The Luscombe 8 is a series of high wing, side-by-side seating, conventional geared monoplanes designed in 1937 and built by Luscombe Aircraft.

The Luscombe Aircraft Corporation was re-formed as a New Jersey company in 1937, and a new design was begun. The Luscombe 50 (Model 8) was to become the company's most famous product. The Model 8 used the new horizontally-opposed small engines that had just been developed by the engine manufacturers. For simplicity, the aircraft was designed with a round firewall to minimize frontal area and simplify construction. Although it was alleged this might allow the installation of a small radial engine if the flat four did not work, none of the original design engineers recall that being a design consideration.^{[citation needed]}

The Model 8 followed in the Luscombe tradition^{[citation needed]} of using no wood in the construction, and had a monocoque fuselage with fabric-covered metal wings. For a cheap, light aircraft, this was a revolutionary construction technique^{[citation needed]} . Its competitors were built of fabric-covered steel tubing, with wooden spars and sometimes ribs in the fabric-covered wings. Luscombe's construction techniques allowed him to build his aircraft quickly and cheaply, without sacrificing strength. His aircraft were also more efficient than his competitors, cruising 10-20 mph faster on the same power^{[citation needed]} .