After 23-year career in the Air Force, Antoni “Tony” Bingelis returned to Texas where he had trained and received his pilot license to pursue his true passion—building his own aircraft. In 1967, he took the maiden flight in his Piel Emeraude, a low-wing monoplane. It was the first of nine homebuilt aircraft he would build. As an author of countless articles and several books, Bingelis became the “go-to” man for amateur builders and was known as the leading authority in experimental aircraft construction.