Follows EASA Certification In Earlier This Year

The FAA has certified the GameBird GB1 aerobatic airplane, clearing the way for the aircraft to be sold in the United States.

The GB1 will be manufactured by Game Composites in Bentonville, AR. According to the website Talk Business & Politics, the GB1 received EASA certification in May. The FAA validated the EASA certification for the airplane on August 29, according to the report.

Game Bird was founded in Great Britain, but the airplane will be manufactured in a 40,000-square-foot facility adjacent to Bentonville Municipal Airport, Aerobatic airplane designer Philipp Steinbach, one of the partners in Game Composites, said that the U.S. "is where the market is." His business partner, Steuart Walton, grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, lives in Bentonville, making that choice an easy one, he said.

Steinbach said that the design work will continue to be done in Europe, with manufacturing and completions done in Bentonville.

EASA certification came less than four years after the airplane was initially conceived. The full composite airplane designed for full aerobatic up to +/- 10g. It has two seats in tandem configuration and can be used for aerobatic training and competition in all aerobatic levels, according to an EASA news release announcing the certification in May.

Steinbach flew the GB1 from Arkansas to AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI this summer. The airplane has a base price of $400,000, and the company says it has sold 11 so far.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report, www.gamecomposites.com