Company Claims to Offer a Turnkey Solution for Buying and Owning Sport Aircraft

Gratia Aero believes it has cracked one of experimental aviation’s most persistent challenges: making sportplane ownership accessible. The company has turned itself into a coordinated ecosystem that considers not only buying and building a new plane, but also learning to fly it, maintain it, and insure it.

The four main branches “are all a part of Gratia Aero, each one doing its own specific products and services in order to provide a complete, comprehensive solution” to the aircraft buying experience, according to CEO Attila Gahbro.

At the center of the operation is the resurrected line of experimental Bede Aviation kits, tapping into the legacy of Jim Bede’s famously fast and efficient designs. Gratia Aero now offers Bede-series kits that customers can customize to their liking, featuring all-metal airframes with four seats, tricycle or tailwheel gear, a useful load of more than 1,000 pounds, and a 46-inch-wide cabin. Engines range from the MW Fly series to Viking and Lycoming options, though MW Fly has become the dominant choice with Gratia Aero serving as its US distributor.

To support builders, the company offers a structured build-assist program through its SureWings facility. Aircraft can be completed under the 51% experimental rule or through more hands-on assisted builds, depending on customer preference. A MOSAIC-compliant version, featuring larger wings and increased useful load, is also in the works as new FAA rulemaking reshapes the light aircraft landscape.

Gratia Aero’s “turnkey” approach extends far beyond kits. The company developed a mixed-reality simulator using a BD cockpit that allows builders to train in the exact environment they’ll eventually fly. Paired with a flight-training company dedicated to time-in-type experience, the system hopes to reduce insurance costs while building pilot confidence.

The company shared its vision during one of many ownership-focused seminars at the inaugural Affordable Flying Expo, hosted by your very own Aero-News Network crew in early November. The event took advantage of the legendary SUN ‘n FUN campus in Lakeland to reinvent winter aviation expos and bring the wonders of MOSAIC to life.

“That pretty much puts the whole package together, because you do need all four aspects in order to make the overall cost of ownership affordable,” Gahbro continued. “The whole show is about affordable flying, and if you don’t address all four pieces, you basically miss the mark.”

FMI: www.gratia.aero