Christen Industries was an American aircraft manufacturer based in

Hollister, California Hollister is a city in and the county seat of San Benito County, located in the Central Coast region of California. With a 2020 United States census population of 41,678, Hollister is one of the largest cities in the Monterey Bay Area and a me ...

and

Afton, Wyoming Afton is a town in Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,911 at the 2010 census. Afton is home to the world's largest arch made of elk antlers. Spanning across the four lanes of U.S. Highway 89, the arch consists of 3,011 ...

History

Founded in 1972, the company was created to manufacture the

Christen Eagle The Christen Eagle, which later became the Aviat Eagle in the mid-1990s, is an aerobatic sporting biplane aircraft that has been produced in the United States since the late 1970s. Design Designed to compete with the Pitts Special by Frank Chr ...

, after designer Frank L. Christensen was unable to acquire the design rights to the

Pitts Special The Pitts Special (company designations S-1 and S-2) is a series of light aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes dominated world ae ...

. Later that year, a three-man team from the company became the first American team to win the world aerobatic championship. In 1983, the company announced that it acquired the design rights of the Laser 200 designed by

Leo Loudenslager Leo Loudenslager (January 24, 1944 – July 28, 1997) was an American aviator. He is one of two aviators to have won seven national aerobatic titles and is one of only three Americans to win the World Aerobatics Championship title. Biography ...

. In 1982, the company acquired Aerotek, moved to

and continued production of the

alongside the

Christen Eagle II The Christen Eagle, which later became the Aviat Eagle in the mid-1990s, is an aerobatic sporting biplane aircraft that has been produced in the United States since the late 1970s. Design Designed to compete with the Pitts Special by Frank Ch ...

kits. The company then designed and manufactured the Christen Husky A-1 utility aircraft. In 1990, the company was the subject of a lawsuit claiming that the design of their aircraft was responsible for the death of a pilot. Christen Industries was, in turn, bought by Aviat Aircraft, Inc. in 1991, who continued both product lines.

Aircraft

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

{{commons category, Christen Industries Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Companies based in San Benito County, California