Ted Setzer, of Granite Falls, who recently retired from airplane maker Glasair, is being honored as the Arlington Airport Person of the Year. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Ted Setzer, of Granite Falls, who recently retired from airplane maker Glasair, is being honored as the Arlington Airport Person of the Year. (Ian Terry / The Herald)

Glasair retiree is Arlington Airport’s Person of the Year

ARLINGTON — Ted Setzer almost became a dentist.

Instead, he ended up at Glasair Aviation, the innovative airplane maker in Arlington, where he helped revolutionize the light sport airplane market. He has helped design every one of the company’s planes since 1979. He helped bring the company back after it declared bankruptcy in 1999.

The 63-year-old has been named the first recipient of the Arlington Airport Person of the Year award.

“It’s really humbling to me and an honor,” Setzer said.

He was a University of Washington undergraduate headed for dental school when he met Tom Hamilton, another pre-dental student. One day, Setzer stopped to pick up Hamilton for a game of racquetball.

“He was at his kitchen table and had some drawings of an airplane in front of him,” he said. Hamilton told Setzer he was abandoning dental school to study airplane design.

“I thought he was crazy. I told him he was crazy,” Setzer said.

Setzer’s own plans went off track when he did not get into dental school. Instead, he fished for three seasons in Alaska, earning as much as his father, a senior engineer at the Boeing Co., and former Navy pilot.

After a few years in Alaska, Setzer left fishing behind, determined to get his pilot’s license. He started helping Hamilton, who was working on his second airplane prototype. They worked out of old barns at the long-gone Cedar Grove Airpark south of Seattle, which was commonly known as the Pig Farm.

In 1982, the two men flew their new airplane to the giant general aviation show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

They hoped to pull in a few orders and collect enough money to start producing the kit airplane. It was the only all-fiberglass-composite molded sport airplane.

It was fast, easy to maintain and could be assembled in a year. At the time, kits could take 10 or 15 years to complete, he said. “It was revolutionary.”

Private pilots were impressed and flooded the two with orders. “People were literally writing us deposit checks, stuffing them in our pockets and saying, ‘There’s my deposit, put me on the waiting list,’” he said. “We didn’t have a waiting list. We didn’t even have production facilities.”

That same year, the company moved to the Arlington Airport. Setzer helped Glasair Aviation, which was Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft at the time, take off.

However, by 1992, he realized his work was elbowing out the two most important aspects of his life: God and family.

He left the company, but stayed in contact and continued working on airplane development. In 2000, after the company filed for bankruptcy protection, he came back to help resurrect it.

Most recently, he helped develop the Merlin, Glasair Aviation’s first production airplane, meaning it is ready to fly away upon purchase, no assembly required.

Setzer, who lives in Granite Falls, retired in mid-October, but still works a couple days a week as a consultant at Glasair Aviation.

The airport’s person of the year award recognizes someone who has made a significant contribution to aviation innovation, bringing new business to the Arlington Airport, and enhancing its reputation, among other criteria.

Setzer surpasses “really, almost all of that,” said Dave Ryan, the airport director.

A committee made up of airport employees and aviation community members chose Setzer as the first recipient.

“Aviation is a close-knit community,” he said. “It’s important to recognize those people” who build the community.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.