zephramcochrane
New Member
Hi All,
I'm an aspiring pilot and aircraft homebuilder. I love all things that fly, and am in awe of all the work that homebuilders have done for pushing the state of aerospace technology forward. I am like a sponge, learning all that I can about homebuilt aircraft, and I spend a lot of time on this website and the EAA Homebuilder's tips site. I am also an aspiring entrepreneur and want to be able to support my family and research projects by selling aircraft. As such, I'm looking to find living successful aircraft entrepreneurs and designers, to learn from their experience and hear the story of how they got successful. I don't know any personally, so I am putting this post up to hear from all of you to see who you know.
So here are my criteria for what counts as successful:
For aircraft entrepreneur:
- Able to live on the income generated by selling the aircraft or aircraft system they developed or helped develop
- Still living
For aircraft designer:
- Designed at least one airplane or airplane component from scratch
- Built that airplane or airplane component
- Flew that airplane or airplane component
- Sold that airplane or airplane component so at least ten other people fly with it
Aside from the very famous designers/entrepreneurs still living (Burt Rutan and Jim Bede), here are the names I found from the EAA Homebuilder Hall of Fame of designers/entrepreneurs still living (although I don't know their stories in detail, like how they got their first sales, and the ups and downs they had to go through to become successful)
- Sebastien Heintz (Zenith Aircraft Company)
- Tom Hamilton (Glasair)
- Lance A. Neibauer
- John W. Dyke
- Chris Heintz (Zenith Aircraft Company)
I'd love to know who else is out there, and more importantly the stories of how they became successful. Unfortunately, aircraft designers and entrepreneurs are not household names everywhere like the founders of Facebook and Google, but they operate in a difficult industry at the cutting edge and as such should be known and honored. I hope to read the fascinating tales of these designers and entrepreneurs!
I'm an aspiring pilot and aircraft homebuilder. I love all things that fly, and am in awe of all the work that homebuilders have done for pushing the state of aerospace technology forward. I am like a sponge, learning all that I can about homebuilt aircraft, and I spend a lot of time on this website and the EAA Homebuilder's tips site. I am also an aspiring entrepreneur and want to be able to support my family and research projects by selling aircraft. As such, I'm looking to find living successful aircraft entrepreneurs and designers, to learn from their experience and hear the story of how they got successful. I don't know any personally, so I am putting this post up to hear from all of you to see who you know.
So here are my criteria for what counts as successful:
For aircraft entrepreneur:
- Able to live on the income generated by selling the aircraft or aircraft system they developed or helped develop
- Still living
For aircraft designer:
- Designed at least one airplane or airplane component from scratch
- Built that airplane or airplane component
- Flew that airplane or airplane component
- Sold that airplane or airplane component so at least ten other people fly with it
Aside from the very famous designers/entrepreneurs still living (Burt Rutan and Jim Bede), here are the names I found from the EAA Homebuilder Hall of Fame of designers/entrepreneurs still living (although I don't know their stories in detail, like how they got their first sales, and the ups and downs they had to go through to become successful)
- Sebastien Heintz (Zenith Aircraft Company)
- Tom Hamilton (Glasair)
- Lance A. Neibauer
- John W. Dyke
- Chris Heintz (Zenith Aircraft Company)
I'd love to know who else is out there, and more importantly the stories of how they became successful. Unfortunately, aircraft designers and entrepreneurs are not household names everywhere like the founders of Facebook and Google, but they operate in a difficult industry at the cutting edge and as such should be known and honored. I hope to read the fascinating tales of these designers and entrepreneurs!
