The Zenith Aircraft factory will be open from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm for self-guided factory tours, demonstrations, and more. There will be coffee in the morning and a local food truck will be offering a delicious lunch.

In contrast to the annual Zenith HOMECOMING event in September (with scheduled workshops and forums), the June event is an informal morning fly-in, with no specific scheduled activities. Zenith will be holding one of its popular hands-on kit building workshops immediately prior to the event.

For more information: https://conta.cc/3OZpFZV
Facebook page and photos from past years.

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“We are incredibly excited to look at this next evolution of the National Championship Air Races and the ways in which we can further grow the event for current and future generations of air race fans,” said Fred Telling, chairman and CEO of the Reno Air Racing Association. “This year’s event will be a celebration of our legacy and allow us to springboard forward as we search for a new home for the event. We’re thankful for all of the interest we’ve already received from prospective sites and look forward to an exciting RFP process.”

The National Championship Air Races is the only event of its kind in the world and is a vibrant part of aviation’s culture and history. The event annually brings tens of thousands of patrons from all over the world and has generated an economic impact of over $100 million for the region. Potential partners may be able to host the current seven race classes at one location or hosts may be part of a larger, multi-city series of race events. Other attractions, such as various military displays and demonstrations, will continue to be a part of future events.

“Our RFP selection committee is excited to get to work on this project and to see the possibilities for the event’s next home,” said Terry Matter, vice board chairman for the Reno Air Racing Association and RFP committee lead. “We have a talented group of 12 members made up of other RARA board members, race pilots, engineers, and consultants who have been chosen for their combined knowledge and familiarity with the detail and scope of what it takes to produce, manage, and market the National Championship Air Races. With their expertise, we feel confident we will select the best location for the event’s continued success.”

To learn more about the event’s final year, stay up-to-date on event news or purchase tickets, visit airrace.org.

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Tracy Crook, who helped put the Mazda rotary conversion on the map and in the minds of builders, shared a synopsis of the first 250 hours flying his 13B-powered RV-4. He described in intimate detail the challenges of keeping the rotary cool, working out carburetion and ignition bugs and staying on high alert every flight hour. After the initial shakedown, Crook reported that he had a lull period where everything worked well, eventually finding a crack in an exhaust component at 62 hours. Later escapades with carburetion issues led to a temporary engine stoppage that he was able to remedy before having to find an emergency landing site. He summed up his experience: “You need to be honest about your goals as a pilot. We are still at the point where it is up to you to design and refine many of the systems you will need with any alternative engine. To do this successfully, you almost have to enjoy the process. If the mechanical stuff is just a means to an end and you are solely focused on getting into the air and flying, an alternative engine is probably not for you.”

Don Downie authored a builder survey of the Pulsar model, noting that as of 1996 there were almost 400 of the kits in circulation and more than 100 aircraft flying. Aero Designs, the company making the Pulsar kit, had transitioned from two-stroke powerplants to the Rotax 912 in the XP model by 1992; in 1995, only one Rotax 582-based kit had been sold. Many of the builders still active in the Pulsar world were quoted in the story, Mark Burrow and Greg Smith among them. Downie summed up the results, which were strongly positive about the airplane and the build process: “So if a moderately priced composite two-seater is on your want list, consider Mark Brown’s well-proven Pulsar XP. His builders seem to like the project even if each sputters a bit about filling a maze of pinholes in preparation to paint. After all, when you’re that close to first flight, the ready-to-paint phase is one of the last projects.”

Reinforcing how far we’ve come in electronics since 1995, see the ad for the Lowrance AirMap GPS. As big as an early cell phone, the AirMap featured a flip-up antenna, a simple grayscale LCD with about the surface area of a credit card and built-in “worldwide surface background map.” At $799, the AirMap competed with Garmin’s smaller GPS 90 and 92, Bendix/King’s KLX 100 and Magellan’s EC-10X; it would morph into the smaller AirMap 100 as part of a flood of quickly updated models through the late 1990s. Little did we know that Garmin was just three years from dropping the GNS 430 on us, a unit combining com, nav and GPS functions with a color moving-map display. Mind-blowing technology at the time.

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The video, taken in early 2023 during flight testing of a DRAGON pre-production prototype, does not show the ballistic chute safety cage. The safety cage will be integrated before the manned flights which are expected to begin in May.

The Dragon Personal Air Vehicle comes with safety features such as a ballistic parachute cage, auto hover, auto takeoff and landing, and redundant independent motors for its 8 propellers. Dragon flies for 20 minutes for pilots weighing up to 250 lb (113 kg) and has swappable battery packs that recharge in less than two hours.

With over a year of testing, Rotor X Aircraft says it will display the Dragon this summer in Oshkosh for EAA’s 2023 AirVenture. Testing and improvements on Dragon are ongoing and manned-flight videos are slated to be released in June 2023.

RotorX claims the aircraft can be flown under FAA’s Part 103 Ultralight requirements in the United States. Additional safety features include helicopter landing gear, ballistic chute safety cage, redundant independent motors, power system with independent batteries controlled by redundant flight controllers, automatic takeoff and landing, hands-off return to hover and position hold. DRAGON can hover and perform a safe landing in the case of a battery, electrical, or motor failure.

Rotor X Aircraft, based in Chandler, Arizona, is the company behind RotorWay and Phoenix A600 2-seat helicopter kits.

For more information on DRAGON, visit rotorxdragon.com, contact sales at sales@rotorxdragon.com or call 602-429-9449.

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To quote Howard Hughes in the movie The Rocketeer… ”The son of a b**** will fly!”

The stars finally aligned with the weather (and schedules) in western Nevada on the morning of April 8th, and the Dye/Hose eXenos took to the air for its first and second flights from Dayton Valley Airpark. Paul Dye flew both flights using the EAA Test Card #2 (suitably modified for an electric powerplant) and found the airplane to fly fine, with only a slightly heavy left wing and a stall speed right on the book value of 38 knots. The electric power system devised by Gabe DeVault worked flawlessly and Paul was able to manage temperatures of the motor, controller and battery to complete all the flight test objectives on the card. While the motor warms up quickly during takeoff and initial climb, the temperature are easily managed while maintaining a respectable positive rate of climb to pattern altitude.

The Xenos airframe (almost seven years in the building) performed admirably—as expected. While the long aluminum wings do flex enough to see a little oil canning on the upper surface in turns, they do what they are designed to do and generate gobs (a technical aeronautical term) of lift. Handling qualities are fine—in fact, the first thing that comes to mind is “it flies just like an airplane!” The landings were accomplished using half spoilers on final and a power-on approach but it should fly just fine in full glider mode when we get to that point in the test program.

Co-builder Louise Hose served as test conductor on the ground, making sure that all of the logistics were taken care of so that Paul could concentrate on flying. This included ground communications on a busy Saturday morning at the airpark where the first nice weather in months had a number of neighbors saddling up to go fly but all gave way to watch the long-term project (which many had helped with along the way) take to the air. She also handed out photo assignments to neighbors who wanted to be directly involved, and collected stills and video from long-time helpers Laura Starkey and Barry Wingate. She’ll be taking her turn in the cockpit as Phase I testing continues.

The eXenos is fairly unique in the homebuilding world, as not that many Xenos airframes have been built , and this is only the second one to fly with DeVault’s electric motor system. Sonex LLC has supported this project with a custom motor mount and technical support, as did MGL avionics, whose EFIS and radio grace the panel.

While nowhere near as sprightly in handling as the typical Sonex or RV, the eXenos goes where you want it to go and was stable in all axes. The airplane will use the EAA Test Flight Manual program through Phase I, and will soon have the appropriate Ops Limits allowing it to be signed out of Phase I when all task-based flight testing is complete.

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After getting a checkout in the two-seat Sonex, Cook got his shot at the Onex. “Handling was well balanced, with the ailerons providing quick, but not overly sensitive response; we estimated the roll rate at 180°/second, enough to tempt us into a roll or two without breaking stride. The elevators are properly secondary in sensitivity; we flew with our arm on our leg, holding the stick low, and weren’t overshooting pitch targets with a too-light response.” He concluded: “So, the Onex evaluation reveals no surprises—straightforward handling, economical cruising and light aerobatic qualities if you don’t let the nose stay down too long. For the money, the Onex will deliver a lot of fighter-plane feel and fun flying on a tight budget.”

Amy Laboda penned an article comparing her Model 4 Kitfox with the then-current Model 7. It was clear then that a lot of development had taken place during the Kitfox’s long life. She summed up the experience like this: “So, do I want a Series 7? I can see the question in McBean’s smiling eyes after our flight. Silly man. I love my Little Bird. She was my husband’s first airplane project, built in a two-car garage. After 18 years of flying her, tweaking her capabilities with an engine change-out and new gear, we wouldn’t trade her for anything. McBean laughs. ‘Hey, our builders are the best sales tools that we could ever have. We know that builders need us, but we need the builders because no one can tell you better how great the product is in the real world.’ All true. All more reasons to love Little Bird. But if I had a little extra money and some time to kill…which raises the question, can you ever have too many aircraft?”

This issue also featured a helpful story defining common aeronautical buzzwords (by Ed Kolano), a look ahead to an avgas replacement (by Paul Bertorelli), a view of making your own interior (by Mike Manning) and a Dynon SkyView retrofit into a Glasair (by Gary Jones).

The June 2013 issue was notable for another reason: It was the first time we were fully under the influence of one Paul Dye. “While I was at NASA, I did some pretty futuristic things—launching humans into space, building a space station, and watching the world go by from the center seat in Mission Control, just as if I were sitting on the bridge of the Enterprise. Little did I know that when I joined KITPLANES®, I’d become involved in something even more remarkable: time travel.” He went on to explain the long lead times for print magazines and concluded his first column from the big chair with this: “While we’re talking about the team, let me point out that our contributors are what make this magazine happen—and those contributors are also our readers. I would like to invite and encourage everyone involved in the homebuilding world to share their ideas and stories with us. We all started out with a single article in the magazine, and I anticipate that the future growth of our team will come from someone who submits their own first article.” He wasn’t wrong.

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Writer Howard Levy posed the question: Is the Air Shark amphibian “too fast for four?” The sleek four-place hull aircraft carried its 200-hp Lycoming IO-360 in a pod above and behind the canopy and featured retractable tricycle gear. Designed by Arthur Lueck and fabricated by sons Rob and Ron (who would go on to be the main man at Comp Air), the Air Shark used its smooth fiberglass shape to get the short-wing version to a 205-mph cruise.

Don Downie reported on another four-place amphib, the Spencer Air Car. By 1986, the Air Car had already been around for 16 years, with a reported 175 sets of plans sold by then and “at least 10 flying.” Builder William Goetz “had 60 hours of flight time logged on his Air Car when we talked with him,” says Downie in the feature. “He says the cruising speed is only 125 mph but that its prop is not working correctly and is now in the Hartzell shop to have the beta (reverse thrust) valve adjusted.” Goetz said that “the whole construction process was interesting and educational. It was a pleasant experience and I never got tired of or bored with the project.”

Author Michael Stockhill recalled an effort he and partner Harris “Woody” Woods had made to obtain rights from Piper to build kit versions of the venerable Vagabond aircraft only to be shot down by Piper’s attorneys. A few years later, though, he happened upon the Wag-A-Bond, Wag Aero’s Vagabond kit. Soon, “I was tooling around in Allen Potts’ fresh new 150-hp Wag-A-Bond, which looked better built to me than anything that left the Piper factory in the 1950s, and performed with a verve that was never part of the character of the original factory-built airplane,” he said. In the end, Potts says he spent about $14,000 building his Wag-A-Bond, in part by using an O-320 that had come from a Robinson helicopter. The Wag-A-Bond is still available as plans with partial kits.

Inside the issue was a note that RANS had just introduced the S-7 Courier STOL airplane. Powered by a Rotax 503, the S-7 featured two seats in tandem, an 83-mph cruise speed and a promised build time of 150 hours. The complete kit was to sell for $9895. A couple of pages later, an ad for the Rand-Robinson KR-2 claimed that $3508 would “deliver everything you need to build the two-place KR-2 (less engine and instruments).”

Perhaps nothing better reveals the march of time than Martin Hollmann’s feature on using computers for “at-home aircraft design.” He noted that for the investment of $910, you could start with a Commodore 64 computer monitor, printer and disk drive to run aircraft-design software. He concluded the story noting that the PC-based design tools were not a substitute for a human’s creative ability but also pondered, “Can you imagine what [the Wright brothers] could have done if they had a PC and the present knowledge of aerodynamics at their disposal?”

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