Tipsy Belfair

Single Piston

The Tipsy Belfair is a Belgian light aircraft designed by Ernest Oscar Tips in the 1950s, representing a distinctive chapter in European homebuilt aviation. Built primarily as a two-seat touring aircraft, the Belfair featured a low-wing configuration and wooden construction, typical of the era's amateur-built designs. The type gained modest popularity in the UK and Belgium, where enthusiasts appreciated its straightforward construction and pleasant handling characteristics. Powered by a Continental C90 engine producing 90 horsepower, the Belfair offered respectable performance for a light tourer, with a cruise speed around 105 knots and a range sufficient for cross-country flights across Europe. Its wooden wing and fabric-covered fuselage made it relatively lightweight at just under 1,500 pounds maximum takeoff weight, though this traditional construction required careful maintenance to preserve structural integrity over decades of service. The Belfair never achieved mass production status, remaining instead a cherished type among vintage aircraft collectors and homebuilders who valued its classic lines and connection to post-war European aviation. Today, surviving examples like G-APIE represent rare glimpses into the homebuilt movement of the 1950s, when designers like Tips sought to make personal aviation accessible through simple, buildable designs. SkyMeter has tracked flights across airframes and operators, with routes observed.