A practical pre-purchase inspection guide for buying a used amateur-built aircraft: what to check, records to demand, and mistakes that cost buyers money.

How to inspect and buy a partially completed homebuilt aircraft project, verify the builder log, and avoid the 51% rule trap before you pay.

Set a realistic budget and timeline for building your first aircraft. Learn the hidden costs, why projects stall, and how to plan a build you can finish.

Learn how to find and work with an EAA Technical Counselor and Flight Advisor so your homebuilt aircraft gets caught before problems fly.

A practical guide to setting up a home workshop for building an aircraft: space, tools, ventilation, and safety without wasting money on the wrong gear.

How to use EAA Technical Counselors and Flight Advisors to catch build errors and prepare for a safer first flight in your homebuilt aircraft.

Learn how to prepare for an EAA Technical Counselor visit so you catch build mistakes early, log the inspection, and improve your homebuilt’s safety.

A practical guide to Phase 1 flight testing for a homebuilt aircraft: how to plan test cards, pick an airport, avoid the deadliest first-flight mistakes.

Buying a partially completed homebuilt aircraft? Learn how to evaluate the airframe, paperwork, and the 51% rule before you commit money to someone else’s project.

Understand the 51% rule for homebuilt aircraft: what the FAA counts, how the kit list works, and how to protect your amateur-built eligibility.

How to decide between building a homebuilt aircraft from a kit, from plans, or buying a finished experimental. Costs, time, risk, and the repairman certificate.

How to use the free EAA Technical Counselor program during a homebuilt aircraft build: when to call, what to show, and the mistakes that waste the visit.

A practical guide to setting up a home workshop for building an aircraft: space, power, ventilation, and safety so your homebuilt project runs smoothly.

One of the earliest and most consequential decisions a homebuilder faces has nothing to do with paint schemes or panel layouts. It is the choice of how the airframe will actually be made. The four… 

When an amateur-built aircraft receives its airworthiness certificate, it does not simply join the traffic pattern like any other airplane. It enters a defined flight test period, commonly called Phase I, spelled out in the… 

For many pilots, the dream of building and flying their own aircraft begins with a single, intimidating question: where do you even start? The amateur-built aircraft certificate is the legal framework that makes home construction… 

Owning an amateur-built aircraft comes with a recurring obligation that many new builders underestimate until the first anniversary of their airworthiness certificate arrives. Every experimental amateur-built aircraft must undergo a condition inspection once every twelve… 

Learn how to find and work with an EAA Technical Counselor so your homebuilt aircraft passes inspection and flies safely. A practical, experience-based guide.

Building an aircraft is often described as a solitary pursuit, a lone craftsman in a garage measured against years of patient work. That image is romantic and largely wrong. The builders who finish, and finish… 

When pilots discuss aircraft, conversation often drifts toward impressive numbers: cruise speed, climb rate, range. Yet experienced aviators and designers know that the most important characteristic of any aircraft is not how fast it goes… 

The engine is the heart of any aircraft, and for the homebuilder it represents one of the largest single decisions in the entire project. It is also the area where enthusiasm most often collides with… 

The first flight of a homebuilt aircraft is a milestone unlike any other in aviation. After hundreds or thousands of hours of work, the machine finally leaves the ground. Yet this moment marks the beginning,… 

Among all the variables a pilot manages, few are as consequential and as easily overlooked as the center of gravity. It does not appear on the instrument panel, it changes with every passenger and bag,… 

Weather is the single most common factor in general aviation accidents, yet it is also the most controllable. Unlike a mechanical failure, weather rarely surprises a pilot who has done the work to understand it.… 

Walk through any gathering of experimental aircraft and you will see machines built from many materials: wood and fabric, composites, welded steel tube. Yet aluminum sheet metal remains one of the most popular and respected… 

One of the great privileges of the experimental aircraft world is the ability for builders to maintain their own aircraft. The person who constructs an amateur-built aircraft can typically perform its maintenance and the annual…