So far, Toyota is downplaying the significance of its TAA (Toyota Advanced Aircraft) proof-of-concept airplane. The all-composite, four-place piston aircraft took flight for the first time on May 31 at Mojave (Calif.) Airport, and Toyota officials are calling the project “an early look” and a “feasibility study.” Some 35 Toyota engineers have been working on the single-engine airplane. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has reported that the TAA has what is described as an aggressive laminar-flow wing designed by Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, though a Toyota spokesman would not corroborate that information. Similarly, it has been reported the project has cost the automaker an estimated $50 million to this point, though the spokesman said Toyota has not released that figure.
Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites of Mojave built the conventionally configured, fixed-gear prototype, which is said to be powered by a 160-hp Lycoming engine and is expected to cruise at about 140 kt. A follow-on TAA-2 model is expected to cruise at 160 kt behind a 200-hp engine. Again, Toyota would not confirm engine or performance information.
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