Honored 1990
LaMar Steen was born in Elkader, Iowa on April 19, 1924. During the Second World War (WWII) he attended the Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program operated by Tex Rankin, soloing in 1944.
After WWII service he earned an Education degree from Colorado State College of Education (University of Northern Colorado) and joined the Denver Public Schools for a career that spanned 28 years.
He is best known for his work as an Industrial Arts teacher at Denver Manual High School where he taught disadvantaged students who had little prior success. He led them in building a small, acrobatic biplane that he had designed. They learned welding, drafting and lathe operation in the process. The plane was called the Skybolt and became a world famous aerobatic aircraft. The program LaMar created at Manual has been widely copied in schools throughout the county.
The Skybolt was first flown in 1970, and Steen made the blueprints available, with over 5500 sets sold. By the late 1970’s, the Skybolt had become the most constructed two-place experimental aircraft of all time with now over 650 planes built by homebuilders.
LaMar Steen received many honors including the 1987 Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Special Award for pioneering work in aviation, and the Trailblazer Award from the University of Northern Colorado in 1988.
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