The T-211 is a light aircraft designed in the US by

John Thorp John Willard Thorp (June 20, 1912 – April 18, 1992) was an American aeronautical engineer who made significant contributions to aircraft design throughout his life. Born in French Camp, California, John Thorp grew up from age four in the ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

. It is a low-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

of conventional layout with a fixed tricycle

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

and a sliding

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. John Thorp developed the Sky Scooter with lessons learned from developing the Lockheed Little Dipper project in 1944. It bears some family resemblance to the

Piper Cherokee The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

, a design that Thorp later significantly contributed to.

Development

Thorp constructed eight

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

s, had the design

certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

by the FAA but was unable to find a foothold in the

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

-dominated post-war US market. The original prototypes were powered by a 65 hp Lycoming engine. Novel features of the Sky Skooter include an all-movable horizontal stabilizer and externally ribbed wings and tailplane. The wings were corrugated to impart stiffness, each wing needing only three internal ribs. This feature simplified construction, reduced the number of rivets (and weight), and helped control the spanwise flow of air over the wings. The T-211 was developed with a 90-horsepower Continental upgrade in 1953. The project was therefore shelved until the homebuilding boom saw the rights to the aircraft acquired first by Adams Industries and then by Thorp Aero in the 1970s, the latter firm building five examples as the Thorp Arrow or T-211 Aero Sport built in Sturgis Kentucky, but only sold overseas or to part 141 operations due to current liability laws. The kits were then manufactured by AD Aerospace in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Venture Light Aircraft in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. IndUS Aviation began production of the T-211 according to the guidelines of

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 ...

in the mid-2000s. The Thorp T-211 was the first US-designed Special Light Sport Aircraft to receive certification from the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

. The light-sport version uses the

Jabiru 3300 The Jabiru 3300 is a lightweight four-stroke, horizontally opposed "flat-six" air-cooled aircraft engine produced by Jabiru Aircraft. The engines are direct drive and fitted with alternators, silencers, vacuum pump drives and dual ignition syst ...

engine, while the

type certified A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

version uses a

Continental O-200 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in3 (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

engine and is equipped for both VFR and

IFR In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

flying.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011–12'', page 60 and 90. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. In 2010, the aircraft was also back in production as a

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

by AD Aerospace of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. This model is powered by a four-cylinder

or a six-cylinder

powerplant.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', pages 92. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Variants

;Thorp Sky Skooter :1946 ;Thorp T-211 :1953 ;Tubular Aircraft Products :1965 - Built 100 parts kits with Continental O-200 powerplants with 11 production models built ;Thorp Aero :1983 - Purchased rights and tooling ;IndUS Aviation :LSA production in India

Specifications (T-211)

References

External links

*
IndUS Aviation
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)
FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet for the AD Aerospace T-211
Low-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Light-sport aircraft 1940s United States sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1945 T-211 Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft

Development

Variants

Specifications (T-211)

See also

References

External links