Blue Yonder Aviation is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 aircraft manufacturer, specializing in kit aircraft for the North American amateur-built aircraft and ultralight

Ultralight aircraft (Canada)

The Canadian Aviation Regulations define two types of ultralight aircraft: basic ultra-light aeroplane , and advanced ultra-light aeroplane .- Canadian definition of ultra-light :...

 markets.

Origins

The company was originally formed by Wayne Winters in 1986 as a flying school teaching students on a single Spectrum Beaver RX550 at Indus/Winters Aire Park

Indus/Winters Aire Park Airport

Indus/Winters Aire Park Airport, , is located southwest of Indus, Alberta, Canada.-External links:* on COPA's Places to Fly airport directory...

 south of Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

.

The airport had originally been purchased in 1914 by Miltor L. Winters from the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 for Cdn$24 per acre. In 1946 upon returning home from the Second World War Ralph C. Winters purchased the land from the older Winters. In 1970 he graded the first runway on the property. Ralph Winters son, Wayne Winters assumed operation of the airport when his father retired. The airport is home to a large community of pilots and aircraft, including a large number of ultralights.

Present history

In 1996, Blue Yonder purchased the rights to the Merlin

Blue Yonder Merlin

|-See also:-External links:*...

 from Merlin Aircraft and started manufacturing the aircraft in a converted pig barn on the property. Winters designed the open-cockpit EZ Flyer

Blue Yonder EZ Flyer

|-See also:-External links:*...

 in 1991 and the Twin Engine EZ Flyer

Blue Yonder Twin Engine EZ Flyer

|-See also:-External links:*...

 in 1999. The EZ Flyer proved successful and 30 have been completed alongside approximately 50 Merlins. Blue Yonder constructs kits or completed aircraft on a made-to-order basis. For several years US manufacturer Comp Air

Comp Air

Comp Air Inc, formerly known as Aerocomp Inc, is an aircraft manufacturer based in Merritt Island, Florida, owned by Ron Lueck.The firm originally manufactured floats for seaplanes, using composite materials. It later branched out into aircraft, marketing them in kit form for homebuilding...

 marketed Blue Yonder-produced Merlin kits in the USA under the name "Aero Comp Merlin", although this arrangement is no longer in effect.

In 2011 Winters completed work on a single seat, twin-engined design with an inverted V-tail

V-tail

In aircraft, a V-tail is an unconventional arrangement of the tail control surfaces that replaces the traditional fin and horizontal surfaces with two surfaces set in a V-shaped configuration when viewed from the front or rear of the aircraft...

, inspired by the Ultraflight Lazair

Ultraflight Lazair

The Ultraflight Lazair is a family of Canadian designed and built twin-engine ultralight aircraft that were sold in kit form between 1979 and 1984....

. The new aircraft is marketed as the Blue Yonder EZ Fun Flyer.

Aircraft

align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"| Summary of aircraft built by Blue Yonder Aircraft

Model name	First flight	Number built	Type
Merlin Blue Yonder Merlin |-See also:-External links:*...		50	cabin monoplane
EZ Flyer Blue Yonder EZ Flyer |-See also:-External links:*...		30	open cockpit monoplane
EZ King Cobra Blue Yonder EZ King Cobra |-See also:-External links:* * *...		1	P-63 Kingcobra P-63 Kingcobra The Bell P-63 Kingcobra was a United States fighter aircraft developed in World War II from the Bell P-39 Airacobra in an attempt to correct that aircraft's deficiencies...  replica
Twin Engine EZ Flyer Blue Yonder Twin Engine EZ Flyer |-See also:-External links:*...		1	Twin engine observation aircraft
EZ Harvard Blue Yonder EZ Harvard |-See also:-External links:*...		1	Harvard replica
EZ Fun Flyer		1	Inspired by the Ultraflight Lazair Ultraflight Lazair The Ultraflight Lazair is a family of Canadian designed and built twin-engine ultralight aircraft that were sold in kit form between 1979 and 1984....

Merlin Manufacturers

Blue Yonder is the fourth manufacturer of the Merlin design. Companies who have built the Merlin were:

align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"| Merlin Manufacturers

Company	Location	Dates	Ownership
Macair Industries	Baldwin, Ontario, Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	1988-91	John Burch
Malcolm Aircraft	Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... , USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	1991-92	John Burch
Merlin Aircraft	Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... , USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	1993-96
Blue Yonder	Indus, Alberta Indus, Alberta Indus is a hamlet in southern Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County.Indus is located approximately 6.1 km east of the City of Calgary's eastern limits and 24 km southeast of Downtown Calgary on Highway 791, 0.6 km north of Highway 22X.Indus is home to a recreation complex that...	1996-present	Wayne Winters