It was the first composite airplane (foam and fiberglass construction) to receive FAA certification in December 1969 at a reported development cost of US$20,000,000.
[4] The first prototype had a fixed undercarriage but the second, known as the Eagle 1, had retractable tricycle gear.
[3] Only eight Eagles were produced before production ended when the company ran out of money.
[5] No Eagle had been flying for many years, but one was restored and flown in December 2015, by Don Atchison, Mike Moore and a team commissioned by Chinese entrepreneur Wei Hang.
Wei Hang holds the rights and the type certificate and plans to produce the aircraft in China for Asian sales.