The Sky Science PowerHawk is a British

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 or ...

that was designed and produced by Sky Science Powered Parachutes Limited of

Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison, garrison town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 road, A338 about north of the A303 road, A303 primary ro ...

. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 85. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X The aircraft was introduced in about 2000 and production ended when the company went out of business at the end of 2003.

Design and development

The PowerHawk was designed to comply with the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintain ...

microlight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

category, as well as amateur-built aircraft rules. It features a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, w ...

-style wing, two-seats-in-

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 ...

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 ...

or quadracycle landing gear and a single 2si 690-L70 engine in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in n ...

. The aircraft carriage is built from metal tubing with an optional full

cockpit fairing An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

. In flight steering is accomplished via foot pedals that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has lever-controlled nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates spring rod suspension. On snow the aircraft uses four skis, two steerable ones in the front and two replacing the rear wheels. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for crew and baggage is . The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off and landing roll with a engine is . The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 30–50 hours.

Operational history

In August 2015 no examples were registered in the United Kingdom with the

Civil Aviation Authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

, although one had been registered in 2000 and de-registered by the CAA in 2005.

Specifications (PowerHawk)

References

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External links

Company website archives
on Archive.org PowerHawk 2000s British sport aircraft 2000s British ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes