Associated Air Liberty 181


The Associated Air Liberty 181 is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed and produced by Associated Air of Woodland, Washington, introduced in the late 1990s. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Design and development

The Liberty 181 was designed as a bushplane for hauling heavy loads into unprepared airstrips. It features a strut-braced high-wing, a four-seat enclosed cabin with doors, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.
The aircraft is made from mixed metal and composites and features extra large doors for loading bulky items. Its span wing mounts flaps, has a wing area of and is supported by two parallel lift struts per side, with jury struts. The cabin width is. The acceptable power range is and the standard engine used is the Continental O-470 powerplant, with a constant speed propeller. With that engine installed the take-off distance is and the landing distance is.
The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of, giving a useful load of. With full fuel of the payload is.
Factory supplied options included floats and skis. The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied kit as 2000 hours.

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that 7 kits had been sold, with one aircraft flying.
In October 2016 no examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although one had been previously registered and exported to Canada. In October 2016 one was registered with Transport Canada, having been built in the US in 1996 and imported in 2008.

Specifications (Liberty 181)