American Homebuilts John Doe


The American Homebuilts John Doe is an American STOL homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Steve Nusbaum and produced by American Homebuilts of Hebron, Illinois, first flown in 1994. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Design and development

The aircraft was given its name because the designer and his wife, Carla Nusbaum, could not decide on an appropriate name for the design.
The John Doe features a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-tandem enclosed cabin, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.
The aircraft is made from welded steel tubing, with its flying surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. Its span wing mounts flaps, leading edge slats, drooping ailerons, stall fences, winglets and has a wing area of. It employs a NACA 4415 airfoil. The acceptable power range is and the standard engines used are the Continental IO-240 and Continental O-200 powerplants.
The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of, giving a useful load of. With full fuel of the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage is.
The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine is and the landing roll is.
The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 400 hours.

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that one had been completed and was flying.
By December 2007 a total of three had been completed.
In April 2015 one example was registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although a total of three had been registered at one time.

Specifications (John Doe)