 | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founders | Tom Hamilton and Thomas Wathen |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | CEO: Randy Lervold |
| Products | Homebuilt aircraft kits |
| Owner | Jilin Hanxing Group |
| Website | glasairaviation |
Glasair Aviation USA, LLC is a Chinese-owned aircraft manufacturer based in Arlington, Washington that produces the Glasair and Sportsman 2+2 line of homebuilt aircraft. More than 3000 Glasair kits have been delivered worldwide.
Tom Hamilton began flight testing the Glasair TD and founded Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft in 1979. Glasair Aviation was formed in 2001 when Thomas W. Wathen purchased the Glasair assets from bankrupt Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft, Inc. and signed an agreement with Arlington Aircraft Development, Inc. (AADI) to buy all rights to and assets of the GlaStar model. [1] [2]
In July 2012 the company was sold to the Jilin Hanxing Group, which formed a new company Glasair Aircraft USA, LLC. The company indicated that it intended to certify the Glastar design and otherwise retain production in Arlington, Washington. Its chairman said that purchasing Glasair was "the first step in a very long journey" and envisioned the company producing trainers for flight schools and eventually personal aircraft for the Chinese market. [3] [4]
Randy Lervold became the company CEO on 14 May 2019. [5]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company laid off its production and builder-assist staff, retaining ten employees for product support and engineering. It planned to take orders in 2021, [6] and the company web sites states that it is taking limited orders for possible fulfilment in 2023.
| Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasair I | 1979 | 807 [7] | Low-wing, two seat kit aircraft |
| Glasair II | 1989 | 1200 | Low-wing, two seat kit aircraft |
| Glasair III | 1986 | 500 | Low-wing, two seat kit aircraft |
| GlaStar | 1994 | 300 | High-wing, two seat kit aircraft |
| Sportsman 2+2 | 2003 | 400 | High-wing, four seat kit aircraft |
| Glasair Merlin LSA [8] | 2015 | 1 | High-wing, two seat SLSA aircraft |
Cessna is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing corporation also headquartered in Wichita. The company produced small, piston-powered aircraft, as well as business jets. For much of the mid-to-late 20th century, Cessna was one of the highest-volume and most diverse producers of general aviation aircraft in the world. It was founded in 1927 by Clyde Cessna and Victor Roos and was purchased by General Dynamics in 1985, then by Textron, Inc. in 1992. In March 2014, when Textron purchased the Beechcraft and Hawker Aircraft corporations, Cessna ceased operations as a subsidiary company, and joined the others as one of the three distinct brands produced by Textron Aviation.
Lancair International, Inc. is a U.S. manufacturer of general aviation aircraft kits. They are well known for their series of high-performance single-engine aircraft that offer cruise speeds that surpass many twin-engine turboprop designs. Along with the Glasair series, the early Lancair designs were among the first kitplanes to bring modern molded composites construction to light aircraft.
Continental Aerospace Technologies is an aircraft engine manufacturer located at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was originally spun off from automobile engine manufacturer Continental Motors Company in 1929 and owned by Teledyne Technologies from 1969 until December 2010. The company is now part of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which is a Government of the People's Republic of China state-owned aerospace company headquartered in Beijing.
Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft, based in Arlington, Washington, was a designer and supplier of high-performance homebuilt aircraft kits, offering parts and plans to homebuilders. The company's popular Glasair aircraft series are low wing, two-seat fiberglass designs.
Sonex Aircraft, LLC is an American kit aircraft manufacturer located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, producing kits for four all-metal homebuilt monoplanes. The company was founded in 1998 by John Monnett, who has designed the Monnett Sonerai sport aircraft series, Monnett Monerai sailplane, Monnett Moni motorglider, and Monnett Monex racer. Monnett designs are displayed in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum near Washington D.C.
The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft, is an aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 kit aircraft, and is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. The company is owned by a subsidiary of the Chinese government-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), with operational locations in seven states across the US including Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Florida and Michigan, as well as sales locations in France and the Netherlands.
The Glasair I, originally built as the prototype Glasair TD taildragger, is a high-performance homebuilt aircraft built of fiberglass. Created by Tom Hamilton as a fast, two-seat kitplane, the Glasair TD was derived from the earlier Tom Hamilton Glasair and first flew in 1979. Hamilton formed Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft that year to produce and market the kit, which was the first pre-molded composite aircraft available to builders. It was introduced to the public at the 1980 EAA Convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, winning Hamilton the 1985 EAA August Raspet Award for "significant advancements in the field of light aircraft design".
Symphony Aircraft Industries (SAI) was a light aircraft manufacturer based in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada.
The Mooney International Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Kerrville, Texas, United States. It manufactures single-engined piston-powered general aviation aircraft.
Epic Aircraft is a general aviation aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Bend, Oregon. The company produces the Epic E1000 GX single engine turboprop design.
The ICON A5 is an American amphibious light-sport aircraft (LSA) designed and produced by ICON Aircraft. A concept aircraft was first flown in 2008, and creation of the production tooling began in December 2012. The first production aircraft made its first flight on July 7, 2014, and made its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on July 27, 2014. A year later at AirVenture, it was temporarily donated to the youth group Young Eagles, with the first official A5 customer deliveries occurring in 2016. As of 2019, 100 A5s had been delivered. The aircraft is known for having brought significant excitement and publicity to the LSA industry since its unveiling in 2008, although company legal and financial issues have slowed production over the last six years.
Eclipse Aerospace was an American aircraft manufacturer, maintenance and upgrade company. The company provided maintenance and upgrades to the Eclipse 500 fleet and was the manufacturer of the Eclipse 550. The company was formed specifically to purchase the assets of bankrupt Eclipse Aviation, for which it paid US$20 million in cash and US$20 million in promissory notes in August 2009.
The Glasair Sportsman 2+2 is a single-engine, high wing, strut-braced, four seat kit aircraft, developed by the Glasair Aviation company.
The Stoddard-Hamilton Glasair III is an American two-seat, high performance homebuilt aircraft designed and built by Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft of Arlington, Washington as an addition to the Glasair range of aircraft for amateur construction. Glasair II and III assets were purchased by Advanced Aero Components in September, 2017.
Superior Air Parts, Inc. is a Chinese-owned manufacturer of aviation piston engine replacement parts, headquartered in Coppell, Texas, United States. The company has been owned by Superior Aviation Beijing since 2010.
The Glasair GlaStar is an American amateur-built aircraft that was designed by Tom Hamilton and produced by Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft and later Glasair Aviation. It was first flown in 1994 and was superseded in production by the Glasair Sportsman 2+2 c. 2005. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.
China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA) is a Chinese aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong. It was established as a division of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) in July 2009.
The SH-1 tandem Glasair was an original homebuilt aircraft design by Tom Hamilton, who would use the lessons learned from this to build the Glasair I, II and III series of homebuilt aircraft.
The One Aviation Corporation, stylized as ONE Aviation, was a company formed in 2015 to merge the aircraft manufacturers Eclipse Aerospace and Kestrel Aircraft. The company had its headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.
The CubCrafters CC19-180 XCub is an American light aircraft, designed and produced by Cub Crafters of Yakima, Washington, introduced in June 2016. The aircraft is supplied complete and ready-to-fly.
