Taylor Bird

Taylor Bird
General information
Type	Homebuilt aircraft
National origin	United States
Designer	C. G. Taylor

The Taylor Bird is a homebuilt aircraft that was designed by C. G. Taylor, the designer of the Taylor Cub. ^[1]

Design and development

The part-built Taylor Bird was presented at the 1977 EAA airshow. The aircraft is a tandem seat, mid-wing pusher configuration design, with conventional landing gear. The fuselage is built with aluminum stressed skin. The aircraft features a unique entryway, mounting the entire nose and windshield on sliding rails that moves forward, allowing access to the cabin. The wingtips are slotted and wings are foldable. ^[2] The engine features a custom propeller speed reduction unit that remained in limited production after Taylor production ceased. ^[3] The prototype first flew on July 17, 1979. ^[4]

Specifications (Taylor Bird)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1980–81 ^[4]

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Capacity: one passenger
• Length: 18 ft 0 in (5.49 m)
• Wingspan: 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m)
• Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
• Airfoil: NACA 23015
• Empty weight: 560 lb (254 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,000 lb (454 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Subaru with 2:1 gear reduction ^[1] 1400cc water-cooled horizontally opposed piston automotive conversion, 65 hp (48 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 109 kn (125 mph, 202 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 100 kn (120 mph, 190 km/h)
• Endurance: 4 hr

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• 3I Sky Arrow

References

1. Barnett Flight International August 20, 1977, p. 535
2. Barnett Flight International August 20, 1977 , pp. 535–536
3. "Wayne Sprigle's Mite-T-Mustang". Experimenter. March 2009.
4. Taylor 1980, p. 552

• Barnett, Clive (August 20, 1977). "Oshkosh: Sport Aircraft Galore". Flight International . Vol. 112, no. 3571. pp. 532–536, 541.
• Taylor, John W. R., ed. (1980). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1980–81. London: Jane's Publishing Company. ISBN   0-7106-0705-9.