The Glasair and GlaStar

Friday, June 01, 2012 at 08:06 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The Glasair and GlaStar aircraft, invented by Tom Hamilton, significantly influenced the composite homebuilt aircraft market.
The Glasair series featured multiple models (I, IIS, III) offering various configurations like tricycle, taildragger, and retractable gear, with some models reaching speeds up to 300 mph.
The GlaStar, introduced later by Hamilton, proved highly successful, individually outselling each Glasair model and demonstrating versatility, including its suitability as a floatplane.

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How the Glasair and the GlaStar changed the world of composite homebuilts.

Glasair — Glasair I as a tricycle.

Glasair — Glasair I as a taildragger.

Tom Hamilton, Inventor of the Glasair — Tom Hamilton holding court at OshKosh ‘94, the year he introduced the GlaStar.

Glasair — The Glasair IIS in its tricycle configuration.

Glasair — The Glasair III, which actually preceded the IIS…the III is for 300 mph and 300 hp.

Glasair — The Glasair IIS in retractable format….near Mount Baker in Washington.

Glastar — The GlaStar…it outsold each model of the Glasair series, but not the series total.

Glastar — The GlaStar on floats….an ideal floatplane.

Glastar — GlaStar on final approach.

Glasair — Glasair 1 RG

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