PLANS BUYER’S GUIDE: 142 AIRCRAFT YOU CAN BUILD FROM SCRATCH ® YOUR HOMEBUILT AIRCRAFT AUTHORITY 140 mph • 22 mpg • Docile Handling • Aussie Pluck And A Cargo Hold As Big As The Outback January 2010 Pony Up! The Mustang’s Enduring Appeal See and Avoid: Carb Ice Short-Sleeved? DIY Engine Hose Protection Go FlyTM The New SkyView!TM $3,900 for 7” PFD System Add $600 for Engine Monitoring The PFD comes standard with synthetic vision and top-down terrain view. $3,900 price includes a single 7” Display ($2,700) and ADAHRS Module ($1,200). EMS Module ($600) and engine sensor kits additional. Also available: 10” Display ($3,600) and additional ADAHRS ($800 each). www.DynonAvionics.com 425-402-0433 [email protected] Seattle,Washington January 2010 | Volume 27, Number 1 On the cover: Kevin Wing photographed the Jabiru J230 at Fresno, California. 2010 Plansbuilt Aircraft Buyer’s Guide 30 PLANSBUILT BUYER’S GUIDE This year, we offer more than 140 aircraft designs that can be built from scratch; compiled by Cory Emberson. Flight Reports 6 JABIRU J230 LIGHT SPORT The Goldilocks Wing Effect: Not too big, not too little— just right; by Marc Cook. 30 14 HORSE PERENNIAL Mustang Aeronautics celebrates more than 60 years of fast aluminum; by LeRoy Cook. Builder Spotlight 21 THE INDEPENDENCE PROJECT: AVIONICS It’s time to install the avionics package. In the RV-12, it’s not quite plug and play, but it’s close; by Dave Martin. 24 BUILD A BEAR: MELLOW YELLOW The Texas Sport Cub team brushed up their skills during the paint process; by Dave Prizio. 70 COMPLETIONS Builders share their successes. Shop Talk 51 HOSE PROTECTION Knit up the “raveled sleeve of care;” by Ishmael Fuentes. 71 AERO ’lECTRICS A fanny switch; by Jim Weir. Designer’s Notebook 60 WIND TUNNEL Combating carb ice; by Barnaby Wainfan. Exploring 2 AROUND THE PATCH An awakening in Wisconsin; by Marc Cook. 6 4 WHAT’S NEW Dynon Avionics has announced pricing on its new 7- and 10-inch SkyView EFISes; edited by Mary Bernard. 54 THE DAWN PATROL Road tripping en route to the Columbia, Missouri, Salute to Veterans airshow; by Dick Starks. 58 ASK THE DAR More questions (and answers) about Light Sport Aircraft registration and changing gross weight; by Mel Asberry. Also, news on changes to the 51% rule; by Marc Cook. 63 ENGINE BEAT The Dreaded Oil Discussion...Again? By Steve Ells. 73 LIGHT STUFF Maybe there’s an ultralight in your future after all; by Dave Martin. Kit Bits 5 LETTERS 66 LIST OF ADVERTISERS 67 BUILDERS’ MARKETPLACE 14 75 THE CLASSIFIED BUILDER 80 KIT STUFF Drawing on experience; by cartoonist Robrucha. KITPLANES January 2010 1 An awakening in Wisconsin. Over the last month our friends at the ing a ton of new faces into aviation, and gies and trends that affect Experimental/ Experimental Aircraft Association have hasn’t sparked a revival of light-aircraft Amateur-Built aircraft? You don’t go look- been trumpeting changes to the firm’s manufacturing in the U.S. At least not yet. ing for a press release saying that Cirrus publications that should be public by the While Sport Aviation is tipped to has a new cup holder for the SR-22. time you read this. To kick off the 2010 become a broader-spectrum magazine, Don’t misunderstand. I have a lot of publishing season—a bizarre quirk of EAA is also promising more “How do respect for what EAA does for our indus- timing that has us finishing the pages of I?” content. I’m not quite sure what that try, and I was delighted to see Contact! this magazine before the baseball World means, but I can tell you this: The entire magazine’s Pat Panzera tapped to cre- Series is played (go Angels!)—EAA is editorial thrust at this magazine is to ate the online newsletter Experimenter promising big things. answer just those sorts of “How do I?” to serve those readers who are deeply For starters, the EAA Sport Pilot and questions. In order to fulfill my own man- involved in this homebuilt-aircraft Light Sport Aircraft titles will be no more, date to make the very best magazine endeavor. But as Sport Aviation goes even merged into a “larger format” EAA Sport for people who really are serious about broader based—covering, no doubt, Aviation. What are we to make of this? building aircraft, the practical, hands- warbirds, classics, modern iron, resto- Not much, if you have been watching on focus is king, and within that focus rations, airshows, social activities and the industry closely. Here at KITPLANES®, naturally appear the answers to all of the homebuilts—my resolve only strength- we have tracked the development and major “How do I?” queries. Some of the ens to keep KITPLANES® tightly focused growth of the LSA segment, and four important categories, in my view: on what you have told us (in letters and in years ago considered launching a maga- How do you know which aircraft kit is person at airshows) is important to you: zine to serve buyers and fliers of fully best for you? Find a source that provides getting the best, most accurate, even built SLSA models. honest, thorough evaluations that are far entertaining information to help you Unfortunately, the LSA movement was more than fluff and happy talk. It helps to choose, then build and then (crucially, I just getting traction when the economy have pilots who are also builders inspect- think) actually finish your own airplane. veered off the runway and into the high ing the designs; there’s nothing like an Seems so obvious to me… J grass. What’s more, our research said that informed perspective. the SLSA buyers were unlikely to be join- How do you learn a ers, and the curious composition of the new skill or work with a manufacturers cooled our jets—there new material? Follow the were lots of small players, almost none lead and gain from the large enough to support the advertis- experience of real build- ing bulk needed to launch the title. To ers making their way fully support a magazine in such a niche, through metal, compos- you need dedicated staff with specific ites or tube-and-fabric. content. EAA admitted that its members (Helps, too, if the descrip- recoiled from content mirrored from tions are lucid and the Sport Aviation. Can’t say I blame them. photography first rate, The simple fact is that LSA coverage isn’t which is the opening bid a self sustaining publishing business. in my world.) Here at KITPLANES®, we’re a little different. Our editors and I’m still optimistic about the LSA mar- How do you stay up to writers actually build and fly Experimental aircraft. Even to ket, but it hasn’t proven capable of bring- date on new technolo- Winnemucca. has been in aviation journalism for 20 years and in magazine work for more than 25. He is a 4000-hour instrument-rated, multi-engine pilot with experience in nearly 150 types. He’s Marc Cook completed two kit aircraft, an Aero Designs Pulsar XP and a Glastar Sportsman 2+2. 2 KITPLANES January 2010 Photo: Paul Bertorelli 05444 G500 Kitplanes.qxp:Layout 1 7/1/09 2:07 PM Page 1 Retrofit glass. For not much cash. Introducing Garmin G500. Designed and priced specifically for Class 1/Class 2 aircraft1 (under 6,000 lbs), this new dual-screen digital “glass cockpit” suite is clearly the TSO’d retrofit option you’ve been waiting for. It fits neatly into the space vacated by your old six-pack instruments. And like our newly upgraded G600 system, it too comes with Garmin SafeTaxi® and initial FliteCharts® preloaded2. It too uses proven AHRS sensor technology. And available upgrade options include a scaled version of our SVT™ Synthetic Vision Technology, as well as a remote adapter that lets the AHRS drive your autopilot in place of a costly-to-maintain gyro ADI. Other options let you add such features as XM™ weather, audio channels, traffic alerts, onboard weather radar, and more. Garmin G500: It’s affordable glass for the owner-flown class. Follow the leader. NASDAQ GRMN ©2009 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries 1 Check with your Garmin dealer for G500 compatibility information. 2 Includes initial FliteCharts® approach plates for the U.S. and detailed SafeTaxi® diagrams for 900+ U.S. airports. www.garmin.com EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook [email protected] Dynon Managing Editor Mary Bernard Art Director Suzanne Stackle Senior Editor Bob Fritz Editor at Large Dave Martin Announces Contributing Editors Chuck Berthe, Stein Bruch, Steve Ells, Cory Emberson, Ed Kolano, Amy Laboda, Rick Lindstrom, Dave Prizio, SkyView Dick Starks, Barnaby Wainfan, Jim Weir, Tom Wilson, Ed Wischmeyer Webmaster Omar Filipovic EFIS Pricing Cartoonist Robrucha Dynon Avionics has ADVERTISING Publisher/Ad Director Cindy Pedersen announced prices for its new [email protected] SkyView systems, with ship- Sr. Advertising Manager Chuck Preston SV-D700. ments scheduled to begin [email protected] soon. The SkyView is a new generation glass panel, offering synthetic vision, fully BUSINESS OFFICE redundant systems, bright screens, flexibility and the ability to upgrade in the future, Main Number: 760/436-4747 203 Argonne Ave, B105 the company says. Long Beach, CA 90803 A SkyView EFIS starts at as low as $3900 for a 7-inch display plus an ADAHRS Editorial: 562/608-8251, Fax 562/372-3288 module. Adding an Engine System module adds $600 for a total of $4500. Adding PRODUCTION & CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING a second redundant ADAHRS module is $800.