Southern Powered Parachutes was an American

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

based in

Nicholson, Georgia Nicholson is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,696 at the 2010 census, up from 1,247 at the 2000 census. Nicholson is known for its "Daisy Festival" and for several famous residents, including singer Kenn ...

. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of

powered parachutes A powered parachute, often abbreviated PPC, and also called a motorized parachute or paraplane, is a type of aircraft that consists of a parafoil with a motor and wheels. The FAA defines a powered parachute as ''a powered aircraft a flexible or ...

in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft for the European

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...

microlight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

and the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft exist outside of the United States. In most countries, ultralights are a class of aircraft. A completely different legal concept is valid within the USA. The FAA makes explicitly clear that ultralight vehicles are not air ...

trainer rules. The company's designs were never listed in the American

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictions on weigh ...

category.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 81. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X The company was founded as '' Condor Powered Parachutes'' by John Massey in about 2001 as a result of his experience as a powered parachute pilot and dealer for other brands. He wanted to produce a lower-cost aircraft and Massey had a chance meeting with the president of

Aerostar Aerostar or Aero Star may refer to: Transportation * Aerostar (Romanian company), an aeronautical manufacturing company * Aerostar Airlines, a Ukrainian business jet charter company * Aerostar Airport Holdings, a Puerto Rican airport authorit ...

that led to a manufacturing relationship. As the model line expanded the company changed its name to ''Southern Powered Parachutes''. Southern produced two models, the

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

and

Raptor Raptor(s) or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of avian and non-avian dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunt ...

, with the airframes built by Aerostar in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The airframes were shipped to the US and assembled in Georgia for domestic sale. At least 15 Condors and eight Raptors were built. The company seems to have gone out of business in about 2006.

Aircraft

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Company website archives
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Powered parachutes