The
Steen Skybolt
is an American
homebuilt
aerobatic
biplane.
Designed by Lamar Steen as a high
school engineering project, the
prototype first flew in October
1970. The aircraft has a classic structure consisting of a
welded tube fuselage and wooden wings, all fabric
covered. It is a tandem open-cockpit two-seat biplane
and is stressed for normal aerobatics. The cockpits are
frequently constructed as a single tandem cabin with an
enclosing bubble canopy. Some aerobatic competition
aircraft are built with single seats with the front
cockpit closed off.
The Skybolt has become popular as an amateur-built
sporting biplane, with over 400 aircraft having been
completed from construction plans sold in over 29
countries. A Skybolt won the Reserve Grand Champion
Custom Built for 1979 at the Experimental Aircraft
Association airshow in Oshkosh Wisconsin. Sixteen
examples were registered in the United Kingdom in
January 2009.
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