Murphy Aircraft Insolvent, Future Uncertain for Builder Support

Murphy’s impressively large press and laser cutter are two of the machines sold from their unusually well-equipped shop. (Photo: Tom Wilson)

Canadian Aviator magazine is reporting that kit builder Murphy Aircraft has gone out of business and its assets were sold at a public auction last week. “The auction was a success—everything sold,” Sam Garandza, general manager of Able Auctions, told Canadian Aviator. Among the items up for bid were tools, machines, some partially built aircraft, and amphibious floats. The closure orphaned builders, some of whom will lose substantial deposits on recently ordered kits.

The company was founded in Chilliwack, British Columbia, by Daryl Murphy in 1985 and sold more than 2,000 kits. The most popular models were the Rebel and the Moose. A new model called the Radical was under development. Murphy sold the company to the Duofu Group from China in 2022. The new owners began reviving the business with plans to expand production and sales, but rumors of financial difficulties began spreading earlier this year.

The group’s billionaire owner Hu Xingrong was arrested in China earlier this year on charges of bank fraud, and financial support for Murphy ended. The auction was triggered by the company’s failure to pay rent at its Chilliwack headquarters, but the fate of its intellectual property is unclear. Canadian Aviator magazine owner Steve Drinkwater worked for Murphy from July 2024 to Sept 2025 as sales manager.

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