® DECEMBER 2016 DITION www.kitplanes.com E XPANDED XPANDED NGS! FT E I Machining Spheres Machining Analysis Tools Inthe Shop Blanks Mold CNC • • • A T S LI IRECTORY AYS D D ETS 1000 V OMEBUILT AIRCROMEBUILT Resin Infusion What You Need to KnowWhat You AFS Quick Panel Panel AFS Quick 2017 BUYEr’S GUIDE 2017 BLIND RI PANELS INPANELS BEYOND THE VACUUM BAG VACUUM THE BEYOND PLUS 2017 H Pedal Plane Pedal ...And a OVER KITPLANES DECEMBER 2016 2017 Buyer’s Guide • Pedal Plane • Multimeter Musings • AFS Panels • Maintenance • CNC Mold Blanks • Turning Spheres • Resin Infusion • Blind Rivets BELVOIR PUBLICATIONS SE No matter what you call it, SE is Dynon’s most affordable and intuitive SkyView experience ever. Dynon is excited to introduce the newest member of the SkyView family. SkyView SE is made specifically for VFR aircraft and pilots who want the most intuitive flight and engine instruments on the market. They feature simple and clear displays, with almost no menus to navigate in flight. At the same time, SkyView SE retains modern, innovative Dynon EFIS capabilities like SkyView’s revolutionary COM radio interface and 2-axis autopilot with single-touch controls. Without mapping capabilities, even the 7” SkyView SE display has a large, easy-to- read Primary Flight Display, including pilot-selectable six-pack “steam gauges”. With its simplified feature set and installation, SkyView SE is the successor to Dynon’s legacy D100 series products. The 7” SV-D600 display is priced at $1850, with the 10” SV-D900 at $3100. A complete 7” SkyView SE system with primary flight instruments starts at $3305 including harnesses. Add the SV-XPNDR-261 Mode S Transponder (with ADS-B Out) and SV-GPS-2020 GPS Receiver/Antenna for a low-cost integrated glass panel system that meets FAA 2020 ADS-B Out requirements. DynonAvionics.com [email protected] (425) 402-0433 December 2016 | Volume 33, Number 12 Annual Buyer’s Guide 24 2017 HOMEBUILT AIRCRAFT DIRECTORY: Pick a plane, any plane—an overview of kit and plansbuilt fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft. Introduction by Paul Dye. Directory compiled by Omar Filipovic. Builder Spotlight 6 PEdaL POWER: Building a classic biplane for the next generation of aviators. By Tom Brusehaver. 12 RESIN INFUSION: Taking the next step beyond vacuum bagging. 6 By Dan Horton. 19 PANELS IN DAYS, NOT MONTHS: Pre-built panels are an easy way to save time and eliminate frustration during avionics installation. By Bruce Eicher. 68 RapID PROTOTYPING AND EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: CNC mold blank fabrication, part 1. By Eric Stewart. 92 aSK THE DAR: Transfering an aircraft’s repairman certificate, replacing a lost airworthiness certificate, converting a certified aircraft to Experimental. By Mel Asberry. Shop Talk 78 BEST PRACTICES: Blind rivet selection and installation. By Dave Prizio. 88 HOME ShOP MACHINIST: Sphere turning. By Bob Hadley. 101 AERO ’LECTRICS: Multimeter musings. By Jim Weir. Shop Tip 103 Odd-SIZE TRANSFER PUNCH: By David Paule. Designer’s Notebook 75 STRESSING STRUCTURE: Analysis tools. By David Paule. 98 WIND TUNNEL: Trikes. By Barnaby Wainfan. 24 Exploring 2 EdITOR’S LOG: The flying bug. By Paul Dye. 84 ChECKPOINTS: Maintenance. By Vic Syracuse. Kit Bits 4 LETTERS 93 LIST OF ADVERTISERS 94 BUILDERS’ MaRKETPLACE 104 KIT STUFF: Drawing on experience. By cartoonist Robrucha. 12 On the cover: A few examples of the aircraft in this year’s directory. Any similarity to a busy AirVenture arrival is purely coincidental. Photo composite by Dan Maher. For subscription information, contact KITPLANES® at 800/622-1065 or visit www.kitplanes.com/cs. KITPLANES December 2016 1 EDITOR’S LOG The flying bug. Have you ever seriously considered what it was that got you started in avia- tion? I am sure that many pilots know the exact moment, the exact impetus— the very place, time, and event that got them fascinated by flight. But my expe- rience has shown that many others sim- ply don’t know why they are enraptured with the thought of flying and flying machines. They simply are and feel like they always have been. I am afraid I fall into that second category, which makes it very difficult for me to get involved in a meaningful way with figuring out how to get the next generation hooked on play- ing with aeroplanes. I can’t understand why they aren’t already. It’s sort of like a Building a pedal plane (see page 6) is a great way to get youngsters interested in aviation. sighted person trying to