Steen Skybolt


The Steen Skybolt is an American homebuilt aerobatic biplane. Designed by teacher Lamar Steen as a high school engineering project, the prototype first flew in October 1970.

Design and development

The aircraft has a classic structure consisting of a welded tube fuselage and wooden wings, all fabric covered. It is a tandem open-cockpit two-seat biplane and is stressed for normal aerobatics. The cockpits are frequently constructed as a single tandem cabin with an enclosing bubble canopy. Some aerobatic competition aircraft are built as single seaters with the front cockpit closed off.
The original Skybolt had a Lycoming HO-360-B1B engine, but powerplants of can be installed.

Operational history

The Skybolt has become popular as an amateur-built sporting biplane, with over 400 aircraft having been completed from construction plans sold in over 29 countries. A Skybolt won the Reserve Grand Champion Custom Built for 1979 at the Experimental Aircraft Association airshow in Oshkosh Wisconsin. Sixteen examples were registered in the United Kingdom in January 2009.

Variants

;Skybolt
;Skybolt
;Skybolt
;Skybolt 300
;Super Skybolt
;Starfire Firebolt

Specifications (Skybolt (D))