The history of
Comco-Ikarus aircraft
KENT MISEGADES, EAA 520919
ne of the world’s
oldest and
most successful
manufacturers of light-sport aircraft (LSA) is a
company you have likely never heard of before.
Ikarus was founded in July 1970 in the town
of Aidlingen, Germany, just west of Stuttgart,
by two young engineers and early hang-gliding
enthusiasts, Horst Heid and Rolf Lieb. The
success of their homegrown competition gliders
led to the company’s formation, and Ikarus
quickly became one of the leading European
manufacturers of high-performance hang gliders.
At the first world championship of hang gliding
in 1976, the bronze medal was won with an
Ikarus 500, and from 1977 to 1979 all German
distance records were achieved with gliders from
Ikarus. By 1982, Ikarus had shipped more than
