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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