The Tennessee Propellers Scout 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

Tennessee Propellers Tennessee Propellers, Inc, founded in 1981, was an American manufacturer of wooden propellers for homebuilt and ultralight aircraft. The company headquarters was located in Rising Fawn, Georgia.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft S ...

Normandy, Tennessee Normandy is a town in Bedford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 141 at the 2010 census. Normandy Dam is located just northeast of the town. The town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Normandy Historic ...

. The aircraft was introduced in 1999, but is no longer available.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page D-12. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001.

Design and development

Tennessee Propellers is a company better known for their wooden maple laminate aircraft propellers, but the company also acted as the exclusive distributor for the

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 ...

and G-50 line of engines. To complement these product lines they developed the Scout powered parachute which is powered by the G-50 driving a Tennessee propeller. The Scout 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

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing co ...

, 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 G-50 engine in pusher configuration. The

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 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. As of 2011 the Rot ...

engine was a factory option. The aircraft carriage is built from

powder coat Powder coating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. Unlike conventional liquid paint which is delivered via an evaporating solvent, powder coating is typically applied electrostatically and then cured under heat or ...

ed welded

6061-T6 aluminum 6061 ( Unified Numbering System (UNS) designation A96061) is a precipitation-hardened aluminium alloy, containing magnesium and silicon as its major alloying elements. Originally called "Alloy 61S", it was developed in 1935. It has good mechani ...

tubing and is a highly simplified design compared to other powered parachutes. In flight steering is accomplished via foot pedals that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the same foot pedals control the nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

spring rod suspension. Standard equipment factory provided included a large canopy-stowage bag, electric engine starting, flight instruments and a four-point pilot harness. The Scout was supplied as a complete ready-to-fly aircraft.

Specifications (Scout)

References

{{reflist 1990s United States ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered parachutes