You're building an airplane with your own hands. The record should prove it.
Years of your life go into a Van's RV. When the DAR opens your log, that work has to speak for itself — the amateur-built determination rests on your record, not your memory. KitBird exists so the proof of your build is never the weak link.
- 2,265 part numbers labelled on the RV-14 plans' pages
- 992 of them named nowhere in the step text
- PDF + CSV a builder's-log PDF to hand your DAR, and a CSV of the whole record
"Where does this one go?"
A leftover from a bag. One you just bent. One you need to reorder. Type the number and KitBird shows the steps in your plans that name it — with your own logged and not-applicable marks on each — and takes you straight to that step in the checklist.
Rivets and screws too, because the size is on the drawing.
Van's usually writes "rivet as shown in Figure 1" and leaves the size to the artwork. So KitBird reads the parts labelled on each page as well — the exploded views, callouts, rivet legends and bag-of-parts lists — and lists those pages separately. In the RV-14 plans that is 2,265 part numbers, and 992 of them are named nowhere in the step text at all.
It is careful about hardware. Searching AN3 finds the AN3 bolt lengths and refuses AN316 — a different part — and when a number is close but not the same, it shows you what your plans do list and lets you decide.
A page hit means the part is labelled on that page. It doesn't claim to know which step uses it, and it never changes your record — the lookup only reads.
Four steps from an open kit to a signed-off airplane.
A Van's RV is a few thousand hours of careful work. KitBird follows that work in the order you actually do it — and keeps the paper trail an airworthiness inspection runs on.
Your plans, your checklist.
Upload the plans PDF Van's sent you. KitBird reads it into a checklist built from your own documents — section by section, page by page, step by step — so you mark done only what's on the drawing in front of you.
You own the plans. KitBird only keeps the numbers-and-checkmarks record — the drawings stay yours.
Deburr the HS-00005 skin edges and remove the vinyl along the rivet lines.
Cleco the HS-00001 spar to the ribs; verify flange orientation.
Match-drill #40 the skin to the skeleton, moving clecos as you go.
Dimple the skin and countersink the spar attach holes.
Log work the way you actually work.
Record the hours, a note, and photos for a session in seconds. Split a day across steps, mark a quick-build section as factory-assembled, and keep your amateur-built record straight. The split between your work and factory-assembled work is tallied from it, for you and your inspector to review.
Every entry is dated and yours. Edit it, add a photo, or fix a number any time.
Van's service bulletins, tracked against your serial.
KitBird matches Van's service bulletins and notifications to your kit, shows which fall inside the serial range or ship window Van's lists, and keeps your compliance record for each.
Compliance is a record you keep, not advice KitBird gives. Always confirm against Van's originals.
A DAR-ready log, one tap away.
When it's time to certify, export a printable builder's-log PDF for your airworthiness inspection, plus a full CSV backup. Your hours, your photos, your steps — organized the way an inspector expects to read them.
Your data leaves whenever you do. Export the whole record anytime, in PDF and CSV.
The details a long build needs.
Works in the hangar
A phone-first app that runs offline. Add it to your home screen and log work at the bench, wifi or not.
Share it safely
Invite a co-builder to the same log, or hand your DAR a read-only login. You decide who sees what.
Any Van's RV
RV-14, RV-6, and more. Bring the plans for your kit and KitBird builds the checklist to match it.
Your data is yours
Everything exports to PDF and CSV, on demand. No lock-in — the record walks out the door with you.
It keeps the record. It doesn't fly the airplane.
Building an experimental aircraft is serious work, and we treat it that way. KitBird is deliberate about what it is — and clear about what it isn't.
“KitBird is built alongside a real RV-14A. Every feature has to earn its place at the bench before it ships — because I'm keeping my own log in it.”
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