Southern Cross Aviation Ltd was formed in Toowoomba, QLD, in 1957 to explore the feasibility of designing and manufacturing a light aircraft in Australia to compete against the American imports of Cessna and Piper.
The FSRW, constructed almost entirely of fibreglass, was initially a development project of the Sydney University School of Aeronautical Engineering, in 1974.
One of a new breed of high performance homebuilt aircraft available to the amateur constructor in kit form, the Seawind 2500 was designed by Seawind Industries of Haliburton, Ontario, Canada,the prototype (C-GFNL) flying for the first time on 23 August 1982.
In 1985 Soloy Aviation Solutions converted a Cessna 206 to turbine power, replacing the Continental TIO-520 engine with a Rolls Royce / Allison 250 turboshaft, this engine providing in this installation 311-kw (417-shp) and gives better performance, safety and value, and since then other Cessna models including the 182 and
Soloy Aviation Solutions has for many years been involved in converting aircraft and helicopters to turbine power and aircraft involved have included the Cessna 206, 207, 208 etc.
The Onex is one of a series of light aircraft produced in the United States by Sonex Aircraft of Oshkosh in Wisconsin as a kit for amateur construction, the first Onex variant being flown for the first time on 27 January 2011.
The SubSonex was designed by John Monnett and began as a dream in his mind for a personal sport jet that could be flown by someone with average to good pilot skills.
Following the success of other aircraft in the Sonex range, John Monnett designed the Xenos which is aimed at bringing the cost of motor gliding to an affordable level.
The Vixen is a two-seat light sporting aircraft available in kit form from Skystar Aircraft Corp at Nampa, Idaho, this company previously being known as Denney Aerocraft.
The Storch Moose was the last in the line of STOL aircraft produced by Storch Aviation of Beechwood, NSW, and is the largest and most powerful aircraft in the range.
Designed and developed by Nestor Slepcev at Beechwood on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, the Storch is a three/quarter scale replica of the Luftwaffe Fieseler FI-156 Storch STOL communications aircraft.
In 1977 a Melbourne aircraft designer, Ross Nolan, proposed an aircraft known as the Opal, the aircraft to be of moulded fibreglass, with a 67-kw (90-hp) converted Volkswagen engine, have a cruising speed of 290 km/h (180 mph) and a range of 4,630 km (2,977 miles).
The Revelation is a two-seat light sporting aircraft usually registered in the ultra-light category produced by Slip Stream Industries Inc in the US and was the result of deemed requirement for a two-seat training type for that part of the market.
The CA-22 was built for ultralight regulations and development of the JAR/VLA variant produced the CA-22A and this became the first Australian-built aircraft to be certified in the Normal Category, but ultralight certification was also available.
The Petrel is a two-seat single-engine light sporting amphibian. French engineer, Claude Tisserand, designed and developed in 1983 a small monoplane of wooden construction which was amphibious, this aircraft flying for the first time in November 1986.
Following the success of the Kitfox in Australia, development of the series by Calair, a division of Hedaro International Pty Ltd, lead to the CA-22, the first flight of this model being made on 22 June 1990, this being certificated to CAO 101.55 standard, followed by development of JAR-VLA version
The Aerostar series of light aircraft was designed by the late Ted Smith, who first became well known in aviation circles in the USA for designing the Aero Commander series of light business twins.
The Riviera was a light, shoulder-wing cantilever monoplane with three-seats built as an amphibian and was developed by the Italian Nardi company and flown for the first time on 4 December 1952 with a 108-kw (145-hp) Continental engine.
Designed as a competitor to aircraft such as the Piper Cherokee 180, the prototype of the Siai-Marchetti S-205 series of touring monoplanes was flown for the first time in February 1966.
In 1928 Mr O E Simmonds decided to design and manufacture a series of light biplanes for sale to the public, with the main design aim being to make as many parts interchangeable as possible to save costs.
Designed by Captain A M Sisler in Minnesota in the USA, the prototype of the series, known as the SF-2 Whistler, received the “Outstanding Design Contribution” award at the 1973 Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in at Oshkosh in Wisconsin.
The Sheppard CS-2 was one of many light homebuilt aircraft built during the halcyon days of the 1930s when, following many record attempts,much interest was shown around the world in light aircraft.
The Q2 is a high performance two-seat canard design, a development of the Quickie aimed at the inexperienced first time amateur constructor, with only a small working area and a normal complement of tools
The Sassy is marketed by Protech Aircraft Inc in Houston, Texas, and is a simple-to-build two-seat side-by-side amateur built aircraft with STOL performance.
The PZL-102 Kos (Blackbird) was designed and developed by Polskie Zakladey Lotnicze (PZL), the prototype powered by a 48-kw (65-hp) Narkiewicz four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine flying for the first time on 21 May 1958.
The Osprey was designed as a light two-seat amphibian for the amateur constructor, to be operated from smooth, enclosed areas of water and not from the open sea, for which most amphibian are designed.
Derived from the Piaggio P-136-L2 amphibian, and employing a similar gull wing and pusher engine installation, the prototype P-166 was flown for the first time on 26 November 1957.
The J-5 Cruiser was a logical development of the earlier and very popular J-3 and J-4 series, designed to provide accommodation for three persons in lieu of two, this being achieved by a modest expansion of the fuselage width
The Piper Colt was designed by the Piper Aircraft Corporation as a cheap ‘everymans aeroplane’ to sell in the United States for below $5,000 in the early 1960s.
In 1968 the Cherokee C variant joined the Cherokee range. Similar to the previous 150 and 160 models, this version added two more aircraft to the series: the PA-28-180 with a 134-kw (180-hp) Lycoming O-360-A3A engine, and the PA-28-235 with a 175-kw (235-hp) Lycoming O-540-B4B5 six-cylinder engine.