Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft, based in

Arlington, Washington Arlington is a city in northern Snohomish County, Washington, United States, part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The city lies on the Stillaguamish River in the western foothills of the Cascade Range, adjacent to the city of Marysville, Wash ...

, was a designer and supplier of high-performance

homebuilt aircraft 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.Armstrong, Kenn ...

kits, offering parts and plans to homebuilders. The company's popular ''Glasair'' aircraft series are low wing, two-seat (side by side)

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 ...

designs. The Glasair TD of 1979 was the first pre-molded

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...

aircraft kit on the

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 ...

market, introduced at the 1980 EAA Oshkosh Airshow. The company was started by Tom Hamilton and named, tongue in cheek, after the style of large

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

s in the United States. Using Hamilton's middle and last name, the company was incorporated as Stoddard-Hamilton. Retractable gear and up-engined models were later introduced, with the Glasair III Turbo capable of speeds in excess of , and another model being fitted with a

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

engine. In the mid-1990s, Glasair introduced the

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 ...

, a high-wing, short-field capable utility aircraft with two seats. In 2001, Thomas W. Wathen purchased the assets of the Glasair from bankrupt Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft. He combined New Glasair LLC with New GlaStar LLC and continued production of the Glasair and GlaStar kits at the Arlington factory, marketing them under the Glasair Aviation name.

Aircraft

* SH-1 Prototype * Glasair I * Glasair II * Glasair III *

* T-9 Stalker

References

External links

Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Arlington, Washington {{aero-company-stub