The Story Behind the Dream

Gilbert Custom Aircraft was founded by George Gilbert and his son Darryl Gilbert. Father and son shared not only a love of flying, they also enjoyed designing and building their own aircraft. They are in fact, “Builders and Flyers of Homebuilt Aircraft By Choice”. Darryl’s father George is also known as “Captain Rickety Back” or “Captain” for short by those who know him well. The nick name is a testament to the “Captain’s” love of flying. Darryl a CFI also logged many hours teaching others how to fly.

Gilbert Custom Aircraft was incorporated in 1986 in the city of Brantford, Ontario. Both George and Darryl who were both PPL (Private Pilot Licensed) pilots and well known in the local aviation community. In the early days they had many friends in the Brantford area who also enjoyed building their own aircraft. Their friends shared the same enthusiasm building aircraft, but not many of them had the space or specialized tools to work on their projects. In 1987 George Gilbert had an opportunity to purchase an 8800 sq ft hangar building from Brant Aero that was situated right on the property of the city of Brantford Airport. This hanger is the home of Gilbert Custom aircraft today, and the place where many a dream has taken flight.

Darryl and his father George have strong feelings toward the homebuilt community as they like it to be known. Darryl, since becoming a licensed PPL pilot has checked out in and flown over 100 types of aircraft and has logged more than 6000 hours flying homebuilt, certified single and multi engine aircraft. The last 2 airplanes George Gilbert built and flew between 1990 and 1996 was a single place Pietenpol and 2 place Stitts Flutterbug, which have since been sold.

In 1970 Darryl attended the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh and fell in love with the flying qualities and performance of an aerobatic biplane called the Steen Skybolt. Before he left Oshkosh he purchased the plans from the designer Lamar Steen to build a Steen Skybolt. The only area Darryl felt the Steen Skybolt lacked was in its performance. He felt the aircraft would be better served with more horsepower than the 250 HP Lycoming engine provided. The engine he had in mind was a Lycoming IO-540 K1A5 350 hp engine . He contacted pilots that had flown the Steen Skybolt and asked what they thought about his idea for more power. Their consensus was the bigger engine would break the airplane apart. That is all Darryl wanted to hear, have someone tell him it simply can’t be done or will not work. He immediately located a used Lycoming IO-540 K1A5 350 hp engine, totally rebuilt this engine by himself and installed this engine on his Skybolt. The airplane with its Lycoming IO-540 K1A5 350 hp engine made its maiden flight in 1975. 28 years later, this airplane now has over 300 hours on it and is still flying doing limited aerobatic routines each year in the summer. And speaking of horsepower, nothing gets Darryl's crank turning over faster than rebuilding and tuning engines. If you need or like some work done on your power plant, contact Darryl for some expert advise.

In 1981 Darryl again attended Oshkosh and was simply thrilled the way Leo Loudenslager and Henry Haigh performed in their aerobatic shows in their mid wing Lazer aircraft. After their show Darryl went over and introduced himself to Leo and Henry and left Oshkosh with a set of Laser plans. Immediately upon his return Darryl ordered a 220 hp Lycoming engine and had it completely rebuilt to be used as his choice of engine to be used on his new mid wing aircraft. Darryl recalls when he called and told Leo and Henry about all the changes he had made to his completed mid wing aircraft, both Leo and Henry told him, that he had made far too many changes to the aircraft. Neither Leo or Henry wanted him to call it a Laser. Not one to be deterred, he renamed his new mid wing aerobatic airplane the “Shockwave 200”. With over 200 trouble free hours in both the Steen Skybolt, 350 hp Lycoming and his Shockwave 200 aerobatic airplanes, he has proven the doubters wrong. Darryl has put on a number of aerobatic demonstrations at local air shows and competed and flown in aerobatic competition’s in Ontario.

In 1995 Darryl had the opportunity to join Northeastern Aerial Services and restore and rebuild Ag Cats (Grumman 164) and become their test pilot. Not only did he restore and rebuild and test fly them he also had to ferry them to many locations in the United States and Canada. He also during this time rebuilt and test flew 3 Thrush aerial spray planes. He continued doing this until the year 2000 when he felt he needed to work full time at Gilbert Custom Aircraft, offering his services to the local aviation community and the many homebuilders who sought and required his services.

Both George and Darryl Gilbert have been active members in their local EAA 115 Brantford for the past 30 years. Darryl was the first Canadian appointed by EAA Canada as Flight Advisor. Darryl has also served as president of Brantford E.A.A. Chapter 115 for the past 14 years and also is an associate member in RAA Canada.

Darryl also when time permits likes to offer aerobatic rides to people who have that interest or if they just want to experience an aerobatic ride once in their life. Or maybe you know someone who may enjoy and like to experience aerobatic flying, just call George or Darryl, book a time to enjoy a memorable aerobatic flight. Both Captain and Darryl have spent over 30 years assisting and helping other homebuilders and flyers.