Indy Aircraft Limited 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 indust ...
based in
Independence, Iowa
Independence is a city in, and the county seat of, Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 6,064 in the 2020 census, an increase from 6,014 in 2000.
History
Independence was founded in 1847 near the center of present-day Buch ...
. The company specialized in the manufacture of
ultralight aircraft in the form of kits for
amateur construction.
[Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 56. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851][Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 61. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X][Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 63. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ]
The company traced its lineage to
Teratorn Aircraft, which was formed in 1976 in
Clear Lake, Iowa
Clear Lake is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,687 at the 2020 census. The city is named for the large lake on which it is located. It is the home of a number of marinas, state parks and tourism-related ...
, and which introduced the
Teratorn Tierra and
Teratorn Tierra II aircraft designs in 1983. When Teratorn went out of business in about 1989, the Tierra designs were put back into production by
Golden Circle Air
Golden Circle Air, Inc. was an American aircraft manufacturer based in De Soto, Iowa. The company specialized in the manufacture of ultralight aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly aircraft under the US FAR 1 ...
of
De Soto, Iowa
De Soto is a city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 915 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines–West Des Moines, Iowa, West Des Moines Des Moines metropolit ...
, as the
Golden Circle Air T-Bird line. Golden Circle Air went out of business in about 2006, and Indy Aircraft was formed to provide parts for the existing fleet. In 2011 the company restored the
T-Bird and
T-Bird II to production. More than 1500 Tierra/T-Bird Is and 2500 Tierra II/T-Bird IIs have been constructed by all manufacturers of the types in total.
[Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, pages B-60 and B-106. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ][Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 168-169. BAI Communications. ][Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 142. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X][Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 50. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851][Downey, Julia: ''2001 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 17, Number 12, December 2000, page 54. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851][Downey, Julia: ''2002 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 18, Number 12, December 2001, page 43. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851][Newby-Gonzalez, Tori: ''2004 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 20, Number 12, December 2003, page 59. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851][Downey, Julia: ''2005 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 21, Number 12, December 2004, page 61. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851]
Indy Aircraft put the T-Bird I and T-Bird II back into production, but not the Golden Circle Air three-seat
T-Bird III or the
tandem
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.
The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...
-seat
T-Bird Tandem TBT06. At one time the company indicated it had plans to have its aircraft approved for the American
light-sport aircraft category, but as of April 2017, neither of its types had been accepted by the US
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
as
Special Light-Sport Aircraft.
The company's website was taken down some time after September 2021 and the company seems to now be out of business.
Aircraft
References
External links
Official website archiveson
archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
{{Teratorn Aircraft
Aircraft manufacturers of the United States
Ultralight aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft