Experimental Aircraft / Homebuilts

If you’ve been looking for an airplane that fits a tight budget, the Merlin PSA may be just what you need. Lakeland, Florida-based Aeromarine LSA says the one-seat Experimental Amateur-Built (A-EB) airplane can be put together at the company’s facilities in about two weeks at the very light price point of $34,900. After that, all […]

Build A Plane and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) announced they are hosting their fourth Aviation Design Challenge to promote STEM education among high school students. The competition, which has spanned 38 states in the past three years, will be open to the first 100 schools that enter. Only one four-member team — including […]

Burt Rutan’s SkiGull successfully took to the skies this week from the Coeur d’Alene Airport. The unusual airplane, which is designed to take off and land from water, snow and land, flew for 1.8 hours with test pilot Glenn Smith at the controls. The test flight included basic stability and control tests in the cruise […]

Burt Rutan has started testing his latest airplane design, the SkiGull, an amphibious design he says will be his last. This week, the legendary airplane designer took the airplane to Hayden Lake for some early water testing. The fuselage was launched into the water before the wings were attached and Rutan briefed test pilot Glenn […]

Redge Greenberg, a pilot from Durango, Colorado, is one of the few people in the world ever to have built his own jet in his garage after completing the first customer-assembled SubSonex, serial number JSX0003. “I flew the SubSonex this morning, for about 35 minutes…all went well,” Redge wrote to inform kit manufacturer Sonex Aircraft […]

After an unfortunate mishap during its first flight, the Bugatti 100P replica race plane has returned to the skies. The plane sustained damage to both propellers after an off-runway excursion back in August during its first test flight. But with two new propellers from Rupert Wasey at Hercules Propellers, the 100P has achieved another milestone […]

The Max-Viz infrared enhanced vision system from Astronics Corp. that has been offered for years in certified aircraft is now available for Experimental and homebuilt models after the company this month introduced a noncertified version designated X1 and priced at $6,000. The unit makes use of essentially the same technology that’s installed in certified aircraft, […]

Just months after its first flight, Anequim CEA-311, a Brazilian speedster built by students and professors at the Brazilian technical school Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Belo Horizonte, has achieved multiple world records at the Santa Cruz Air Force Base in Rio de Janeiro. Between Friday and Sunday last week, the sleek single-seat […]

The Bugatti 100P replica race plane that has been under construction for the last several years in Oklahoma sustained damage yesterday during its first test flight, nosing over and striking both propellers after a failure of its right brake and a slow-speed departure from the runway into soft mud. Still, the builders of the airplane […]

Burt Rutan, who retired from his company Scaled Composites in 2010 only to announce he is building a new airplane in his garage, provided some details regarding the progress on what he has named the SkiGull. The SkiGull is designed as a multi purpose airplane capable of landing on water (it incorporates design details to […]