KITPLANES

A CubCrafter’s Carbon Cub headed to Sun ‘n Fun in the time-honored tradition. [Credit: CubCrafters] By the time the first twilight aerobatic act lit up the new “Composite Airshow” on Wednesday night, it was obvious that Sun ’n Fun 2026 was about more than noise and nostalgia.

A CFI talks a pilot through the checklist — a step toward scraping off years of rust and getting back into the air. [Credit: LeRoy Cook] “I haven’t flown for quite a while,” starts the conversation. “I was wondering if you could brush me up a bit and get me back in the air.” Invariably, the interval being estimated by the lapsed pilot turns out to be diminished by memory loss, a few years being more like a decade. “We can try, and see how it goes,” I’ll tell them.

[Credit: Mike Davenport] In parts one and two of this builder’s story, I described Sean Walker’s progress to get from opening the first crate through to the first flight. After 10 years of persistence, it is finished. Sean’s 220 horsepower UL520T powered Glasair Sportsman 2+2 has been built, inspected by the Canadian government’s designated inspector, test flown, and the mandatory 25-hour test flight period is now complete.

A sleek Glasair II. [Credit: Glasair] Forty years ago this year, Chris Heintz’s CH701 first flew. That alone would be reason enough for a celebration. The 701 is one of the most consequential designs in the history of experimental aviation — a short-takeoff utility airframe that did exactly what it set out to do, kept doing, and never needed reinventing.

[Credit: ChatGPT] Becky stood back from the RV-7 and admired every inch of the newly constructed airplane. She’d made her first flight a month ago and was getting ready for the first big cross-country. “I think everything is ready to go,” she remarked. “It sure looks like it,” said her hanger-mate Perry, “but get your flight advisor over one more time before you leave just to double-check.

[Credit: Van’s Aircraft] The paperwork era of MOSAIC ended at Oshkosh this year. On the same week the FAA’s new Part 22 certification framework took effect, Van’s Aircraft handed over the first airplane in history to carry a light-sport airworthiness certificate issued under it — an RV-12iS in Cub Yellow, built for the flight line rather than the show line.

The best builders learn to combine both mindsets. They build like engineers but think like future mechanics. [Credit: Bill Wilson] Somewhere during every aircraft project, a builder faces a quiet moment of truth. It might happen while drilling a hole in a structural member, setting a rivet in a hard-to-reach corner, or tightening a bolt that will probably never be seen again. Aircraft kits today are remarkably refined.

[Credit: Wikimedia Commons] The Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience held its annual Future of Rutan Designs Symposium on Wednesday, July 22, at Forum Stage 9. This year the organizers set aside the celebration for a working problem and named it directly: the coming canard maintenance crisis. The concern is one the Rutan community has watched approach for years.

[Credit: Flight Desgn GmbH] The Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association arrived at Oshkosh this week with the news homebuilders and light-aircraft makers have waited a decade to hear. The FAA has published in the Federal Register its Notice of Availability accepting the key American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) consensus standards that support the new Part 22 light-sport category under the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification rule, MOSAIC.

[Credit: Wikimedia Commons] If you look at the books in my library, and by that, I mean the ones on the shelves, not the ones next to… (well, you know), you might notice a trend toward books about odd and unusual airplanes. I don’t know why I have such a fascination with the oddball aircraft other than I find it interesting to see all the different designs that were tried and discarded versus the same two or three basic layouts that are common today.