Grob Aerospace is part of the
Grob Group, which was founded in 1926 by
Dr. Ernst Grob. The Grob
company started out producing
internal combustion engines, but is currently mainly
specialized in
machine tools, while its Grob Aerospace
division is specialized in
composite motorized aircraft. The
aircraft Grob Aerospace currently produces are small aircraft for
business use,
trainers with
full aerobatic capabilities and
utility aircraft for
surveillance and
reconnaissance purposes.
Since 1974 Grob Aerospace has its own purpose-built
airfield located halfway between
München and
Stuttgart, in
Germany. It accommodates the company's
research,
development,
manufacturing and
assembly facilities.
History
Although the Grob company was founded before
World War II, it wasn't until 1971 that the Aerospace division was founded by
Dr. Burkhart Grob, who was an enthusiastic
pilot himself.
The company started out with the
licensed production of 200
Schempp-Hirth Cirrus gliders. Soon after that the company
designed and built its own
Astir glider, a
single-seater that was designed to last, with
forgiving handling characteristics. Despite its
average performance, these attributes have made the
Astir reasonably popular with
glider clubs, who use the
Astir as a solo
trainer, the first aircraft members
fly solo on.
The
Astir single-seater was soon joined by the
two-seater Twin Astir,
Twin III Acro and the
Twin III SL (the SL indicating that the
Twin III SL is a
Self
Launching glider).
Beginning in 1981, Grob Aerospace increasingly shifted its attention to
powered flight, starting off with the
G 109, the first
series production composite motor glider in the world. This was followed by the
G 115, a
training aircraft that
spawned a line of aircraft
powered by
4- and
6-cylinder engines.
Grob Aerospace has retained a
legacy from starting out building gliders, namely that it produces fully
composite aircraft (that is, they are made of
composite materials, like
fiberglass- and
carbon-fiber-reinforced materials). It is currently the world leader in this
area of expertise.
Sources:
http://grob-aerospace.com/
A number of other smaller sites
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