Golden Circle Air T-Bird II
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The T-Bird II is the side-by-side two-seat ultralight trainer from Golden Circle Air of Iowa, developed from the 1983 Teratorn Tierra II and still built by Indy Aircraft: an aluminium-tube and Dacron pusher with a 31 ft wing, 410 lb empty and 1,000 lb gross on a 64 hp Rotax 582, with Teratorn's figures of 70 mph cruise, a 36 mph stall and 600 fpm.
A T-Bird II is open-cockpit, 60-knot flying for two behind a two-stroke, bought for training or local fun and judged on the age of its sails and tubing and the care of its engine rather than on hours; the 912 option makes it a far longer-lived aeroplane at some cost in weight. Most US examples are light-sport (E-LSA conversions of exemption-era trainers or S-LSA) and some are amateur-built, so the airworthiness certificate decides the maintenance rules. There is nothing published on range or fuel here and the weight-and-balance governs the 590 lb useful load. Indy Aircraft and the Rotax chain supply parts.
Variants of the Golden Circle T-Bird
- T-Bird II · 39 active · this page
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TAILFAX SCORE
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Rotax 532/582 (64 hp standard; Rotax 912 80 hp optional) |
| Horsepower | 64 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | 61 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | — |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 600 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 31 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 590 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,000 lb |
| Empty weight | 410 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 119 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 39 |
| Median year built | 2003 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 76.92 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 76.92 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 4 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 10.26 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 39 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 39 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 39 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 0.2 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 5.5 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 3.6 of 103 |
| Support | 3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 13.2 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30