A True "Composite" Airplane

The design goal for the GlaStar was not only to create a highly versatile airplane, but also to make an airplane kit that is easy to build and offers exceptional value for your money. The GlaStar design is a revolutionary new concept that combines aluminum sheet-metal, fiberglass composite and welded steel-tube structures into one integrated package—truly a "composite" airplane! Rather than choosing a single material and then designing an airplane around that material's strengths and weaknesses, the GlaStar team used each type of material where it made the most sense from an engineering and a construction standpoint. Thus, as a GlaStar builder, you enjoy the best of all worlds both in your shop and in the air.

The GlaStar wings and control surfaces are all aluminum. For long, narrow, constant-chord wings like the GlaStar's, aluminum offers an unbeatable combination of light weight and ease of construction. For the sleek compound curves of the GlaStar fuselage, on the other hand, fiberglass composites are the material of choice. Factory molding of the left and right fuselage shells insures a mirror-smooth finish and a quick, simple assembly project. And tying the whole package together is the chromoly steel-tube "cage" assembly that carries the loads from the wings, engine mount, and landing gear into the fiberglass structure. The cage not only offers the security and peace of mind of a rigid, crashworthy structure around the cabin, but also vastly simplifies construction, as the attach points for everything from the wings to the seat rails to the flap handle are all in place for you in the pre-welded and powder-coated structure.

A Comprehensive, Quality Kit

The GlaStar aircraft kit is one of the most complete and comprehensive in the industry. In the same tradition as Glasair's famous Glasair kits, the GlaStar package includes virtually everything you need to complete the airframe. In addition to major components, the kit includes all flight controls; wheels and brakes with all necessary plumbing; a complete firewall-aft fuel system; all sheet metal, angle stock , fiberglass and other fabrication materials; and every nut, bolt, rivet and cotter pin. GlaStar builders spend their time in the shop, not on the phone searching for parts!

Just as important as the number of parts provided, however, is their quality. Simply stated, in terms of fit and finish, attention to detail, and degree of prefabrication, no other kit in the GlaStar's price range comes close. Take a close look at our kit and those of our competitors. Compare the welds on the GlaStar cage, the finish on the fiberglass components, the fit of the pre-formed and pre-punched sheet-metal parts. You'll find that there simply is no comparison. Then consider the details: the anodized and cad-plated machined parts, the powder-coated weldments, the pre-swaged control cables, the certified aircraft-grade hardware, the pre-trimmed Plexiglas. Every detail that Glasair Aviation, LLC has sweated over is one that you don't have to.

A comprehensive kit and quality parts aren't worth much, however, if you can't figure out what to do with them. That's why we brought the same level of innovation and attention to detail to bear on the documentation of the GlaStar kit as we did on the design of the aircraft. The GlaStar Assembly Manual is written in a clear, jargon-free style geared toward the first-time aircraft builder. Its pages—richly illustrated with photos and computer-generated line drawings—guide you step-by-step through the entire assembly process.

The System 3 Option

The GlaStar is available either as a complete airframe kit or in what we term out System 3 option. Under the latter plan, you can purchase your GlaStar in three sub-kits: a Tail Kit, a Wing Kit and a Fuselage & Final Assembly Kit. The System 3 option allows you the convenience of spreading out your investment to suit your schedule, your shop space and your budget.

The System 3 sub-kits are described in the following paragraphs.

The Tail Kit

The Tail Kit consists of all the metal parts of the rudder, horizontal stabilizer, elevator and elevator trim tab assemblies. All components are made from certified, aircraft-grade aluminum. The interior parts are mostly made of 6061-T6 alloy. All parts are highly finished and ready for assembly, with only minimal additional trimming and drilling needed. For example, all the ribs are completely pre-formed, and the rivet holes for attachment to the spars are pre-punched. The spars likewise are pre-bent, lightening holes are pre-machined, and rib attach rivet holes are pre-punched. Thus, you can assemble the spar/rib skeleton of each control surface "right out of the box."

All the exterior skins are made of corrosion-resistant 2024-T3 Alclad aluminum. The rudder utilizes a one-piece skin with a pre-bent trailing edge. Similarly, the horizontal stabilizer uses left and right skins that have pre-bent leading edges. The elevator has separate top and bottom skins left and right. Virtually all the rivet holes in all the skins are pre-punched on sophisticated CNC machines, resulting in precisely positioned rivet lines and vastly reduced builder workload. The skins are simply aligned over their underlying spar/rib structures and drilled up to final size for riveting.

