MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The restoration of a rare Windecker Eagle is expected to be completed this summer. Once done, it will be the only airworthy example of the first composite aircraft certified by the FAA, according to the men working on the project. Reportedly, it was also the first aircraft certified under the rules for Part 23.
Designed and developed in the 1960s by two dentists, Leo Windecker and his wife, Fairfax, the Eagle first flew in 1967 and was certified two years later at a cost of $20 million. After building two prototypes and six copies of the Eagle, the company ran out of money and shut down its production line.
Commissioned by a Chinese entrepreneur, Wei Hang, the restoration team, headed by Don Atchison, and led by Mike Moore and Dennis Hallman, was able to purchase two copies of the Eagle that had been outdoors for many years and left in storage for decades.
“Had it not been for a special UV coating on the fiberglass, the structure would have dissolved a long time ago,” said Atchison. “The fiberglass has actually held up much better than the metal components in the airframe. We’ve replaced most everything from the firewall forward, and refurbished to ‘better than new’ the landing gear, flight controls and mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and fuel systems. The windows, windshield and interior will be completely new and there will be a number of upgrades in the panel when it flies again.”
“Mr. Hang was attracted to the Windecker Eagle because of its historical significance, rarity, style and performance,” said Atchison. “He will own a truly unique aircraft when it’s finished and flying again.”
We were considering taking on the Eagle as a dealer and I got to fly one, fabulous airplane, do not compare it to a Cirrus, Cirrus is a twitchy POC, that should never have been certified, Eagle was a sweet flying airplane although not with the best stall characteristics.
I worked at the Greater Cincinnati Airport and they had a Windecker Eagle there. It was really beautiful and I wanted to fly it. This was approximately mid-1970’s.
There is one hanging in the muesuzem in Lake Jackson Texas
Could you tell us which museum?
It is hanging in the Lake Jackson Historical Museum, 249 Circle Way, Lake Jackson, TX 77566. Contact: 979.297.1570. Open Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. The Museum was constructed to specifically showcase the Eagle, which is suspended from the ceiling above the rotunda. It was donated to the museum by Drs. Leo and Fairfax Windecker along with other Eagle historic documents.
I don’t know you guys but all i see is an RG cirrus. Relatively speaking i see a more commendable airplane on this than a cirrus being that this bird was built in an era where aviation was still using pencil and paper. Too sad so many good ideas depend on the economics game…
The one and only time I ever got to see a Windecker Eagle was at the Abotsford Airshow. I forgot what year it was that I saw it there, it was on static display. The finish of the fiberglass work was amazing!
I was an A&P student at East Coast Aero Technical School at Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA in 1971 and a contributing editor of the school’s monthly newsletter. I visited the Windecker dealer who at that time was at the Beverly Airport, and arranged for them to fly the plane down to Hanscom for the students and instructors at ECAT to inspect. I did a write-up on the visit for the newspaper which I have stored somewhere, if I could only find it! It was an exciting plane because of its cutting-edge composite airframe and superior performance. Too bad that the funding dried up.
My father Leeon Davis sighed the log books s/n 1 for first flight. We moved to Midland in 1967.
Is your dad the “DA2” Davis
I saw a Windecker in the Ballistics Research Lab holding lot at Aberdeen Proving Grounds back in the summer of 1983. They also had some intact B-29s, still dripping oil.
I was an original stockholder in Windecker Research Inc. (the company name Dr. Windecker used when it went public) The date on my stock certificate is April 6, 1970. I was living in Midland, TX. where the airplane was designed and built….the hanger/factory that was originally built for the development later became the first hanger and headquarters for the Confederate (now Commemorative) Air Force when it moved from Harlingen, TX to Midland, Tx. One of the original Eagles is hanging in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. . The Drs. Windecker were on the cutting edge at that point in time, and was supported by our community, unfortunately with not quite enough resources, and inturrepted by a problem with certification due to a crash.
1968 i worked at champs aviation cessna dealer el paso tex. I got to work on the avionics on the windecker. Dont remembr the tail number. The windecker was stealth. We had to install a ground plane for the transponder, com/nav. The atc radar and tower controlhad a hard time picking up the aircraft over 5 miles out. With the ground plane , the transponder was able to work. Then the army took control and windecker ended up at fort wachuca ariz.
Check this out…..Remember the windecker….I just barely do…..
I believe the Air Force or one of the branches of the military had one or more of these.
I remember seeing one of them at Davis- Montham AFB ( the bone yard) in Tuscon back
in the mid seventy’s. Any body else able to shed some light on this
4198G is serial #7 and serial #8 went to the Air Force originally. As far as I know #8 was the last production airplane. I got to see it in Midland when I went down to pick up 98G after one of my rental pilots ran it out of gas in Nova Scotia requiring a repair in Midland. It landed in the woods, but was not damaged enough to prevent a ferry flight to Midland after a couple of small repairs.
I remember in November of 1971 I was working on my inst. rating in Beverly MA and was to go on a 200 mile IFR cross country flight. My instructor suggested that we take the Windecker that the club had, so that I would get some experience with retractable gear and variable pitch prop. The plane was so fast that we had a hard time keeping up with navigation and the radio. He finally suggested that I fly and he navigate and operate the radio. What a great cross country trip! I recall that closing the doors sounded very different from a metal plane, and landings were a bit wiggly due to the narrow landing gear. I checked my log books and found that it is the same airplane that is in this article!
Just don’t try to spin it!
With all due respect to Mr. Reed, one should consider what actually happened before making such a comment. The crash occured on the very last stall and spin in the series for certification, with full aft CG. The test pilot parachuted safely. The aircraft did a 26 turn spin to impact. The fact that the passenger cabin was still intact is significant.
Ted Windecker redesigned the tail, adding a ventral fin. The Eagle was then spun several times at full aft CG with no ill effect. As a matter of fact, the airplane can recover from a spin on it’s own with no control input.