Toyota TAA-1
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| TAA-1 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Light aircraft |
| National origin | United States of America
|
| Manufacturer | Toyota Motor Corporation / Scaled Composites
|
| First flight | 31 May 2002 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Toyota TAA-1 (also referred to as the TA-1) was a prototype general aviation aircraft substantially built and test flown by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites under contract with Toyota.
Design and development
First flight of the aircraft took place at the
The first flight was the culmination of four years' design work by a team of 40 engineers, many formerly of
The prototype TAA-1 is a 4-place, single
The empty weight of the prototype was significantly beyond predictions and the unsubstantiated rumors within the industry are that the aircraft's performance during the test flight was below what was expected, and it does not appear that much flight test activity followed the initial flight. The prototype aircraft remains stored in a Scaled Composites hangar. A follow-on design, TAA-2, (substantially similar airframe with retractable landing gear, upgraded avionics and higher performance engine with constant speed propeller) was also envisioned however never made it to the prototype stage.
After several years of negotiation for a potential joint venture with the general aviation piston aircraft market leader of that time, interest in the TAA-1 declined after the initial flight test and that outside partnership development evaporated shortly thereafter.
