2021 EAB Aircraft Registration Summary

[rwanttaja]

As usual, I've downloaded the end-of-year FAA registration database and run my various processes to examine the trends for a number of homebuilt aircraft types. Note that these count only aircraft registered as Experimental Amateur-Built. It does not count aircraft that do not list a certification type (about 5,000 aircraft with homebuilt-like names) nor aircraft registered as Special Light Sport or Experimental Light Sport (e.g., SLSA or ELSA RV-12s).



Type

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021


Air Command

36

35

31

31

25

19

18

18

18


Aventura

71

68

63

65

57

50

49

50

48


Avid

359

359

343

352

342

296

289

280

278


Baby/Junior Ace

230

228

228

230

225

204

201

199

197


Bede BD-4

98

91

93

92

90

78

82

78

79


Bede BD-5

49

43

40

41

38

34

35

32

31


Benson Gyro

271

218

200

198

158

105

79

64

62


Bowers Fly Baby

183

168

167

167

160

140

139

135

130


Carbon Cub (EAB)

29

46

64

90

119

177

244

308

331


Challenger

584

594

586

593

578

491

480

476

461


Christen Eagle

214

207

206

205

204

194

192

192

193


Cozy

158

160

164

165

163

151

151

156

158


Glasair

601

606

596

603

599

571

571

563

558


GlaStar/Sportsman

374

386

396

407

424

410

424

438

443


Harmon Rocket

88

85

87

85

85

80

77

75

78


Hatz

105

107

110

111

110

112

111

110

113


Kitfox

905

918

936

950

946

875

871

889

887


Kolb (Ex-AB)

248

241

236

235

227

205

198

186

181


Lancair (All Models)

835

847

855

875

866

824

826

834

839


Lancair IV

246

244

259

260

249

236

240

243

244


Midget Mustang

241

240

236

238

233

207

205

204

202


Murphy

173

171

171

176

174

156

161

159

160


Pietenpol

307

313

311

321

319

296

297

289

284


Pitts (EX-AB)

639

613

617

625

608

548

543

534

522


Pulsar/KIS

130

126

124

125

122

107

108

105

102


Quickie/Q2/Q200

168

148

140

143

130

109

103

100

98


Quicksilver EX-AB

170

163

156

162

154

134

127

129

131


RAF-2000 Gyro

113

114

110

111

90

69

69

69

66


Rand KR-2

194

175

167

167

154

132

132

124

115


RANS

627

638

659

677

673

636

651

652

663


RANS S-12

130

129

128

128

121

107

106

109

104


RANS S-6

200

201

208

213

211

204

205

200

198


RANS S-7

180

189

202

206

209

202

210

208

213


Rotorway

404

392

374

380

350

296

296

287

283


Rutan Long-EZ

428

418

416

417

406

379

380

378

369


Rutan Varieze

323

297

286

286

272

243

238

231

222


SeaRey

231

242

242

249

255

241

238

235

236


Sonerai

215

199

194

194

184

156

156

158

155


Sonex

383

420

451

484

497

486

510

527

532


Steen Skybolt

250

246

247

248

235

215

215

215

211


Stolp

404

396

399

402

385

358

349

354

342


Stolp Starduster

357

349

351

352

337

310

302

308

301


Thorp T-18

261

259

259

262

257

239

238

236

238


Vans

5745

5956

6110

6293

6414

6447

6634

6779

6960


Vans RV-3

155

154

158

160

152

149

149

149

149


Vans RV-4

952

956

955

965

958

921

921

921

922


Vans RV-6

1763

1783

1775

1795

1796

1731

1742

1737

1750


Vans RV-7

1000

1066

1118

1170

1220

1244

1285

1322

1358


Vans RV-8

1038

1082

1123

1161

1198

1215

1252

1278

1304


Vans RV-9

522

552

588

611

630

638

658

677

689


Vans RV-10

304

340

366

394

419

434

459

492

530


Vans RV-12 (EX-AB)

36

49

53

63

68

74

75

74

81


Vans RV-14

0

0

0

14

38

66

98

134

182


Velocity

232

237

235

240

236

222

224

228

228


Volksplane

104

95

85

86

76

48

47

48

48


Zenair

862

920

965

1013

1028

992

1013

1028

1066


Zenair CH-601

340

348

353

367

367

339

332

325

323


Zenair CH-701

331

334

348

351

347

318

328

333

329


Zenair CH-750

86

127

145

171

187

209

229

247

285


Overall

27946

27909

28078

28830

28451

26572

26842

26941

27117



Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

Thank you!

I really like the service you provide with the community, as it gives a window into where the E-AB community's head is. Some planes have gone down in popularity (as some fall off, there's not much to replace them), some have risen.

And a few remain steady over the time. The Pietenpol is the antithesis of C&C cut aluminum sheets with pre-drilled holes, yet it's numbers remain relatively unchanged since 2013.

[Airmutt]

Aw gee Frank I thought you were gonna bust Ron’s chops for not having a line item for all the Nieuports on the registry;)

[rwanttaja]

Thank you!

I really like the service you provide with the community, as it gives a window into where the E-AB community's head is. Some planes have gone down in popularity (as some fall off, there's not much to replace them), some have risen.

And a few remain steady over the time. The Pietenpol is the antithesis of C&C cut aluminum sheets with pre-drilled holes, yet it's numbers remain relatively unchanged since 2013.

