Teratorn Aircraft, Inc. (named for the extinct ice age soaring bird) 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

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 ...

. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of ultralight aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly aircraft under the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not req ...

rules.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, pages B-60, B-106, E-40. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Teratorn Aircraft: ''1984 Teratorn Tierra II The Legend Continues...'', Teratorn Aircraft pamphlet, 1984.Teratorn Aircraft: ''Tierra Ultralight'', Teratorn Aircraft pamphlet, 1984. The company was formed as Motorized Gliders of Iowa, Inc. in 1976 and located in a production facility. The company first produced the weight-shift Teratorn Aircraft Teratorn and the follow-up Teratorn T/A single seat ultralight

motorglider A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flight ...

designs. In 1983 it introduced the

Tierra Tierra may refer to: Astronomy *Earth in the Spanish and Asturian language Computing and games * Tierra (computer simulation), a computer simulation of life by the ecologist Thomas S. Ray * Tierra Entertainment, now known as AGD Interactive, a ...

and Tierra II. After Teratorn went out of business in about 1989,

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 ...

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 ...

took up production of Terratorn's designs.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. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 50. Primedia Publications. Downey, Julia: ''2001 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 17, Number 12, December 2000, page 54. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. Downey, Julia: ''2002 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 18, Number 12, December 2001, page 43. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. Newby-Gonzalez, Tori: ''2004 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 20, Number 12, December 2003, page 59. Belvoir Publications. Downey, Julia: ''2005 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 21, Number 12, December 2004, page 61. Belvoir Publications. Golden Circle Air went out of business in circa 2006, the designs were acquired by

Indy Aircraft Indy Aircraft Limited was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Independence, Iowa. The company specialized in the manufacture of ultralight aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraf ...

and put back into production in 2011.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 56. Belvoir Publications. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 61. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. Terratorn's Tierra and Tierra II designs have a reputation for structural strength and robustness in service; more than 4000 have been completed and flown.

Aircraft

References

External links

{{Teratorn Aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft