Built by Eagle Aircraft in the United States, and designed by Dean Wilson in the 1970s, the prototype of the DW-1 agricultural biplane was flown for the first time at Boise in Idaho in 1977.

In 1982 Walter Extra of Dinslaken, Germany, participated in the World Aerobatic Championships in a Pitts biplane and decided to build his own aircraft, setting up Extra Flugzugbau in 1983 and built the Extra 230, the first flight of which took place on 14 July 1983.