The Eaves Cougar 1 is an American

homebuilt 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 ...

that was designed by Leonard R. Eaves of

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

and made available in the form of plans for amateur construction.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 140. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977.

Design and development

The Eaves Cougar 1 was based upon the

Nesmith Cougar The Nesmith Cougar is a light aircraft that was developed in the United States in the 1950s and marketed for homebuilding. Development The design, by Robert Nesmith, is a conventional high-wing, strut-braced monoplane with fixed tailwheel un ...

and features a strut-braced high wing, a two-seats-in- side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

. The aircraft is made from welded steel tubing and wood, covered in doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. Its wing has a span and can be folded for storage or ground transportation. Engines used typically range from but the

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...

can accept engines as powerful as the

Lycoming O-320 The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. They are commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants ...

. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is . The construction of the prototype was commenced in January 1957 at Eaves' home in Oklahoma City. The design won third place in the 1963

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

aircraft design competition. It was featured on the cover of ''Sport Aviation'' magazine in February 1963. Eaves was killed in the crash of another homebuilt aircraft design on 3 March 2012 at age 92 and plans for the Cougar appear to be no longer available.

Specifications (Cougar 1)

References

{{reflist Cougar 001 1960s United States sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft