__NOTOC__ <!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. --> {{Infobox aircraft |name=TL-1 |image= |caption= |type=Recreational ultralight |manufacturer=[[Birdman Aircraft]] for [[homebuilt aircraft|homebuilding]] |designer=Emmett M. Talley |first_flight=25 January 1975 |introduction= |retired= |status= |primary_user= |more_users= |produced= |number_built=300 kits sold by 1979 |variants= }}

The '''Birdman TL-1''' was an extremely minimalist [[aircraft]] sold in [[Homebuilt aircraft|kit form]] in the [[United States]] in the mid-1970s for US$1,395.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NwEAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA70 ''A 100-pound plane from a kit''], "What's New," [[Popular Science]], June 1975, p. 70]</ref>

==Design and development== The TL-1's [[fuselage]] is nothing more than a boom connecting a set of wings with a [[V-tail]]. The pilot's seat and a pedestal carrying the [[Pusher propeller|pusher engine]] are attached to the top of the boom just forward of the wing. Flight control is provided by a series of [[Flight control surfaces#Spoilers|spoilers]].<ref name="Cliche">Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page E-6. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. {{ISBN|0-9680628-1-4}}</ref>

Construction is of wood covered with [[Monokote]] and the aircraft was designed to be quickly dismantled for transport or storage.<ref name="Cliche" /> With an empty weight of 122&nbsp;lb (55&nbsp;kg), it is held to be the lightest aircraft to have been flown at the time.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} <!-- ==Development== --> <!-- ==Operational history== -->

==Variants== ;TL-1A :Base model with longer span wing.<ref name="Cliche" /> ;RB-1 :Later model with shorter {{convert|28|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} span wing and simplified [[landing gear]]. The empty weight of this model is {{convert|122|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}, gross weight {{convert|350|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}, the same as the TL-1A.<ref name="Cliche" /> <!-- ==Aircraft markings== --> <!-- ==Units using this aircraft/Operators (choose)== -->

==Specifications (TL-1) == {{Aircraft specs |prime units? = imp

|crew=one pilot |length m=5.92 |length ft=19 |length in=5 |span m=10.37 |span ft=34 |span in=0 |height m=2.18 |height ft=7 |height in=2 |wing area sqm=13.5 |wing area sqft=145 |empty weight kg=55 |empty weight lb=122 |gross weight kg=159 |gross weight lb=350

|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=[[McCulloch MC101]] one-cylinder [[Two-stroke engine|two-cycle]] [[piston engine]] |eng1 kw=<!-- prop engines -->11 |eng1 hp=<!-- prop engines -->15 |max speed kmh=89 |max speed mph=55 |range km=322 |range miles=200 |ceiling m=1,680 |ceiling ft=5,500 |climb rate ms=1.0 |climb rate ftmin=200 }}

==See also== {{aircontent |related= |similar aircraft= *[[Aerosport Rail]] *[[Avid Champion]] *[[Beaujon Enduro]] *[[Beaujon Mach .07]] *[[Chotia Weedhopper]] *[[Zenair Zipper]] |lists= |see also= }}

==References== <references/> * {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1989 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London |pages=155 }} * {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Pocket Book 14: Home-Built Aircraft| year=1977 |publisher=Macdonald |location=London}} * ''Trade a Plane'' November 1975 * ''Sports Flying'' December 1975

[[Category:1970s United States ultralight aircraft]] [[Category:Homebuilt aircraft]] [[Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft]] [[Category:Birdman aircraft|TL-1]] [[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1975]] [[Category:Low-wing aircraft]] [[Category:V-tail aircraft]]