Calumet Motorsports Was an American

aircraft parts An aircraft part is an article or component approved for installation on a type-certificated aircraft. Approval for these parts is derived from the jurisdictions of the countries that an aircraft is based. In the United States, the Federal Aviatio ...

manufacturer and former

aircraft kit manufacturer An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

based in

Lansing, Illinois Lansing is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Lansing is a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 29,076 at the 2020 census. Geography Lansing is located at (41.565785, -87.545791). It is south of the Chicago city limits a ...

and founded by Tommy Milton. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...

parts and at one time produced whole aircraft kits for amateur construction in the US including

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not requ ...

category.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 348. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

History

The company was formed in the 1970s as ''Calumet Aeronautics'', nicknamed ''Cal Aero'' and acted as a dealer for "Airguide" wind meters. In buying the assets of the SnoBird Aircraft Company the company acquired the rights to the Snobird Charger, single seat gyroplane that offered a ROTAX 503 or 582 ENGINE. SnoBird also offered a 2 place gyroplane that utilized a Honda 4 cylinder aircraft converted engine Snobird Explorer ultralight autogyro designed as an entry level gyroplane. Siting the difficulty ordering parts, destined for use on aircraft. A decision was made to change the company name to ''Calumet Motorsports''. The Calumet designed Explorer Ultralight gyroplane was first flown in May 1997 and produced through the late 1990s and early 2000s when it was noted as a low-cost, entry level aircraft. The aircraft was commercially successful, but required additional investment to expand production and instead the line was sold. When the SnoBird line came up for sale again later, Calumet Motorsports bought the seat fuel tank business. Later, when parts designer Dick Wunderlich died, the company added the Wunderlich prerotator and rotorbrake to their product line. Milton was also a

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

Designated Airworthiness Representative A Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) is a private person designated by the United States Federal Aviation Administration to act on its behalf in the certification of type certificated and amateur-built aircraft for the issuance of airwor ...

(DAR). The company was sold on 14 December 2018.Calumetair Incorporated
opencorporates.com; retrieved July 17, 2023

Aircraft

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://calumetmanufacturing.com/ Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Autogyros