The Glastar is a later addition to the Glasair range. The design is composite with metal wings and has excellent performance and handling qualities.

Let's start with speed—lots of speed. With a cruise speed of better than 160 m.p.h. (which, incidentally, is more than one mile an hour per horsepower—try that in your 182!), the GlaStar is ready to tackle some serious cross-country work. Top off the optional auxiliary fuel tanks, settle into the spacious cabin, and knock off close to 1,000 n.m. at a stretch. Trips that would be prohibitively exhausting and time consuming in a slower airplane suddenly are within your reach when you pilot a GlaStar. In fact, for trips of less than about 500 miles in length, a GlaStar will beat the airliners when you consider the time you won't spend standing in check-in lines and waiting for your bags. And of course, in your GlaStar, you can select any one of thousands of destinations not served by the airlines. The GlaStar was designed to be a travelling machine, and it delivers.

But wait: If the GlaStar is almost as fast as some production retractable-gear airplanes, does that mean it's a handful for the low-time pilot? Hardly! In fact, if one aspect of the GlaStar's incredible performance stands out above the others, it is without a doubt the airplane's "magical" slow-speed handling qualities and docile stall characteristics. Of course, these qualities aren't magical at all—they're the result of solid engineering and cutting-edge aerodynamic advances.

What's the bottom line for you, the pilot? In a full stall, the GlaStar never loses control authority in any axis. Period. Go ahead, haul the stick all the way back and hold it there. Now kick the rudder, roll the airplane with the ailerons, cross control it if you like. The GlaStar never departs from controlled flight. And thanks to the generous Fowler flaps, the stall (such as it is) occurs at a meagre 49 m.p.h. (at maximum gross weight).

Such great slow-speed controllability makes the GlaStar an amazingly safe airplane. It also makes it amazingly fun to fly! Does a little low-and-slow sightseeing on a warm summer evening sound appealing? Well, trim your GlaStar for hands-off flight at 50 kts. and take advantage of its tremendous visibility as the scenery drifts past at ultralight speeds. Or imagine your favourite mountain airstrip—you know, that 800 ft. patch of rocks and ruts with the dogleg in the middle and the big trees at each end! Put your GlaStar into a 1,500 f.p.m. full-flap slip at 45 knots, round out smoothly and come to an easy stop with less than half the strip behind you. The GlaStar is a pussycat in the hands of the neophyte, but it will bring out the tiger in you as you learn to exploit its incredible capabilities.

And what's the use of flying into that wilderness strip without a big load of camping gear? No use! So, load 'er up! The GlaStar's cavernous baggage compartment isn't just for show. At typical builder-reported empty weights, the GlaStar boasts over 700 lbs. of useful load. That's a lot of freeze-dried beef Stroghanoff on the way in and a lot of fish on the way out!

What's that? You want even more versatility?! OK, how 'bout convertible landing gear?! Lots of kit aircraft out there are available as either taildraggers or trikes, but the GlaStar is the only game in town if you want to be in the woods with your tundra-tired taildragger on Saturday and be teaching your kid to hold the nosewheel off on Sunday. Using the same main gear legs and simple "plug-and-play" installation, the GlaStar can be converted from tricycle to conventional gear or back in a couple of hours! Installing floats, of course, is more complicated—that can take as much as an afternoon! Since the GlaStar was designed from the outset as a floatplane, no modifications to the airframe are required for you to go splashing and dashing in and out of your favourite aquatic destination. As with different kinds of wheeled gear, adding floats is a simple bolt-on proposition.

Oh, and yes . . . the GlaStar has been flown on skis, too!