Standard, aircraft-grade driven rivets are used throughout the empennage wherever reasonable access for bucking is available. Elsewhere, solid-shank aluminum blind rivets are used. All the tail surfaces are built on a flat table. Beyond a few simple scrap-lumber supports, no jigging whatsoever is required for any of the tail surfaces.

The horizontal stabilizer/elevator assembly uses a 34" constant-chord NACA 0010 airfoil section with a 10', 9" span. Because this is too wide for legal trailering in most states, the surfaces have been designed to be easily removable. A Philips screwdriver and a 7/16" socket wrench are the only tools required to remove the tail. Eight screws securing fairings are removed. Then a single bolt connecting the elevator pushrod to the control horns is removed. The trim system is disconnected, and then finally, four bolts securing the stabilizer to the airframe are removed. At this point, the entire assembly can be slid aft, disengaging the pair of bullet pins on the stabilizer's forward spar.

On re-installation, these pins slide smoothly into two self-aligning bushings housed in a machined attach fitting mounted to a bulkhead in the fuselage. On or off, the whole job takes about ten minutes!

The standard GlaStar kit includes a manual elevator trim system consisting of a trim wheel/gear box assembly and a push/pull cable. The gear box, which features an integral trim tab position indicator, is mounted on the central truss of the fuselage cage just forward of the flap handle. All mounting and linkage hardware is included in the kit, and installation instructions are included in the GlaStar Assembly Manual.

The optional electric elevator trim system is based on an elevator-mounted electric servo-motor that activates the trim tab through a rigid pushrod in the interior of the elevator. Advantages of electric trim over manual trim include easier installation; easier removal of the horizontal stabilizer and elevator for trailering or storage (just a quick-disconnect plug rather than a control linkage to disconnect); reduced pilot workload when operating the trim; and a cleaner, more aesthetic installation. The electric trim installation kit includes the servo, the pushrod and all linkage hardware; all mounting hardware; a color-coded wiring harness and all electrical connectors; an electric tab position indicator for the instrument panel; and detailed installation instructions. Due to the variety of styles available, the kit does not include a control switch or circuit breaker, which are available separately.

Due to considerations of optimal assembly sequence, electric trim systems are shipped with the GlaStar Tail Kit, while manual trim systems are shipped with the Fuselage & Final Assembly Kit.

The Wing Kit

The Wing Kit consists of the wings, ailerons and flaps. As with the Tail Kit components, these all-aluminum assemblies are constructed from highly prefabricated components, ready for assembly. Skins, ribs, stiffeners and doublers are almost entirely pre-formed, pre-trimmed and pre-punched. Skins are once again Alclad 2024-T3, and internal parts are primarily 6061-T6.

The wing uses a very high-lift LS (1)-0413 airfoil with a 44" constant chord and employs Frise-type ailerons and Fowler flaps. Wing area is 128 square feet. The Frise ailerons reduce adverse yaw, minimizing the need for rudder input at low airspeeds, and the Fowler flaps (with 20 and 40 degree positions) create high lift during landing, eliminating the need for a larger wing. Fowler flaps actually increase wing area when deployed. The flaps are manually actuated with a center-mounted Johnson bar arrangement similar to that used in the Piper Cherokee series.

A benefit of the high-lift LS (1)-0413 airfoil is a little higher wing loading per square foot than other more traditional low-speed airfoils. This provides a noticably smoother ride in turbulence. Spanwise loading with the 35 foot long wing creates very nice handling qualities, which is a desirable feature seen on new designs such as the Piper Malibu. The fiberglass Hoerner wingtip fairings increase the effective span further.

A unique feature of the GlaStar wing is the two pairs of so-called "delta wings" mounted on the leading edge—one at each wing root and one forward of each aileron. These simple devices are responsible for the GalStar's amazing slow-speed controllability and benign stall caharacteristics. Acting somewhat like a cross between a vortex generator and a stall fence, the delta wings effectively keep the airflow attached over the GlaStar's control surfaces even in a full stall. The outboard pair works on the ailerons, and the inboard pair—in conjunction with the strakes installed ahead of the horizontal stabilizer—work on the elevator and rudder.

Each wing is constructed independently on a very simple jig consisting of two 4 X 4 wooden posts. The spars are run between the posts and the wing is built in the vertical plane, leading edge up. Compared to the elaborate fixtures required by some of the designs out there, the GlaStar wing jig scarcely deserves to be called a jig! We've discovered when working with aluminum structures that riveting is the easy part—it's getting an assembly to the riveting stage that takes the time. By pre-forming, pre-trimming and pre-punching the parts for you, a tremendous amount of the setup and jigging time is eliminated. Aluminum construction is easy, especially when we've done all the hard parts for you!

