The Great Lakes Aircraft Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio, produced a design for a small two-seat sports/trainer in early 1929, with the first prototype flying in March 1929.

[1] The resulting aircraft, designated 2-T-1, was a single bay biplane of mixed, fabric-covered construction and with a tailskid undercarriage.

A 1929 Great Lakes Model 2T1a held for many years the world record for consecutive outside loops, a total of 131, set by Jim Moss flying the Hunt Special which by the early 1930s had been highly modified and re-powered with a Warner Scarab 165 7 cylinder radial engine.

[4] Eventually, in the 1960s, the rights for the Sport Trainer were acquired by Harvey Swack, who offered plans of the aircraft for sale to homebuilders.

In 1972, Swack sold the rights on to Doug Champlin, who set up a reconstituted Great Lakes Aircraft Company to produce a revised version meeting the current airworthiness requirements, powered by modern Lycoming engines and revised materials of construction (including the use of Douglas fir instead of spruce).