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Ten years ago, the most common panel conversions were from round dial, also known as legacy or steam gauge panels, to initial glass cockpits. According to Aspen Avionics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Advanced Flight Systems in Canby, Oregon, these days, aircraft owners are focusing on upgrading their panels with the latest in glass technology.

Usually it is a two-fold process, says Perri Coyne, director of marketing operations for Aspen Avionics. The customer picks out the panel they want, and Aspen sends them a recommendation for a shop to do the work.

“With 700-plus dealers around the world, you probably aren’t too far from a shop that can help upgrade your panel,” she says, adding that Aspen Avionics “literally holds the patent on a plug-in solution for an EFIS to replace round-dial, six-pack instruments without cockpit panel modifications.”

According to Coyne, over the years, the company mission has expanded to provide products to more and more aircraft types and OEMs.

“We have always been focused on providing avionics products that can grow with the needs of our customers regardless of aircraft and market,” says Coyne. “Our initial focus has been in the aftermarket

GA segment and over time have expanded to provide products to more and more aircraft types and OEMs. “It is our core philosophy to work with whatever our customers have installed or are wanting to install their panels,” she says.

Trade-Up Program

“The Trade In Trade Up Program is unique in that air- craft owners can trade in their ‘older’ Aspen displays to the latest generation of Aspen Max displays at a significantly reduced price and get a new two-year warranty,” Coyne continues. “The trade-in program is an integral part of our strategy to provide a path for our customers to capitalize on their initial investment and affordably stay up with the latest hardware and functional innovations without having to incur the large expense of having to start over with an entirely new platform. For instance, a new Evolution Pro Max PFD sells for $9,995.

“An owner can trade in their old display for a new Max display for $4,995, which now comes with stan- dard synthetic vision,” Coyne says. “Aspen units that can be traded in for the Max units include the E5 (our basic PFD), the VFR-only display, the ‘Pilot’ or the older ‘Legacy’ EFD1000 primary flight display (not Max). Additionally, if there is any factory warranty left on the trade-in display, we will add the remaining coverage of the warranty for the new display. For example: An owner trades in his current display, which still has six months left of warranty coverage; that six months will be added to the new display for a warranty of 30 months, versus 24 months.”

Upgrade the Experimental

It isn’t just certified aircraft owners who go shopping for a new panel; the owners of experimental aircraft are just as likely, if not more likely, to upgrade their panel. For the owners of Vans’s RV designs, that often means a visit to Advanced Flight Systems located in Canby, Oregon, a mere 3.8 miles from Aurora State Airport (KUAO), the home of the Van’s Aircraft factory.

“There are so many RVs out there now we are now seeing people who are second or third owner of an RV,” says Rob Hickman, an electrical engineer and software expert who some 20 years ago created an engine monitor for the RV-4 he was building—and it evolved into Advanced Flight Systems.

Just as the design of the RVs has become more refined over the decades, so have the avionics. Round dial steam gauges are almost unheard of, he says, “For every fifty glass panels we do there might be one panel with round-dial analog gauges installed for backups. Everything is driven by software and electronic circuitry.”

“It works better for today’s RV builders. They are not like people who built them 20 years ago. Today building an RV is more like an assembly product, and they want avionics that they can install as a plug and play.” Selecting an upgrade panel begins with questions about the type of aircraft and the type of flying the owner does. Panel real estate is a finite resource, and over the years, Advanced Avionics has developed several panel designs that work for most of their customers. The big questions, often answered through a video conference, are IFR or VFR, or is there an option to upgrade to IFR in the future? Many panels are designed with space to allow this. Once these questions are answered, Advanced Avionics creates a build proposal that includes the layout and the materials to be used and presents it to the customer.

Sometimes the customer’s desires can be complicated, says Hickman. “We get that all the time. We sell them the components—the trays and harnesses and the advanced control and EFIS and the switches and let them do what they want to do either by themselves or someone assigned by the builder to complete the installation.”

Most customers, say both Hickman and Coyne, are looking for panels to enhance IFR capabilities, but because of the cost, they often buy the components in a modular fashion—installing one feature, then later when they have the money, adding to it. It is not uncommon for aircraft owners to time the avionics upgrade with the aircraft’s annual.

“Our products are designed to be able to be installed in stages as the owner’s finances and flying needs grow,” says Coyne. “For example, an owner can install three Aspen displays (an Evolution 2500 Max system = 1 PFD, 1 MFD500, and 1 MFD1000) or choose to upgrade in stages when their budget allows.”

Advice from One Who Knows

You probably know a pilot with an airplane project that has taken years to finish. That can complicate the avionics selection, says Hiroo Umeno from Seattle. Umeno has performed avionics upgrades in two aircraft panels. The first was a Velocity, the second a Cessna 182. He says he learned along in the process. For starters, when you are building an experimental aircraft, don’t buy the avionics package before you are ready to begin taxi tests.

“I bought a Chelton Systems in the 2000s to put in the Velocity, and by the time I was ready for flight, my Chelton system was obsolete by the time the airplane first flew,” he explains. “Also, the numbers on the data sheets are nominal, and cutting the panel to that size will guarantee things will not fit, and you will be spending quality time with dremel tools.”

If possible, he suggests modeling everything in CAD software before you start manipulating materials.

Online Learning

The avionics manufacturers have libraries of online tutorials for pilots and aircraft owners to use to learn their new panels. In addition, most airports have a pretty good grapevine, and the local pilots know who has what in their airplane, and who can offer help to learn the panel.

Panel Plays: 5 Things to Remember When Upgrading Your Panel

1. Don’t reinvent the wheel

Ask what the avionics suppliers have in stock—you’re probably not the first person to ask for that configuration.

2. Keep in mind that IFR capability is a bonus

You may not have your instrument rating (yet), but the buddy you fly with does, and now your airplane has more versatility.

3. Do the online training

While you watch the tutorials, make notes so you can have cheat sheets in the airplane, just in case.

4. Keep a copy of the manual

Make sure it’s for the current avionics in the aircraft and keep it onboard for reference.

5. Practice with the IFR panel

While you fly in VFR conditions, go through instrument procedures so you don’t have any unwelcome surprises in IMC.

This article first appeared in the June 2023/Issue 938 print edition of FLYING magazine.

The post Upgrading Avionics in the New-to-You Airplane appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The move comes a little over a month after Van’s announced a series of changes designed to combat “serious cash flow issues, which must be addressed quickly to ensure ongoing operations.” According to the company, the problems stem from COVID-related supply chain challenges, faulty primer that led to corrosion problems on quick build kits, and recent issues with defects in laser-cut parts.

• READ MORE: Van’s Updates List of RV Parts Reportedly Forming Cracks

“As a result of this combination of issues, the company experienced serious cash-flow problems from which it could not recover through the normal course of business,” Van’s said in a statement. “During that time, Van’s built up a significant and high-value parts inventory. As we manufacture the additional parts needed to balance this inventory, we will leverage it to fulfill orders for kits and parts over the next 12 to 18 months.”

Van’s is expected to file a proposed reorganization plan with the court within the next 90 days. The company says it will continue to provide parts, service, and support, along with shipping kit orders, during the reorganization. Plans are being developed for customers affected by the Chapter 11 filing, though the company noted that those plans are ultimately dependent upon court approval.

Plans for Existing Customers

For customers who received laser-cut parts, Van’s says it has now “completed a careful, detailed review that delineates the specific list of laser-cut parts for each individual customer kit order.” If approved, the company says it intends to begin contacting impacted customers with detailed information on the parts and its parts replacement program with the goal of beginning to ship replacements this month. Van’s hopes to have delivered replacement parts to all affected customers, estimated to be more than 1,800, by the end of 2024.

Van’s reported that it is also reviewing all open parts orders, some of which will be hit with price increases. “Customers with open parts orders that require updated pricing will be contacted soon and will receive access to a website where they will be able to review and act upon the details of their existing orders and Van’s proposed order modifications,” Van’s said.

In addition, prices for kits and parts are expected to increase. Van’s plans to “begin contacting customers with open kit orders that were placed prior to the filing date within the next 7 to 10 days with an offer to apply the full amount of their existing deposits toward the purchase of the same kit, under new terms and conditions including a price increase.” Customers with deposits on kits should be on the lookout for an email with a link “to a website where they will be able to view the details of their existing order, the amount of their deposit and Van’s proposed order modifications.”

“Van’s expects to resume shipping in-stock kit orders within the next 7 to 10 days,” the company said. “We will do our best to prioritize those who have waited longest, but our kit fulfillment schedule must be financially acceptable to the court, based substantially on cash flow rather than the traditional and historical method of order fulfillment that Van’s customers have experienced in the past. We will be constrained by – and will make prioritization decisions based on – the rate and timing of order renewal, availability of in-stock parts, and our need to ship kits that generate positive cash flow. Where we are able to do so, we will also consider the age of the original customer order.”

