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 Kachina, originally conceived by William Morrisey and later marketed by George Varga, was designed as a tandem sport plane to appeal to returning World War II pilots.
It features a chrome moly tube fuselage with removable panels for easy inspection and a greenhouse canopy that swings open for cockpit entry.
The aircraft's primary appeal stemmed from its reasonable cost and the sheer fun it offered during flight.
While typically powered by a 150-hp Lycoming engine, a more powerful 180-hp variant was introduced in its final three years of production.

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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.