The interior structure of the GlaStar wing is somewhat unconventional in that it has only six full ribs per side. The remainder of the structural loads are taken by so-called "hat sections." These pre-formed chordwise skin stiffeners produce a strong, rigid structure that is mostly open space inside. This makes tasks like riveting, plumbing and wiring inside the wing much easier than they would be on a conventional wing because the structure is so much more accessible.

The forward and aft wing spars are made of custom extrusions and come pre-drilled for all rib and bracket locations. The flaps also utilize an extruded spar, while the ailerons have bent sheet-metal spars. Each aileron and flap uses a one-piece skin with a factory-made leading-edge bend. The ailerons and flaps are both cable actuated, and the Wing Kit includes all the pulleys, bellcranks and bracketry for these flight control systems. Because these items are not installed until late in the construction process, the Wing Kit does not include the fuel tanks, control cables or fiberglass wingtip fairings.

As the preceding paragraphs have shown, the GlaStar Wing Kit contains many features designed to make it a quick, easy and enjoyable project. It's still a big project, however—probably on the order of 300–500 hours for the average builder. If you're anxious to get your GlaStar into the air as quickly as possible, we offer some amazing help in the form of our Jump-Start Wing! Imagine your wings and control surfaces coming to you ready to hang on the airplane! In this option, all wing structure is assembled, all flight control components are installed, the leading-edge D-section is riveted and complete, and all the main wing skins and skin stiffeners are drilled. The lower wing skins and stiffeners are riveted in place; the upper skins and stiffeners are drilled but require final riveting after you drill the wing struts, rig the control cables, and complete the wing plumbing and wiring. The ailerons and flaps are completely finished and ready to hang on the wings. Interior surfaces of all components are primered for anti-corrosion protection. All work on the Jump-Start wing components is done by professional sheet-metal mechanics to high factory standards. Talk about a real jump start to your project!

Both Jump-Start wing options are FAA-approved under the so-called "51% rule," meaning that you can take advantage of these incredible time savers and still register your GlaStar as an amateur-built experimental with all the advantages that entails!

The Fuselage & Final Assembly Kit

The Fuselage & Final Assembly Kit contains all components necessary to complete the fuselage structure (including the cowling, engine mount, landing gear, wheels and brakes, control systems, seat assemblies, cabin doors and windows, fuel system, fairings, etc.) as well as the final assembly parts for the wings and control surfaces. Due to varying customer preferences, the kit does not include the engine, engine accessories, propeller, instruments, avionics, wiring, paint or upholstery.

The fuselage assembly consists of a fiberglass shell around a welded steel-tube "cage" structure. The cage is the backbone of the GlaStar kit. The cage comes to you completely pre-welded of 4130 aircraft-grade tubing. All critical welds are made using the tungsten inert gas (TIG) process, which creates consistent, high strength, good looking welds. The cage is produced in a very precise factory jig so no further jigging or setup is required of the builder during assembly, and all cages receive a durable gray powder coat finish, so no further corrosion-proofing is needed either.

Because the cage is entirely welded at the factory, it saves a tremendous amount of construction time. Consider that all of the following items are simply bolted to pre-welded attach fittings on the cage: fiberglass fuselage shells • cabin top deck • wings • wing struts • engine mount • firewall • tricycle and taildragger landing gear legs • float rigging • control cable pulleys and guides • door hinges • door latch mechanism • flap handle mechanism • control sticks • elevator/aileron control yoke • seat pans • seat rails • seat backs • floorboards • seat belts and shoulder harnesses • instrument panel

If you've built any other type of kitplane, you can appreciate the incredible time saved by not having to locate and fabricate bracketry and supporting structure for all these items.

The GlaStar seats are adjustable, fold forward for easy access to the large baggage area, and are also removable. Bicycles, coolers, golf bags, you name it—there's not much that won't fit in the GlaStar's cavernous baggage compartment! The fuselage-side baggage door is lockable, and the cabin doors employ a unique four-point latching mechanism that seals out moisture and noise, something not found on many comparable kits. The side windows in the doors come standard with a convex shape that gives great shoulder width (46") and allows visibility nearly straight down, and the generous skylights allow the pilot to clear turns effortlessly.

