The Early Bird Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer based in

Erie, Colorado The Town of Erie is a Statutory Town located in Weld and Boulder counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 30,038 at the 2020 United States Census, a +65.64% increase since the 2010 United States Census. At the 2020 census, 17,3 ...

. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of historical replica aircraft, sold as both kits or as just printed plans for amateur construction. The company's designs were marketed for a time by

Leading Edge Air Foils Leading Edge Air Foils LLC (formerly Leading Edge Air Foils, Inc.), usually called LEAF, is an American aircraft parts supplier based in Lyons, Wisconsin. It is a US limited liability company.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sou ...

.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', pages 147 and 193. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pages 413-415. Leading Edge Air Foils, 1995. The company produced two designs. The Early Bird Spad 13 is an 80% scale replica of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

SPAD S.XIII fighter. The

Early Bird Jenny The Early Bird Jenny is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Dennis Wiley and produced by the Early Bird Aircraft Company of Erie, Colorado, also by Leading Edge Airfoils of Peyton, Colorado. When it was available the aircraf ...

is a 67% scale replica of the First World War

Curtiss JN-4 Jenny The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...

trainer. Both aircraft are constructed from a mix of steel and

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

tubing, with some wooden parts and with flying surfaces covered in doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

Aircraft

References

{{Early Bird aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Replica aircraft manufacturers Homebuilt aircraft