Founded by the late Stephen L Snyder, Classic launched a programme in 1993 to build five exact fluing replicas of a Second World War German jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me-262. Work was originally contracted to the Texas Airplane Factory, but halted during 1997 because of a legal dispute. The production line was relocated to Paine Field (Snohomish County Airport) in early 1999; first aircraft flew in late 2002 but was damaged soon after.