The Hummel Bird is an Experimental/Amateur Built aircraft designed by Morry Hummel and produced by Hummel Aviation. It is a single-seat, single-engine, all-metal airplane typically powered by a VW engine in the 32 hp-45 hp range It is built from plans, but many of the components are available pre-made from Hummel Aviation
The design derives from the Watson Windwagon and actually in the fall of 1979, Morry Hummel, who worked in the Curtiss Wright experimental department during WW II, purchased the plans for the Windwagon and the development of the “Hummel Bird” began.
The fuselage was heavily modified, raised and widened but retaining the characteristic shape of the union of two cones: one that starts at the seat back and tapers to the back bulkhead and another that tapers forward of the seat back to the firewall. An enclosed canopy was added too. Morry made the center wing section straight and put the dihedral break at the point where the outer wing panels bolt to the center section. The number of ribs was increased, the thickness of the skin was reduced. The standard project has tricycle landing gear, however a taildragger gear is a popular option. The project was finished in July 1980. In July 1982, the plane was featured in an article of Sport Aviation where Morry Hummel’s new creation was dubbed the “Hummel Bird” and the name stuck.
The Hummel Bird exhibited at Volandia was home-built from plans by Giancarlo Cevoli over a 3 years period and first flown in 2003. After Giancarlo’s premature death it was presented by his family to Volandia in 2016.