The Propeller under the Bed: A Personal History of Homebuilt Aircraft

On July 25, 2010, Arnold Ebneter flew across the country in a plane he designed and built himself, setting an aviation world record for aircraft of its class. He was eighty-two at the time and the flight represented the culmination of a dream he’d cultivated since his childhood in the 1930s.

Eileen Bjorkman — herself a pilot and aeronautical engineer — frames her father’s journey from teenage airplane enthusiast to Air Force pilot and Boeing engineer in the context of the rise, near extermin...