Hegy Propellers founder Ray Hegy manufactured wooden propellers for homebuilt and ultra light aircraft. In 1950 he began design and build of a single place high performance biplane. The Hegy R.C.H.I. "El Chuparosa" (Spanish for hummingbird) first flew in 1959. It was regular at the annual EAA Fly-in at Rockford, IL 1960 - 69 before the event moved to Oshkosh, WI. The unique aircraft was donated to the EAA on August 14, 1977.