VARGA 2150/2180 "KACHINA"

1977’1982

Plane & Pilot

Tuesday, November 30, 1999 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipović

Key Takeaways:

The Varga Kachina is a tandem two-seater sport plane, originally conceived by William Morrisey to appeal to returning World War II pilots, and later marketed by George Varga.
It features a chrome moly tubing fuselage with removable metal panels, a swinging canopy for cockpit entry, and is primarily known for its reasonable cost and enjoyable flying experience.
The aircraft typically used a 150-hp Lycoming engine, with a more powerful 180-hp variant introduced by Varga in its final production years.

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Veteran Douglas test pilot William Morrisey guessed that the thousands of returning World War II pilots would be eager to climb into a tandem sport plane that had all the charisma of a military trainer. After battling the FAA’s red tape for some years, Morrisey sold out to Clifford Shinn, who built some 35 planes before quitting. The tandem two-seater was renamed Kachina and marketed by George Varga. The fuselage is built of chrome moly tubing with removable metal side and bottom panels for quick inspection. The left side of the greenhouse canopy swings open for entrance to the cockpit. The Kachina’s big appeal is not only reasonable cost but sheer fun of flying.

In its last three years of production, Varga offered the more powerful 180-hp variant.