The company says it is still working with its engine, propeller, and avionics partners to get a plan in place for customers with deposits on those products. Van’s noted that orders that don’t require modifications will be shipped as usual.

“The purpose of the Chapter 11 filing is to allow Van’s to continue to provide ongoing support for its customers, suppliers, and employees for many years to come,” Van’s said. “We understand that this situation creates a hardship for everyone involved. However, without these changes we do not see a viable path forward that would allow Van’s Aircraft to remain in business and support its customers.”

Editor’s Note: This story was originally reported on by KITPLANES.

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According to the late aviation historian Peter Bowers, the Adcox Student Prince began as a design by Basil Smith intended to be a two-seat, open-cockpit biplane and used as a trainer. The airplane was built by students at Adcox Trade School near Portland in 1929. According to Bowers, the airplane was built on contract for Jerry Wildman, a Portland-area pilot who financed the project.

The design was such a hit that Adcox decided to mass-produce the aircraft. A factory was built outside of Portland, on Swan Island along the Willamette River.

The Student Prince is not a terribly complicated design. The fuselage and tail surfaces are welded steel tubing, and the wings used wooden spars and wood-truss ribs at first. Pressed sheet aluminum was later used for the ribs. The fuel tank, fitted in the center section of the wing, holds approximately 22.5 gallons.

The powerplant of the aircraft varied. The one-off Adcox Student Prince had an 85 hp Cirrus Mk III, later a 90 hp Ace engine. The Kinner K-5 also became a popular choice. 

Unfortunately, the Great Depression was underway at the time of its inception, and the airplane market was soft to nonexistent—the lack of customers and flooding from winter rains closed the factory down.

“Less than six of the aircraft were produced and only three were certified. Number 101, 102, and 103. Those were the last three that were built before the economy tanked,” says Tim Talen, a pilot and aircraft restorer from Springfield, Oregon. Talen, the founder of the Oregon Aviation Historical Society, has been restoring vintage aircraft since the 1970s, “taking them from basket case to award winners,” he says. Talen owns Student Prince No. 101: “The prototype for the certified airplanes,” says Talen. “The Student Prince was the first certified production airplane built in Oregon.”

Student Prince No. 101

Talen had heard stories about a Student Prince in the Pacific Northwest, and he went looking for it. He learned about Skeeter Carlson, a vintage aviation pilot with a Student Prince in Spokane. Skeeter told him he had another Student Prince that was a basket case and asked Talen if he would be interested in a trade.

“A few years later, I had a Fleet airplane and I asked, ‘How about trading the Fleet for the SP?’” says Talen. Unfortunately, the airplane was without an engine. “I was trading for a complete airplane and engine, but no, Skeeter said just the airframe, so I had to go out and find my own engine. I got a Kinner.”

Missing parts are often part of the challenge when restoring a vintage aircraft, says Talen, and the restorer often finds themself searching for an airplane of the same make and model to take measurements.

A Student Prince was operated by Bert and Fred Zimmerly, who opened a flying service in 1934 in Lewiston, Idaho, according to a story in the April 1941 issue of FLYING.The brothers used the airplane as a trainer while they developed their commercial opera-tions serving the community along with a seven-placeZenith. The pair moved operations to Clarkston in1938. Turns out, this was Student Prince No. 101.

Charlie Brown, Serial No. 102

Now, Student Prince No. 102 certainly belongs to Charlie Brown of Sandpoint, Idaho. Brown, an octogenarian pilot and aviation mechanic, estimates he’s restored around 23 aircraft. He also acquired his Student Prince from Skeeter Carlson. It was one of many projects left unfinished after Carlson’s death.

“He had a lot of airplanes,” said Brown. “He bought [the Student Prince] in 1947. He had taken it apart some 35 years ago so he could recover it, and basically it didn’t happen. After Skeeter died, his family wanted to get rid of the airplane stuff and I found it in his barn. I acquired it in 2016—it was about 90 percent there. It took about four years to restore it.”

Brown notes it had the original seats. “The seats are Naugahyde and tall and narrow, and it’s stamped on them they were made on Swan Island near Portland, Oregon.” According to Brown the instrument panel is basic, “A tachometer, a compass, airspeed, oil pressure and temperature, and that’s pretty much it.” He notes his airplane sports a 145 hp Warner, more powerful than the other Student Princes.

Brown’s Student Prince is orange, which is a creative choice, he says. “I have seen some original 1930s pictures of the Student Prince and I think they were all silver back then,” he said, adding that it is difficult to tell since the images are in black and white.

During the restoration, Brown, like Talen, sought out a fully intact Student Prince for reference—that Student Prince No. 103, belongs to Summer Martell of Port Townsend, Washington.

Summer Martell, Student Prince No. 103

Summer Martell is a 15,000-hour ATP-rated corporate pilot and designated pilot examiner from Port Townsend, Washington. According to Martell, her airplane was the last one the factory finished before it shut down. She’s been flying the airplane since her teen years—it belonged to her father, who was known as “Flyin’ Bryan.”

Martell’s parents were divorced and she was living with her mother in Palmer, Alaska, when her father was learning to fly. He started in tricycle gear airplanes but soon made the transition to tailwheel.

“He saw the Student Prince in a hangar at an airport, and he said it smiled at him, and he knew he had to have it,” she says. Her father sent her photographs of himself next to his newly acquired Student Prince, and it wasn’t long before Summer joined her father in Washington and started taking flying lessons in the antique open-cockpit biplane, which her father christened “Lady Summer.”

Father and daughter would spend the summers barnstorming. Summer’s job was to haul cans of gas, and collect the money while her dad gave rides.

When she was 16, she learned to hand-prop the airplane to get it started as it doesn’t have an electrical system or starter. Martell learned to fly in the Student Prince, soloing at 16. A year later, after her father’s untimely and non-aviation-related death, she inherited the airplane.

She put herself to work as a modern-day barnstormer as she built her hours and became a professional pilot. There’s still nothing she loves more than giving rides at airshows and fly-ins.

When other Student Prince owners need information on a part, it’s Martell’s aircraft that is photographed and measured. 

“It underwent a complete restoration in 2009,” she says, adding that she learned to buy and hoard Kinnerparts whenever she could. Recently, she added a Kinnerstarter to the airplane. 

“I’ve been hand-propping that plane since I was 16. The convenience and safety a starter will add outweighs the nostalgia of hand propping,” she explained.

Martell flies the airplane about 50 hours a year, mostly in the summer.

“My father used to tell me that flying was my inheritance. His words proved to be prophetic, and the Student Prince has been the key to that kingdom. It has affected, influenced, and shaped my life more than anything or anyone. When it comes to the two of us, I will always be the student, and it will forever be my Prince.”

Adcox Special Student Prince

The rarest of the rare, the Adcox Special Student Prince N10471, also resides in Washington state, owned by Keith Dyson, an AP/IA and commercial pilot. Aviation runs in the family, as it was Dyson’s father Hank who found the Adcox parked at the Kennewick, Washington, airport in 1957.

“It had been modified by having the original American Cirrus engine removed and replaced by a Kinner B-5 that had swallowed a valve,” says Dyson. “Dad trucked it home, removed the Kinner and replaced it with a Continental W670, which it still has. It was given a full restoration—back in the air in the early 1960s.”

It was in that airplane that Keith Dyson, age four, took his first airplane ride. “The event forever hooked me into the world of aviation,” he says. “Dad kept the airplane until 1968 when he traded it for building materials and construction equipment to build a very large home on the family homestead near Eatonville, Washington, but he always kept track of where the Adcox traveled. During his final year with United Airlines in 1988, he used part of his retirement to purchase the airplane back, and it has been back in the family ever since.”

The senior Dyson flew west in 2012, leaving his son to care for the antique. 

“I am currently putting N10471 back together following rebuilding new floorboards. Fortunately for me, the Adcox has not required another full-on restoration, and I’ve not had to deal with anything other than routine maintenance.”

The best part of being the caretaker of the Adcox Student Prince—because no one really ever owns an antique airplanes, they are simply caretakers—says Dyson, is “knowing I’m working on a piece of history that has been touched by so many extremely talented people that loved antique open cockpit biplanes. I plan to hold onto this great old bird as long as I can. 

“I was so incredibly fortunate this great airplane chose me!

The post A Tale of Four Princes appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Then… Russia invaded Ukraine and the global markets trembled.

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association released information recently showing positive results for 2022 in every category they report. The closest corollary to light sport aircraft and sport pilot-eligible kitbuilt aircraft is GAMA’s “piston airplanes” category, which showed an 8.2 percent gain over 2021.

When we examine only U.S. aircraft information and omit multiengine aircraft, the single-engine piston category shows 1,005 U.S. aircraft deliveries. In comparison, the overall light aircraft market totaled 738 new registrations, or 73 percent of what GA builders delivered. Note that deliveries and registrations may differ in any given year, but tend to converge over time.

Despite a year of war, plunging stock markets and sky-high energy prices, protests and riots in multiple countries, huge increases in freight cost, plus ongoing supply chain challenges and lingering COVID-19 fears, the light aircraft market nonetheless grew by a very healthy 18 percent, as compared to a rising 10 percent in 2021. The industry is now performing better than in 2019, the last year of relative stability before COVID.

Let’s Unpack the Numbers

I am using a different approach for analysis this year, partly to give added perspective, given the challenging start to the 2020s. You can get more detail on the Tableau Public market share data by visiting bydanjohnson.com.

Here I cover only aircraft called out in the adjacent table—including light sport aircraft and kitbuilt aircraft a pilot can operate using sport pilot certificate privileges, significantly meaning no medical is required. The data rely 100 percent on FAA registration records, which are then closely reviewed by industry experts. This report offers aircraft registration data current through the end of 2022—professionally analyzed by computer database expert Steve Beste. Category explanations are provided below.

I grouped all the light aircraft data into these categories:

• Combined Results, All Categories, includes fully-built, kitbuilt, ELSA (experimental light sport aircraft), and also portrays how the FAA’s 1990s-era primary category touches this segment.
• SLSA (special light sport aircraft) and ELSA arepresented as a group because all must ship conforming to the SLSA model first accepted by the FAA. After an ELSA owner takes delivery, that person can make changes without factory approval but then loses the chance to offer compensated flight instruction or rental of their aircraft.
• SLSA Only covers only ready-to-fly aircraft, separate from ELSA. SLSA can be used for compensated operations like flight instruction and rental.
• EAB (experimental-amateur built) and ELSA are shown as a group because in both cases the owner can alter and maintain the aircraft.
• EAB Only separates the ELSA out of the strictly homebuilt segment.
• ELSA are also shown separately, as they can become quite different from the SLSA model in which they began life. An owner can change avionics and interiors, add equipment, or even change the engine. 

Two remaining categories include experimental-exhibition, used mostly by Pipistrel for its motorglider models in this context; and the primary category that presently counts only AutoGyro as an OEM. Models that pursued primary category certification back in the 1990s (such as the Quicksilver GT500) have not continued with that approach.

Changes in Light Aircraft Categories: 2020-2021-2022

Which Models Sold Best?

The best-selling model overall came from Van’s Aircraft with their RV-12 series (with the original Rotax 912-powered model and the newer version with the Rotax 912iS), which supplied 61 of the best-selling single model of light aircraft in the FAA registry for 2022. Of these, 13 were fully-built SLSA models; the balance of 47 RV-12s were ELSA (plus one more registered as EAB). Most ELSA left the factory essentially complete, as I understand it.

Going the ELSA route has attracted a certain type of buyer interested in fully maintaining or modifying their aircraft. The RV-12 alone accounts for 43 percent of all such aircraft registered in 2022. 

In what I term “alternative aircraft” in this sector, powered parachute manufacturer Powrachute accounted for another 15 ELSA, and Wild Sky Goat (a weight-shift aircraft) registered six more. The remaining18 ELSAs were produced by 12 other producers.

One note reveals the presence of two fully-built Bristell USA aircraft that were registered ELSA to permit IFR operations (yes, that is possible; more on that in future articles in FLYING).

The best-selling SLSA (fully-built) comes as no surprise, so I’ll skip the suspense and tell you it was ICON’s A5, which registered 33 aircraft in 2022 to lead the ready-to-fly pack. In second, fourth, fifth, and sixth places were Tecnam (19 SLSA), Vashon (15), Sling (13), and Super Petrel (11). The third most-registered brand deserves a special mention for 2022. Despite a war in its Ukraine homeland and suffering direct damage from the conflict, Kyiv-based Aeroprakt added 17 aircraft to the FAA registry in 2022. Good U.S. partners help. 

One interesting factoid in the database is the 2022 registration of two Cessna 162 Skycatchers. Since the modelis long out of production—in fact, all remaining brand-new, partly-finished Skycatchers were chopped up and crushed in 2016, so one wonders how a pair of them were added to the database last year.

The best-selling kit builder is another ongoing winner. Zenith, with 91 registrations, has led the pack almost as long as I’ve followed these statistics. Zenith has several models, but their Sky Jeep CH-701 and -750 series contribute to the bulk of the company’s kit deliveries. Remember, kit sales don’t precisely relate to registrations, as owners have to assemble them first. This can take months to years.

Trailing Zenith rather closely are the usual producers: Rans (59 kits; plus 2 SLSA), Sonex (45), Kitfox (38; plus 2SLSA), and Just Aircraft (30). Right behind is Magni (16) because gyroplanes—other than AutoGyro’s primary category models (five registered in 2022)—must be built as kits until the MOSAIC implementation corrects this FAA oversight. AutoGyro also sells kit versions (15 registered). LSA seaplane builder Progressive Aerodyne built Searey kits (10) plus 6 SLSA models.

Among “alternative aircraft” in this space, Powrachute powered parachutes registered 25 aircraft, including 16 kits and 9 SLSA models. In the weight shift category, Evolution Trikes was the leader with 11 registrations, of which seven were SLSA. The company also reports good sales of its non-registered Part 103 aircraft, adding to their total.

The post-COVID period has been kind to the lighter aircraft segment. With some deliveries already quoting into 2024, industry players hope the good news can continue through 2023.

This article was originally published in the April 2023, Issue 936 of  FLYING.

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The military has always been a part of Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) annual fly-in, and this year the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command (AETC) will be featured, with aircraft displays and aerial demonstrations along with diverse elements, such as critical care air transport with a C-17, military working dogs, and explosive ordnance disposal. The Air Force’s Band of the West will also perform during the week.

The AETC, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, was established and activated in January 1942, making it the oldest major command in the Air Force. 

“AETC is referred to as the First Command because nearly every airman starts at AETC, and we’re proud to be responsible for establishing the foundation for so many Air Force careers,” said U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Brian Robinson, AETC commander. “Oshkosh is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase AETC’s members and how we recruit, train, and educate the airmen our nation needs.”

Rick Larsen, EAA’s vice president of communities and member programs and coordinator of AirVenture features and attractions, added: “The Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command has a much wider reach than even most aviation enthusiasts would imagine, which makes AirVenture an outstanding location to highlight all of the command’s capabilities.” The Air Force capabilities will be showcased in the air and during ground presentations throughout the week.

Homebuilt Aircraft

It is said the homebuilt aircraft movement began in hangars and basements as aviation enthusiasts sought to design, build, and later fly aircraft of their own making—in every sense of the word. These designs became known as “experimental” and “homebuilt aircraft,” and they are at the very core of AirVenture and have been “since the first meeting in Milwaukee in 1953,” according to Charlie Becker, EAA’s homebuilt community manager. Becker notes that homebuilt aircraft continue to represent “a substantial percentage of the 10,000-plus aircraft that fly into AirVenture every year.”

As the EAA prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary, several popular designs are marking anniversaries of their own.

Midget Mustang 75th Anniversary

This single-seat, aerobatic sport airplane was designed by David Long, who was a chief engineer for Piper Aircraft. The low-wing airplane was originally designed to meet the post-World War II recreational flying market. Although it never went into mass production, the sleek design became a favorite in the homebuilt aircraft world. As noted on Mustangaero.com, there have been four Midget Mustang EAA grand champions at Oshkosh.

Wittman Tailwind 70th Anniversary

This two-place, high-wing monoplane was created by legendary aircraft designer and racer Steve Wittman, for whom Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) in Oshkosh is named. A 1965 version of the Wittman Tailwind is on display at the Sun ‘n Fun Museum in Lakeland, Florida.

Thorp T-18 60th Anniversary

The Thorp T-18, an all-metal monoplane with a bubble canopy, was ostensibly designed by John Thorp to be an open-cockpit airplane. The Thorp T-18 is known for being the first homebuilt aircraft to successfully fly around the world.

Hiperbipe 50th Anniversary

The Hiperbipe is a two-pace, aerobatic cabin biplane with distinctive negative stagger and conventional landing gear. Originally produced in kit form by Sorrell Aviation of Tenino, Washington, the kit is now available from Thunderbird Aviation.

Sonex 25th Anniversary

The original Sonex is an all-metal kit design created by EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame member John Monnett, an Okosh resident and founder of Sonex Aircraft, that is still on the field.

Van’s RV-10 20th Anniversary

This low-wing airplane designed by Dick VanGrunsven is part of the world’s most popular series of homebuilt aircraft. The RV-10 was the first four-place design from the Oregon-based manufacturer.

If you own one of these anniversary aircraft, you are encouraged to preregister so you can receive updates on special events, parking, and other activities connected to your airplane type.

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