It's even more interesting in that the figures I post are the *net* aircraft. In the nine-year period covered here, about 250 Pietenpols were removed from the FAA registry. The net has only dropped by 25 aircraft or so...that means that about 225 airplanes were added! Some of them are probably previously-deregistered aircraft, but that's still pretty good.


Aw gee Frank I thought you were gonna bust Ron’s chops for not having a line item for all the Nieuports on the registry;)
That's nothing, I'm waiting for an RVer to complain "Why do you show only 6940 EAB RVs on the FAA registry, and Van's says 11,000 have been completed!"

Ron "Smacking one fist into his palm menacingly" Wanttaja

[Kyle Boatright]

The one that comes as a surprise is Velocity. The baseline number of airplanes is relatively small, the factory is still in operation, yet the number of registered aircraft ain't moving.

[rwanttaja]

The one that comes as a surprise is Velocity. The baseline number of airplanes is relatively small, the factory is still in operation, yet the number of registered aircraft ain't moving.

Well, you are looking at the net change. During 2021, four EAB Velocities were removed from the registry. So four new ones were added to keep the net at 228. Still, that's not a lot....

Ron Wanttaja

[DonN]

While I appreciate the work done in reporting this, and I understand the issues with searching the FAA's database when anyone can call their aircraft anything they want and the plethora of typo's, I also have to protest the glaring absence of the Breezys, Woody's Pushers, and certainly all the Wittman aircraft, Tailwinds in particular.

[rwanttaja]

While I appreciate the work done in reporting this, and I understand the issues with searching the FAA's database when anyone can call their aircraft anything they want and the plethora of typo's, I also have to protest the glaring absence of the Breezys, Woody's Pushers, and certainly all the Wittman aircraft, Tailwinds in particular.

And every year, people complain of the lack of Dyke Deltas, Polywagons, VariViggens, Stits Playmates, Windwagons, etc. Inclusion on the list above is not a reflection of how important I feel the designs are, though I make an effort to include the most-numerous examples. The less-numerous designs are often included due to curiosity or the fact that I *know* someone who owns a particular design (this started as an EAA Chapter presentation). The Benson Gyrocopter had the *highest number of registrations*, back when I first started running these analyses back in 1998. That's why it's still included. In any case, it really highlights how the FAA's re-registration process has hammered homebuilt totals.

If you add up the totals for the aircraft types for 2021 in the above table, you get 18,318 aircraft. Yet the total fleet size, as shown on the last line, is 27,117. So yes, there are about 9,000 homebuilts of other types that are not individually split out.

As you mention, the homebuilt's make/model are up to the builder's whim, as are the actual spelling of the names. That's what gets fun when trying to identify aircraft. I mean that literally; it's kind of a detective story.

Take Breezies, for instance. I first ran a Model name search for "*Breezy*". Then I noticed that a lot of the Breezies have a "RLU-1" designation. So then I add "*RLU*" to the filter, and get eight additional registrations that *don't* have "Breezy" in the name. It doesn't catch the one called "R.L.U.-1" (the periods throw it off), but that one also already had "Breezy" in the name anyway.

But there's still a lot of uncertainty. Is a "GE-1 Breezy" the same aircraft? What about a "Naked Angel Breezy" (N11DD)? I'm guessing they are...but with the total "hits" on the filter only coming to 80 or so, the accuracy of the tally comes into question. And, of course, the same filters have to be applied to the "Make" entry, too, because some people put "Breezy" into the "Make," not the "Model".

There's LESS worry about more-numerous types such as the RV-6. I still have to search for "RV-6", "RV6", "RV 6" and even "VANS SIX" (with wildcards of course), but almost all builders put a variation of "RV" and "6" in the model name. Still some misses, still some OTHER types of aircraft, but when you've got nearly 2,000 airplanes, the false hits and the misses have less impact.

The table above is the result of building about sixty such filter sets, and running them against a each year's FAA registry. Once the filters have been developed, they're added to a macro I've generated. With the macros, generating the above table takes only a few minutes.

I have added types to the automated processors. A year or two back I realized that the Carbon Cub was giving some of the RV models a run for their money, and added the type. Where the effort comes in is the need to run the same effort against the individual databases running back to 2008 (I post only back to 2013 because of the forum's posting-size limit). THAT is time-consuming, as the appropriate filters have to be copied to each individual registration year and, sometimes, updated to reflect the older versions of the registry.

Anyway, now you know.

Ron Wanttaja

[rwanttaja]

Speaking of the FAA's Re-Registration process (started in 2010), this table shows the homebuilt types that lost 50% or more of their registrations since 2008.



Type

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021


Air Command

54

56

56

56

54

36

35

31

31

25

19

18

18

18


Bede BD-4

158

155

153

151

134

98

91

93

92

90

78

82

78

79


Bede BD-5

78

77

77

78

70

49

43

40

41

38

34

35

32

31


Benson Gyro

750

720

717

689

518

271

218

200

198

158

105

79

64

62


Bowers Fly Baby

270

269

272

270

244

183

168

167

167

160

140

139

135

130


Quickie/Q2/Q200

306

305

303

297

277

168

148

140

143

130

109

103

100

98


Quicksilver EX-AB

343

345

348

335

296

170

163

156

162

154

134

127

129

131


Rand KR-2

347

349

350

346

314

194

175

167

167

154

132

132

124

115


Rutan Varieze

480

476

473

467

423

323

297

286

286

272

243

238

231

222


Sonerai

315

309

309

307

287

215

199

194

194

184

156

156

158

155


Volksplane

224

222

222

220

176

104

95

85

86

76

48

47

48

48


Ron Wanttaja