The aviation is not only an industry, but also passion and a way of living for millions of enthusiasts around the globe. During the first years of the 20th century, Bulgaria was amongst the leading nations in this new exiting field. In 1912 Bulgarian State Aircraft Workshop was founded. In 1925 the company started producing airplanes under the name DAR. Various planes came out of the factory, including successful copies of german Focke-Wulf Fw 44J and Albatros C.III as well as the Bulgarian designed DAR 10 light bomber. Due to some uncertain circumstances and obstacles, in 1943 DAR seized to exist.

After the fall of communism, Bulgaria of the 90`s is a place full of hope and enthusiasm. One of those is the engineer Tony Ilieff, working at the Sofia airport. In 1995, together with a small group of engineers, he started a small ultralight aircraft production. His  company is named “Aeroplanes DAR” , partially reinstating the legendary Bulgarian state aircraft workshop from the first half of 20th century. Even the location of the new company is chosen to be at the place, where it all started almost a century ago.

DAR - 11

The first project of the newly founded company was DAR-11, launched in 1996. The fuselage was built as a frame construction – out of thin-walled seamless steel tubes. The main wing elements were made of wood.

DAR - 21

Two years later, in May 1998 DAR-21 project was launched. DAR-21 is the first all-metal airplane constructed in Bulgaria. This is the first CAA procedure considering an airplane designed and constructed in Bulgaria as well. All airplanes produced in Bulgaria were constructed by the military forces and never used in civil aviation. On January 18th 2001 the CAA Director-General issued the final Airworthiness Certificate No. II-1. The maiden flight of the DAR 21 took place on the aviation show “Flight for everyone 2000″ organized by AOPA – Bulgaria, taking place on September, 30th 2000 at the Bojuriste Airfield. The airplane operated several demonstrative flights including a demonstration with an agrochemical system.

DAR -23

In December 2000 “DAR” LTD started to work on the new models " DAR-23 " and " DAR-23 enclosed ". It was worked out mainly as a training airplane for basic training. On August 23rd, 2001 the registration procedure of the DAR -23 started. The DAR-23 enclosed prototype was completed in May 2002 and joined flying tests. The DAR-23 and DAR-23 enclosed airplanes are perfect for primary training of pilots. They are light and easy to operate – the airplanes fly in a steady and stable manner even without power. The controls of the nose wheel provide a very precise ground operation (taxiing, taking-off and landing). The main scheme of the undercarriage guarantees gentle landings but allows hard ones, too.

DAR - Solo/DAR - Solo 120

In 2006 Aeroplanes DAR’s CEO Tony Ilieff started developing a new plane. Based on his former experience and extensive marketing research, he focused on creating an ultra-light, single seat airplane. The plane made its first flight on August 2008. One year later the DAR Solo was shown at the AERO 2009 exhibition in Friedrichshafen/Germany, where the audience very well accepted it. In June 2014, the plane was certified as a regular Ultralight by the German authorities ( DULV ). A lightweight version of the aircraft, with a similar airframe ( DAR Solo 120 ), fits into the new 120 kg category.  Now the Solo is ready to conquer even more markets than before.