The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. It hosts the largest aviation gathering of its kind in the world, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
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.
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.
Van's Aircraft, Inc. is an American kit aircraft manufacturer founded by Richard VanGrunsven in 1973. The Van's RV series aircraft are all-aluminum, low-wing monoplanes of monocoque construction. In 2023, over 11,000 Van's aircraft were flying worldwide, one third of the USA's experimental aircraft fleet.
The Ace Baby Ace, a single-seat, single-engine, parasol wing, fixed-gear light airplane, was marketed as a homebuilt aircraft when its plans were first offered for sale in 1929 — one of the first homebuilt aircraft plans available in the United States. Plans are still available and Baby Aces are still being built. Orland Corben designed a series of aircraft for the Ace Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the Baby Ace, Junior Ace, and Super Ace. Corben's name was associated with the aircraft, and it is commonly known as the Corben Baby Ace.
The Ace Junior Ace is a two-seat sports aircraft that has been offered by the Ace Aircraft Manufacturing Company in kit and plans form for home building since the early 1930s. It was designed by Orland Corben.
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.
The Rutan Model 54 Quickie is a lightweight single-seat taildragger aircraft of composite construction, configured with tandem wings.
The Lancair Legacy, a modernized version of the Lancair 320, is a low-wing two-place retractable-gear composite monoplane manufactured by the American company Lancair. It is available as a kit that cost US$71,500 in 2011. There is also a fixed-gear version, the Legacy FG. The retractable version of the Legacy cruises at 276 mph at 8,000 ft and the fixed gear version cruises at 215 mph.
Sylvester Joseph "Steve" Wittman was an American air-racer and aircraft engineer.
The Sonerai is a small, VW-powered homebuilt aircraft, designed by John Monnett. The Sonerai began to compete as a single-seat, mid-wing, tailwheel Formula-V racer class formed in 1972. The Sonerai soon evolved into a two-seat model called the Sonerai II.
The EAA Biplane is a recreational aircraft that was designed by the Experimental Aircraft Association in the United States and marketed as plans for home-built aircraft.
The Heath Parasol is an American single or two seat, open-cockpit, parasol winged, homebuilt monoplane.
The CAFE Foundation is a U.S. non-profit aviation development and flight test organization based in Windsor, California. CAFE was an acronym for "Competition in Aircraft Flight Efficiency" and became later "Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency." The organization promotes experimental aviation activities which promote the development of highly efficient aircraft. It is sponsored by many organizations including Boeing Phantom Works, NASA, EAA, AOPA, Glasair Aviation, among others; and funding is also obtained through an FAA grant.
Thomas Paul Poberezny was an American aerobatic world champion aviator, as well as chairman of the annual Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Fly-In and Convention from 1977 to 2011 and president of EAA from 1989 to 2010, presiding over a time period of expansive growth for the organization and convention. He succeeded his father, Paul Poberezny, who founded them in 1953.
The Stits SA-3A Playboy is a single seat, strut-braced low-wing monoplane that was designed by Ray Stits for amateur construction. The aircraft was designed and the prototype was completed in a three-month period during 1952. The design went on to become one of the most influential in the post-war boom in aircraft homebuilding.
The Blue Yonder Merlin is a Canadian-designed and -built two-seat, high-wing monoplane with taildragger undercarriage. It can be built as a basic ultra-light, an advanced ultra-light or amateur-built aircraft.
Ladislao Pazmany was an aviation pioneer, aeronautical engineer, designer, pilot, teacher, speaker, and author. Born in Hungary, Pazmany grew up, went to school, and worked in his formative years in Argentina. He then immigrated to the United States where he lived for the remainder of his life.
Sling Aircraft (Pty) Ltd, formerly called The Airplane Factory (Pty) Ltd., is a South African aircraft manufacturer based at Tedderfield Airpark, Eikenhof, Johannesburg South. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of light aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly aircraft for the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight and the American light-sport aircraft categories.
The Performance Aircraft Formula GT is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Performance Aircraft of Olathe, Kansas, introduced in the 1990s. Developed from the Performance Aircraft Legend, work was delayed while the company concentrated on the Turbine Legend. In 2002 the president of Performance Aircraft, Jeff Ackland, sold the company, which became Legend Aircraft Inc in Louisiana, and, with Mark Borrow, started Midwest Aerosport Inc, using the Performance Aircraft facilities in Kansas to develop the Formula GT.
