Glasair Aviation

Chinese-owned aircraft manufacturer

Glasair Aviation USA, LLC

Industry| Aerospace
Predecessor| Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft
Founded| 2001
Founders| Tom Hamilton and Thomas Wathen
Headquarters|

Arlington, Washington

Key people

| CEO: Randy Lervold
Products| Homebuilt aircraft kits
Owner| Jilin Hanxing Group
Website| glasairaviation.com
Glasair Glastar, built 2002 Glasair Merlin LSA

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.

## History

[edit]

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.

## Aircraft

[edit]

Glasair II Aircraft built by Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft and Glasair Aviation  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  | 600 [8] | High-wing, two seat kit aircraft
Sportsman 2+2 | 2003  | 400  | High-wing, four seat kit aircraft
Glasair Merlin LSA[9] | 2015  | 1  | High-wing, two seat SLSA aircraft

## See also

[edit]

* Plane Driven PD-1, experimental modification to allow the aircraft to be roadable.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Glasair Aviation, LLC (n.d.). "A bit of history". Archived from the original on May 10, 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2009.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: year (link)
2. ^ "EAA news - New Glastar purchase of AADI". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
3. ^ "Glasair Sold To Chinese Company". Avweb.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
4. ^ Bertorelli, Paul (July 23, 2012). "Glasair Buy: Part of a Grander Plan". AVweb. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
5. ^ Cook, Marc (May 14, 2019). "Randy Lervold Is Glasair Aviation's New CEO". AVweb. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
6. ^ Cook, Marc (July 7, 2020). "Glasair Aviation Takes "COVID Pause"". AVweb. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
7. ^ Bud Daviddson (May 2014). "35 Years of Fast Glas". Sport Aviation: 53.
8. ^ https://www.kitplanes.com/buying-used-glastar/
9. ^ "Glasair adds LSA and Certified Aircraft". Sport Aviation: 14. May 2014.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glasair Aviation.

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Glasair aircraft

Aircraft|

* Tom Hamilton Glasair
* Glasair I
* II
* III
* GlaStar
* Merlin
* Sportsman 2+2
* T-9 Stalker

Companies|

* Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft
* Glasair Aviation

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