Easy Assembly

"I have never assembled an easier or quicker-to-build kit. The rudder only took me thirteen hours. It's unbelievable! They did everything right."

—Dennis Hallman, experienced aircraft restorer and kit builder, and builder of the first customer-assembled GlaStar

A great airplane is not a great kitplane unless it is quick and easy for the first-time builder to assemble. The designers of the GlaStar focused as much attention on making the kit easy to build as they did on making the finished product perform like a thoroughbred. The result is a kit from which anyone with some basic shop skills can produce a sleek, beautiful, modern aircraft.

Take the GlaStar's aluminum wings and control surfaces, for example. All the sheet-metal ribs are pre-formed at the factory; you do no metal forming. All the skin rivet holes are pre-punched on precision CNC machinery; you lay out no rivet holes. All the control surfaces are built on a flat table, and the wings are constructed between a simple pair of 4 X 4's; you build virtually no jigs or fixtures. Instead, right out of the box, you Cleco the parts together, drill the pilot holes up to final size and rivet them together. It's that simple. Of course, you can also take advantage of our Jump-Start wing installation and receive your wings, ailerons and flaps almost completely factory pre-assembled. That's even simpler!

Or consider the GlaStar's curvaceous fuselage. In the standard kit, it consists of a grand total of three main parts: a pre-welded steel-tube "cage" and left and right pre-molded fiberglass shells. You seam the shells together around the cage and in a few evenings' work, you've already built something that looks like an airplane. Or go with our Jump-Start fuselage installation and pull it out of the box that way! From then on, every major component of the airplane—wings, engine, landing gear, flight controls, instrument panel, etc., etc.—all bolt right to pre-welded tabs and brackets on the cage. No tedious measuring, no fabricating brackets or hardpoints—it's all right there for you.

When you get right down to it, building a GlaStar is much more of an assembly process than a fabrication project. And the quality of Glasair Aviation's parts and assembly manuals assures you that the process will be quick and that the finished product will perform as advertised. Virtually all components of the GlaStar kit are made from aerospace-grade materials using the latest manufacturing technology, and all parts are subjected to a rigorous quality assurance process. Machined and stamped parts are finished to precise tolerances, and many are plated, anodized or powder-coated. Fiberglass parts are molded to fit correctly the first time, and all exterior fiberglass parts come with a mirror-smooth gel coat finish. Weldments are fabricated of aircraft-grade 4130 steel, and TIG welding is used almost exclusively to provide the strongest, best looking welds. And all the steel parts and welded assemblies in the GlaStar kit—including the cage—come standard with a durable gray powder coat finish or cadmium plating for maximum corrosion resistance.

Of course, great parts are no good if they're damaged in shipment or if you can't find them when you need them, so Glasair Aviation invests equal effort into packaging, labeling and crating your GlaStar kit. Every kit component big enough for an ink stamp is marked with a part number, which in turn is keyed to the assembly manual for easy cross-reference. Parts are grouped together logically for packaging, and every package is labeled for ease of inventory. Medium-sized parts are vacuum packed on cardboard, and small hardware items are packed in clearly labeled plastic trays.

And last but not least, Glasair Aviation's assembly manuals set the standard for the industry. Profusely illustrated with computer-generated line drawings and photographs, the manuals lead the builder step-by-step through the assembly of the aircraft. The manuals assume no prior knowledge of aircraft building and are written in a clear, jargon-free style. They leave very little to the imagination, assuring even a complete novice a fast, fun and richly satisfying building experience.

Unparalleled Support

A kit aircraft company does not prosper for nearly two decades, as Glasair Aviation has, on the strength of its engineering and manufacturing alone. It must also provide superior customer service and support. When you take delivery of a Glasair or a GlaStar kit, you are joining a team, and the overriding goal of your teammates here at Glasair Aviation is to do whatever it takes to get you flying and to keep you flying. Our commitment to you is simple: to provide the best customer service in the kitplane industry, bar none.

This commitment explains why we maintain a staff of dedicated professional technicians to answer your building and maintenance questions, whether by phone, fax, e-mail or in person. It explains why we maintain a system of advisory publications and manual revisions that rivals those required by the FAA of certificated aircraft manufacturers. And it explains why our technical support services are provided free of charge and without limitation for as long as you own your GlaStar.

So talk to builders of our kits—we'll gladly provide you with a list of those near you. Then talk to builders of our competitors' kits. Ask them about their satisfaction with the customer service they've received. Have the kit manufacturers been responsive to customer concerns? Has their service been prompt, courteous and professional? Have they been up-front with their customers about problems and changes in the kits? We're confident that no other kit manufacturer has earned more satisfied customers than Glasair Aviation. We've been helping our customers fulfill their flying dreams since 1979, and we'd like to do the same for you! Why not join us?!

Go to "Performance & Specifications of the GlaStar" >>