The fiberglass fuselage shells consist of two main halves and a cabin roof panel. Only about 100 hours of fiberglass work are needed to complete the GlaStar, just enough to whet your appetite! Besides laying up the single-layer center seams between the fuselage shell halves, you will lay up and install five structural bulkheads in the tail for stiffness and for mounting the horizontal stabilizer. A small additional amount of fiberglass work is required for fitting the top deck, the wing-fold hatches, the wingtip fairings and the horizontal stabilizer strakes. All the fiberglass components are pre-molded in precise factory tooling and come with a mirror-smooth gel coat finish. Although some filling and sanding is required in seam areas, the amount of finish work required by our parts is significantly lower than that required by either wet-lay-up or pre-preg composite construction. All fiberglass parts are either factory trimmed to net size or have molded-in scribe lines to guide final trimming.

All flight controls use aircraft-grade stainless steel cables for actuation and at least one end of each cable assembly is pre-swaged. The cable controls for the ailerons and flaps provide an important safety feature: when folding the wings, nothing needs to be disconnected! The cables go slightly slack and that's it. The fuel lines, electrical wiring and pitot line all rotate around the aft spar pivot point, so there's nothing to unhook. Two pins are used to lock the forward spars into place and two composite hatches in the wing root area are easily removed to allow clearance for the flaps when the wings are folded. A pair of temporary struts installed between the forward spar root and the wing strut holds the wings in alignment while folded, and a second pair of struts holds them in tight against the tail for trailering or storage. The whole wing-fold procedure can be accomplished by one person in about two minutes per wing, and the only tool required is a screwdriver!

This simplicity of design is matched by the GlaStar's convertible landing gear. Utilizing a tried-and-proven Whitman tapered-rod gear design, the GlaStar main gear is tough and forgiving for your most rugged off-field adventures. Because the round gear legs plug into pre-welded sockets in the cage structure for either taildragger or tricycle gear, the same gear legs can be used for either configuration, and no modifications are required to the basic airframe to switch back and forth. Even putting your GlaStar on floats is made simple by virtue of the cage, which includes the float attach points already in place.

A couple of options are available for the Fuselage & Final Assembly Kit to maximize your enjoyment of your GlaStar. First, as with our Jump-Start Wing, we offer a Jump-Start Fuselage for those who just can't wait to get airborne! With the Jump-Start Fuselage, the composite shells and topdeck come to you already mated to the cage with four of the five structural bulkheads factory-installed! The shells are precisely jigged and fitted, the dorsal and belly seam laminates are laid up and the exterior seams are filled, gel-coated and buffed to a professional finish. All of the cage attach hardpoints are created in the shells and most of the cage-to-shell attach hardware is installed. And all but one of the composite bulkheads are fabricated and installed; the fifth bulkhead is factory-made and trimmed for your installation. The option also includes a high-performance, zero-drag COM antenna bonded into the vertical fin (ordinarily a separate $49 option). In all, you save anywhere from 75–100 hours of labor, depending on your level of experience, cutting the overall amount of composite work on the GlaStar airframe by up to 75%. And even in conjunction with the Jump-Start Wing, the fuselage option also has full FAA approval under the 51% rule!

The other Fuselage & Final Assembly Kit option is choice of landing gear. Tricycle gear with 5.00 X 5 wheels and brakes is standard in the GlaStar kit. Tires and tubes, wheel pants, gear leg fairings and all necessary installation hardware are included in the kit, and installation instructions are included in the GlaStar Assembly Manual. For an additional charge, the standard tricycle gear components can be replaced with taildragger gear in any of three different wheel and tire sizes: 5.00 X 5, 6.00 X 6 or 8.00 X 6.

Each taildragger option includes main wheels and brakes; tires and tubes; main gear leg fairings; a high-quality 8" Scott 3200 tailwheel assembly; pre-bent, pre-drilled, heat-treated tailwheel leaf springs; all tailwheel installation parts and hardware; and pre-swaged tailwheel steering cables and linkage hardware. The 5.00 X 5 installation also includes wheel pants for the mains, but these are not available for the 6.00 or 8.00 X 6 options. Installation instructions for 5.00 X 5 taildragger gear are included in the GlaStar Assembly Manual, while separate instructions are provided with both the 6.00 and 8.00 X 6 options.

Powerplant Choices

Several powerplant options are offered for the GlaStar, giving the builder a range of performance and economy choices. The first is the fuel-injected Continental IO-240-B engine. This engine produces 125 h.p. swinging a Sensenich fixed-pitch metal prop and delivers exceptional performance in an economical package. For builders who desire even better climb and cruise performance, we also offer the popular normally aspirated 160 h.p. Lycoming O-320-D1F or 150 h.p. O-320-E1F models with either a Sensenich fixed-pitch metal prop or a Hartzell constant-speed prop. And for the ultimate backcountry dream machine, several models of 180 h.p. Lycoming O-360 engines are available for either fixed or constant-speed props.

Glasair Aviation, LLC maintains Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) status with Continental, Lycoming, Sensenich and Hartzell, which means that we can get you a price on your factory-new engine and prop thousands less than dealer list. Naturally, GlaStar builders can also opt for remanufactured or used engines to save even more.

Glasair Aviation, LLC also offers a complete range of firewall-forward accessory kits for the Continental and Lycoming engines. Engine mounts, exhaust systems, induction systems, cooling baffling, cowlings and spinners, oil coolers, vacuum systems—you name it, and Glasair Aviation, LLC has developed it with the same attention to detail and commitment to quality and value that characterize the airframe kits.

A final note on engines: many builders and prospective builders inquire about the use of alternative, non-certified engines in the GlaStar. Certainly there is good reason for curiosity about some of these alternatives, as many appear to offer greater performance and more economical operation than their certified counterparts. However, our position has been and continues to be that none of these alternative powerplants has yet acquired a record of time in service to justify anything like the faith we routinely place in the reliability of our certified Continentals and Lycomings. Meanwhile, our customers have built and successfully flown GlaStars with alternative engines, and we applaud their pioneering spirit. For the time being, however, Glasair Aviation, LLC will extend factory support only to the installation of the engines listed above.

Jump-Start Options

Jump-Start - Tail

The Jump-Start(tm) Tail option consists of the stabilizer, elevator and rudder assemblies built structurally complete. The stabilizer is fully assembled with the exception of the tips. The elevator is assembled with theexception of the counterweights, tips and trim tab assembly. The rudder is fully assembled with the exception of the tip. These assemblies will be provided with a uniform coat of corrosion resistant paint on all inside surfaces and are professionally assembled and riveted. This option reduces the overall assembly time by 100 - 200 hours*. The Jump-Start tail option is FAA-approved under the so-called "51% rule," meaning that you can take advantage of this incredible time saver and still register your GlaStar as an amateur-built experimental with all the advantages that entails!

Jump-Start - Wing

As the preceding paragraphs have shown, the GlaStar Wing Kit contains many features designed to make it a quick, easy and enjoyable project. It's still a big project, however-probably on the order of 400-600 hours for the average builder. If you're anxious to get your GlaStar into the air as quickly as possible, we offer some amazing help in the form of our Jump-Start Wing! Imagine your wings and control surfaces coming to you ready to hang on the airplane! In this option, all wing structure is assembled, all flight control components are installed, the leading-edge D-section is riveted and complete, and all the main wing skins and skin stiffeners are drilled. The lower wing skins and stiffeners are riveted in place; the upper skins and stiffeners are drilled but require final riveting after you drill the wing struts, rig the control cables, and complete the wing plumbing and wiring. The ailerons and flaps are completely finished and ready to hang on the wings. Interior surfaces of all components are primered for anti-corrosion protection. All work on the Jump-Start wing components is done by professional sheet-metal mechanics to high factory standards. Talk about a real jump start to your project! The Jump-Start wing option is FAA-approved under the so-called "51% rule," meaning that you can take advantage of this incredible time savers and still register your GlaStar as an amateur-built experimental with all the advantages that entails!

Jump-Start - Fuselage

With the Jump-Start Fuselage, the composite shells and topdeck come to you already mated to the cage with all five structural bulkheads factory-installed! The shells are precisely jigged and fitted, the dorsal and belly seam laminates are laid up and the exterior seams are filled, gel-coated and buffed to a professional finish. Also, the cabin area of the fuselage and top deck are pre-painted with a lightly textured, gray Zolotone finish, so as to provide the builder a nice looking, completed interior straight from the factory. This feature provides the builders the opportunity to save the weight, cost and difficulty associated with installing unneeded, bulky interior cover panels, and at the same time furthur reduceing build time. All of the cage attach hardpoints are created in the shells and most of the cage-to-shell attach hardware is installed. And all but one of the composite bulkheads are fabricated and installed; the fifth bulkhead is factory-made and trimmed for your installation. The option also includes a high-performance, zero-drag COM antenna bonded into the vertical fin (ordinarily a separate $49 option). In all, you save anywhere from 75-100 hours of labor, depending on your level of experience, cutting the overall amount of composite work on the GlaStar airframe by up to 75%. And even in conjunction with the Jump-Start Wing, the fuselage option also has full FAA approval under the 51% rule! The Jump-Start Fuselage option is FAA-approved under the so-called "51% rule," meaning that you can take advantage of this incredible time saver and still register your GlaStar as an amateur-built experimental with all the advantages that entails!

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