The Paraplane WD-1 Wind Dancer 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 Paraplane International of

Medford, New Jersey Medford is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 24,497, an increase of 1,464 ...

. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 339. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

The WD-1 Wind Dancer was designed to comply with 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, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . It features a Hi-Pro parachute-style wing, single-place accommodation,

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 447 The Rotax 447 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. Design and development ...

engine in pusher configuration. The aircraft carriage is built from a combination of

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 tubing. In flight steering is accomplished via foot pedals that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has foot-controlled nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates steel spring rod suspension. The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot and baggage is . The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine is and the landing roll is . The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied assembly kit as five hours.

Specifications (WD-1 Wind Dancer)

References

{{Paraplane International aircraft WD-1 1990s United States sport aircraft 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes