The Personal Flight Sky-Bike Trike 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 Personal Flight of Kent, Washington. 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 342. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

A variant of the Personal Flight Sky-Bike, the Sky-Bike Trike adds a three-wheeled carriage to the Sky-Bike's seat pack, to turn the

paramotor Paramotor is the generic name for the harness and propulsive portion of a powered paraglider ("PPG"). There are two basic types of paramotors: foot launch and wheel launch. Foot launch models consist of a frame with harness, fuel tank, engine, ...

into a powered parachute. The three-wheeled frame carriage attaches in minutes, with a few ball-lock pins. The aircraft 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 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

Zenoah G-25 The Zenoah G-25 is a single cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engine, with optional fuel injection, designed for use on ultralight aircraftCliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page G-8 Cybair Limited Publi ...

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

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 ...

tubing. In flight steering is accomplished via handles that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. The main landing gear incorporates 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 .

Specifications (Sky-Bike Trike)

References

{{Personal Flight aircraft Sky-Bike Trike 1990s United States sport aircraft 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes