Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing Limited is a manufacturer of civil

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

kits KITS (105.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "Live 105") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock radio format known as "Live 105". The studios ...

for amateur construction currently owned by China-headquartered Duofu Group. The company was founded in 1985 by Darryl Murphy and is located in

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 212. BAI Communications. Downey, Julia: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 63. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Kitplanes Staff: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 57. Primedia Publications. IPM 0462012

History

The company was started as the result of a hunting accident. Darryl Murphy was a mechanical engineering technologist who designed and built a rigid wing hang glider in 1978 as a school project at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. In 1984 Murphy was in a non-aviation accident that left him hospitalized for four months. During his recovery time he decided to design a biplane to fit into the then-new Canadian ultralight category. The aircraft was a single-seat model and was intended as a one-off aircraft for his own use, with no production intentions. Murphy named it the Renegade.Murphy Aircraft: ''Meet Our Staff: President Darryl Murphy'', Towards the Flightline, Winter 1993-84 page 3. Murphy Aircraft. After taking the Renegade to a number of fly-ins and other aviation events, Murphy was encouraged by the positive response it received and by the number of people who asked him to build one for them. In 1985 Murphy quit his job and started ''Murphy Aviation'' (later renamed ''Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing''), with his brother Bryan and located the company in

.Murphy Aviation: ''News Bulletin'', page 4. Murphy Aviation, Spring 1988 The original Renegade design was turned into a two-seater by relocating the fuel tank from the centre

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

to the upper wing, installing a second seat and designating it the Renegade II. Initial sales were disappointing as only one kit was sold in the first six months. Sales improved greatly once the aviation press began reviewing the aircraft. By 1986 the company had a backlog of orders, including many from outside North America. Murphy displayed the Renegade at the EAA Convention, Oshkosh and returned to Chilliwack with a substantial order book. During 1989 sales totalled 129 Renegade IIs. In May 1987 a new version of the basic Renegade design first flew. Named the Renegade Spirit it added a

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

-style round cowling and a

Rotax 532 The Rotax 532 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary valve engine, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive engine that was formerly manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It was designed for use on ultralight aircraft.Ra ...

and later the

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-ce ...

engine.Murphy Aviation: ''News Bulletin'', page 2. Murphy Aviation, Summer 1987Armstrong, Ken: ''Catching the Spirit'', Kitplanes MagazineMurphy Aviation: ''Catching the "Spirit" in a Murphy Rengade - Info Package''. Murphy Aviation, 1990Campbell, Jim: ''Getting the Spirit''. Sport Pilot, pages 20-25, 66-70, April 1989 In September 2008, as a result of restructuring due to the

early 2000s recession The early 2000s recession was a major decline in economic activity which mainly occurred in developed countries. The recession affected the European Union during 2000 and 2001 and the United States from March to November 2001. The United King ...

, Murphy Aircraft split off their sales functions to a new company, ''Patterson AeroSales'', headed by former Murphy sales representative Bob Patterson. Murphy Aircraft continues to concentrate on designing and manufacturing kit aircraft while Patterson handles "show appearances, advertising materials, promotions and general sales responsibilities". Murphy Aircraft President Darryl Murphy also explained that the company will only manufacture kits in batches once sufficient numbers of orders have been accumulated to justify a production run and that standard aircraft hardware parts, like rivets and bolts would be shipped directly from the suppliers to customers to save costs. On 9 January 2014 the company issued a press release indicating that Darryl Murphy was retiring and wished to sell the company, indicating he expected to receive in the "$2.5 to $4 million range, depending on how much of the manufacturing machinery the buyer wants". On 22 January 2016 Murphy Aircraft announced that it has begun the process to put the Murphy Rebel into the

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictions on weigh ...

category. The company unveiled a new Darryl Murphy design at AirVenture in July 2016, the

Murphy Radical The Murphy Radical is a Canadian STOL amateur-built aircraft that was designed by Darryl Murphy and is under development by Murphy Aircraft of Chilliwack, British Columbia. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction. When ori ...

, which incorporates

bicycle carrier A bicycle carrier, also commonly called a bicycle rack, is a device attached to a vehicle to transport bicycles. Automotive Automobile-mounted bike carriers can be attached to the roof, rear trunk, or rear tow hitch, depending on the vehicle. ...

s on the wings. In 2022, Murphy Aircraft was acquired by Beijing-based Duofu International Holding Group, one of the top 25 Chinese conglomerates, which has subsidiaries in the fields of investment, manufacturing, mining, real estate, culture, tourism, international trade and aviation manufacturing. The company appointed Jensen Li as the managing director. The newly acquired company halted kit production while rewriting the kit documentation using CAD/CAM computerization and also re-working the kits to speed up assembly time with improved pre-drilling. Kit production was expected to resume later in 2023, with a reduced offering of only three designs, the Murphy Moose, Radical and Rebel.

Aircraft

References

External links

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DIY in the Sky: Murphy Aircraft
{{Murphy Aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of Canada Chilliwack