The Buckeye Falcon is an American

powered parachute 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 o ...

that was designed and produced by

Buckeye Industries Buckeye Industries, also called Buckeye Aviation, was an American aircraft manufacturer, based in Argos, Indiana. The company was one of the leading manufacturers of powered parachutes and also produced some models of ultralight trikes.Clich ...

.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page D-3. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 336. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

The Falcon was designed as a high-end, two-place ultralight trainer. It features a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

-style

high-wing 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 planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, two seats in tandem or just a single seat,

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

and a single Rotax 582 liquid-cooled engine in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

as standard equipment. The aircraft is built from a combination of bolted

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

and

4130 steel 41xx steel is a family of SAE steel grades, as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Alloying elements include chromium and molybdenum, and as a result these materials are often informally referred to as chromoly steel (common ...

tubing. In flight steering is accomplished via foot pedals that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has lever-controlled nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates spring rod suspension. The aircraft was factory supplied in the form of an assembly kit that requires 30–40 hours to complete. The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine is and the landing roll is .

Specifications (Falcon)

References

{{Buckeye Industries aircraft 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes