The Glasair GlaStar (sometimes Glastar) is an American amateur-built aircraft that was designed by Tom Hamilton and produced by

Stoddard-Hamilton 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- ...

and later

Glasair Aviation 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 To ...

. It was first flown in 1994 and was superseded in production by the

Glasair Sportsman 2+2 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 Tom ...

c. 2005. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 183. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485XDowney, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 68. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 262. BAI Communications.

Design and development

The GlaStar features a

strut-braced In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of struts, which act in ...

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

enclosed cockpit accessed via doors, fixed

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

. The aircraft is made with a welded steel

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 ...

, with a

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

covering and

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

wings. Its span wing employs a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

GA(W)-2

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

at the wing root, with a NASA GA(W)-2 mod at the

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

. The wings have an area of , mount flaps and can be folded for ground transportation or storage. The acceptable power range is and early engines used included the

Rotax 912ULS The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, ...

. The aircraft proved underpowered with the Rotax, and later the

Lycoming O-320 The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, flat four engine, horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. Introduced in 1953, it is commonly used on light aircraft such a ...

and the

Lycoming O-360 The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between , with the basic O-360 producing . The engine family has been installed in ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplants were used. The landing gear can be rapidly converted between tricycle and taildragger configurations. The cockpit is wide and includes a large baggage area that will accommodate of cargo. Initial factory estimated construction time was 1200 hours.

Accidents and Incidents

In 1996, a service recall was issued for the control yoke assembly of select GlaStar kits. In 1999, one of the GlaStar kits not included in the recall crashed, killing its two occupants.

Variants

;

Symphony SA-160 The Symphony SA-160 is a Canadian Aviation Regulations, CAR 523 certified, two-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane that was manufactured by Symphony Aircraft Industries in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada in the m ...

Type certified A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

version, produced by Ostmecklenburgische Flugzeugbau (OMF) and later Symphony Aircraft. ;

:Four seat development with a gross weight of that replaced the original GlaStar in production.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 103. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X ;

Plane Driven PD-1 The Plane Driven PD-1 is a modification to the Glasair Sportsman 2+2 to convert it into a practical roadable aircraft. The approach is novel in that it uses a mostly stock aircraft with a modified landing gear "pod" that carries a separate engine ...

:Roadable version produced by Plane Driven.

Specifications (GlaStar)

References

External links

{{Glasair aircraft Homebuilt aircraft

GlaStar The Glasair GlaStar (sometimes 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 b ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1994 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft