Home-built aircraft, also known as kit planes, are exactly as they sound; aircraft purchased in a kit and built at home by amateur builders. These aircraft have many advantages and disadvantages, but they can be seen flying around the world nonetheless. One such aircraft company is Jabiru Aircraft, located all the way down in Queensland, Australia. Jabiru Aircraft has been producing both aircraft and engines for decades, and has even exported their production lines internationally. Today, Jabiru Aircraft manufactures many light aircraft that can be seen around the world today.
How Jabiru Aircraft began
From humble beginnings
Jabiru Aircraft (which shares the name of the bird jabiru, large storks found in the Americas) located in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia, was first founded in 1988 by Rodney Stiff and Phil Ainsworth, whose desires were to construct affordable aircraft using more efficient designs and composite materials. Their first model was certified in 1991 by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority as the Jabiru Model LSA 55/2K. This first aircraft would have a small production run, due to the Italian engine manufacturer canceling production on the world’s lightest four stroke engine, which the LSA 55/2K had been designed and built around.
