The FP-505 was designed by Fisher Aircraft in the United States in 1984 and was intended to comply with the US
FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles category, with the category's maximum empty weight. The 505's standard empty weight is when equipped with a two-stroke
Rotax 277 engine. The design goal was to provide a nostalgic 1930s-style parasol similar in configuration to the
Pietenpol Air Camper or
Heath Parasol that would be easy to fly, with a high wing and an open cockpit. The construction of the FP-505 is of wood, with the
fuselage built from wood strips arranged in a
geodesic form, resulting in a very strong and light aircraft with redundant load paths. The wings, tail and fuselage are covered with doped
aircraft fabric. The wings are
strut-braced with both
jury struts and
cabane struts. The aircraft has no
flaps. The conventional-configuration landing gear is
bungee suspended. The company claims it takes an amateur builder 500 hours to build the FP-505. Early versions of the FP-505 were equipped with the
Rotax 277, and the aircraft reportedly flies well on that minimum power. Since the Rotax 277 is no longer in production, the
Hirth F-33 is specified along with the
Rotax 447 and
Rotax 503 engines. By late 2011 over 45 FP-505s were flying. ==Specifications (FP-505) ==