration, inspections and certification looms like a monster rogue wave. The truth is, registration, inspection and certification of an Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft in the U.S. is technically simple. But we, as builders, often make that process more complicated than it needs to be. The requirements for an airworthiness certificate are actually pretty simple—let’s explore the process and requirements for getting your new aerial flivver ready to legally go play among the clouds! Registration First The first step in making any aircraft legal to fly in the U.S. is…

BACK WHEN I WAS a young ’un, older pilots cautioned me that the faster reflexes of youth and my more-recent training may not provide as much benefit as I might expect. They told me, “Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.” Now that I’m hitting the big seven-zero, it’s of more than just academic interest. Are my skills slipping with age—and does my greater experience help me compensate for it? Let’s take a look. Data Sources The NTSB accident database includes the age of the pilot(s) involved in an accident. While the age of each pilot isn’t included in the FAA airman database, generic pilot age data can be found via the U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics web page (https://tinyurl.com/airmen-stats). Figure 1 shows the age distribution from the airman…