The Glasair and GlaStar

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

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Glasair and GlaStar aircraft, developed by Tom Hamilton, revolutionized the composite homebuilt market.
The Glasair series offered diverse models with various configurations, including tricycle, taildragger, and retractable gear, catering to different performance needs such as the high-speed Glasair III.
The GlaStar proved highly versatile and popular, adaptable for roles like a floatplane, and individually outsold each model in the Glasair series.

See a mistake? Contact us.

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

FLYING Magazine is a one-stop resource for everything aviation, including news, training, aircraft, gear, careers, photos, videos, and more.