describe color (Photo: Tom Brusehaver) to one who has never had the use of their how they could have done that; weather motorcycles. It’s all good, and airplanes eyes—the vocabulary simply isn’t there. always seemed to be an issue in the real are just another step. I get that—it is For those who know why they love world. Later, after moving to the west- understandable how flying can hook aviation, the reasons vary. For some it is ern regions of the U.S., I understood. For one looking for excitement. pure transportation. The classic case is much of the country west of the Rockies, But then we have the category of folks the man or woman who has business at weather just really isn’t an issue most like me who simply have what seems like many locations within an hour or two of of the time—you get in and go! So for an inbred need for flight. It’s not true of flying time from their home. Getting in those who look at flying as basic trans- course; I really don’t think that flight is in the plane to visit multiple locations saves portation and can make it work, air- our DNA. I think that somewhere, some- so much time that their business booms; planes are just a part of life. how, we get hooked, be it from a parent, it is as if they have multiplied themselves Others are clearly bitten by the bug from a TV show, from a movie, or the call to get more done. As an aside, I remem- because of the excitement and adven- of a book. I suspect that in my case, being ber watching Sky King as a lad, enrap- ture of aviation. Seeing the earth from surrounded by people who had recently tured at how they treated the airplane above, the speed and freedom—it fought a world war—many of whom like my parents used a car—or I used a is yet another of the various thrills to talked and wrote about their experi- bicycle. They hopped in and went where be experienced in the modern world. ences—there was a romantic excitement they needed to go, regardless of time of Many in this category have tried a lot of that surrounded aviation. It was some- day. Later, when I became a pilot in the different things to get their adrenaline thing that not just anyone could do. And middle of the United States, I wondered rush: skydiving, rock climbing, boats, for a scrawny kid not very good at sports, Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor in Chief, retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 40 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the space shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen, and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 that he built in 2005, and an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra they recently completed. Currently, they are building a Xenos motorglider. A Paul Dye commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 5000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor, and a member of the Homebuilder’s Council. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country. 2 KITPLANES December 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes it provided a way to excel in something a great many pilots are now grand- Yes, take kids on Young Eagles flights that few others chose to try. It wasn’t the parents. And if your children weren’t if you have the opportunity, and take the influence of a parent who flew—mine so interested in your tales of joy in the time to look at kids that you can influ- didn’t, although they were supportive— air, weren’t excited by the adventure ence for more than just one flight. If you but there were people I met who were of flight, empirical evidence suggests have no grandkids, adopt them (unof- influential. Quiet, but supportive. that your grandkids might very well be ficially) from the neighbors. Invite them It has been my observation that avia- primed to be infatuated. to participate, and spend some money tion tends to skip a generation for some Are you currently building an airplane? to get them on board. Burn the gas, reason. Yes, there are boys and girls Get the grandkids involved! Teach them buy the parts, invest in the future. I was who grow up in an aviation family, with how to rivet, how to sew, and dope fabric. fortunate to have adults who invested opportunity and resources to fly when- Order a few extra parts so they can ruin in mine, and it took me years to under- ever they want. They solo 15 airplanes a few, and you’re still covered to finish stand that it wasn’t just their time—it on their 16th birthday and inherit their your plane.