In 1926, Edward Bayard Heath, a successful American air racer and the owner of an aircraft parts supply business, built the first example of the Heath Parasol, a small, single seat parasol winged airplane using surplus wings from a Thomas-Morse S-4, a World War One fighter trainer, mounted above a steel-tube structure fuselage and powered by a Henderson four-cylinder motorcycle engine.

[1] Although Heath died in 1931, his Parasol designs remained extremely popular, being economical to build and operate as well as easy to fly.

Subsequently, the Heath Company of St. Joseph / Benton Harbor Michigan sold nearly 1,000 kits on an installment basis.

[1] Except for the prototype, the wings consist of two solid spruce spars, built up wooden ribs, compression struts, and internal drag and anti-drag bracing.

[citation needed] A variety of powerplants could be fitted, including the factory-supplied converted Henderson Motorcycle engine (viz.