Aircraft model
GAME COMPOSITES LLC GB1 GAMEBIRD
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The GB1 GameBird is a modern carbon composite aerobatic two-seater built in Arkansas, certified to plus and minus ten g, with side-by-side seating rather than the tandem layout most competition aerobatic aircraft use. It has a 303 hp Lycoming, climbs at 3,000 fpm and cruises at 178 knots.
The side-by-side cabin is the distinguishing feature: it makes instruction far easier because the instructor can see what the student is doing, and it makes the aeroplane genuinely usable for travel, which a Pitts or an Extra is not. It is fully certified rather than experimental, which matters for flight schools and for insurance. The costs are those of a high-performance aerobatic aircraft: a large engine with a short aerobatic-use overhaul life, composite repair by specialists, and an airframe whose fatigue life depends on how hard it has been flown.
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- GAME COMPOSITES LLC GB1 GAMEBIRD
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming AEIO-580-B1A |
| Horsepower | 303 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 2018 |
| Production end | current |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 178 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,000 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 3,000 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 52 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 662 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 332 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,205 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,543 lb |
| Usable fuel | 55 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 17 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $400,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $600,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,400 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $62,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $90,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 122 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 104 |
| Median year built | 2023.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 19.231 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 19.232 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 44 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 42.313 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 104 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 104 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 104 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 1.7 of 103 |
| Support | 7.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 9.4 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.