Confusion over ownership of US kitplane manufacturer Stoddard Hamilton Aircraft (SHAI) appears to have cleared, with the bankruptcy court accepting a cash bid of $300,000 for the Glasair product line.
The sale was agreed after a previous deal to sell SHAI's assets to PhoenixAero failed to materialise because of intellectual property rights issues related to the popular GlaStar kitplane.
Under the new deal, agreed in mid-April, the Glasair assets were sold to airport owner Thomas Wathen and the GlaStar assets were sold separately to Arlington Advanced Development (AADI), the aircraft's designer, for $150,000.
Wathen plans to resume deliveries of parts to Glasair builders, then get aircraft back into production. AADI plans to license the manufacture the GlaStar to another company, or sell manufacturing and marketing rights for the kitplane version to a third party.
German company OMF is already licensed to produce a certificated version of the GlaStar, the OMF-160 Symphony.
Source: Flight International