Associated Air Liberty 181

The Associated Air Liberty 181 is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed and produced by Associated Air of Woodland, Washington, introduced in the late 1990s. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Design and development
The Liberty 181 was designed as a bushplane for hauling heavy loads into unprepared airstrips. It features a strut-braced high-wing, a four-seat enclosed cabin with doors, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft is made from mixed metal and composites and features extra large doors for loading bulky items. Its 40.00 ft span wing mounts flaps, has a wing area of 200.00 sqft and is supported by two parallel lift struts per side, with jury struts. The cabin width is 48 in. The acceptable power range is 230 to 300 hp and the standard engine used is the 230 hp Continental O-470 powerplant, with a constant speed propeller. With that engine installed the take-off distance is 200 ft and the landing distance is 250 ft.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 1890 lb and a gross weight of 3200 lb, giving a useful load of 1310 lb. With full fuel of 100 u.s.gal the payload is 710 lb.

Factory supplied options included floats and skis. The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied kit as 2000 hours.

Operational history
By 1998 the company reported that 7 kits had been sold, with one aircraft flying.

In October 2016 no examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although one had been previously registered and exported to Canada. In October 2016 one was registered with Transport Canada, having been built in the US in 1996 and imported in 2008.