Thorp T-211 Sky Scooter         N91312           (c/n  3)

                                                         
                               Designed by John W. Thorp, the Sky Scooter was a carry-over of the Lockheed Little Dipper project
                               which was a serious (although unreralistic) attempt to mass produce an aircraft for $1,000.  The original
                               T-11 begat the T-111 which begat the T-211 (seen above) approxiamtely 18 of which were built. In 1951
                               Thorp enhanced the design somewhat and produced the aircraft seen below, production rights to which
                               were picked up by Fletcher Aviation then resident at the old Rosemead  Airport in the San Gabriel Valley
                               area of Los Angeles.   This machine was designed as a COIN (Counter-Insurgency) armed lightplane.

                                 N91316   Fletcher FD-25 Defender                            (c/n  3)

                              
                               When interest in the COIN aspect of this idea flagged, Fletcher developed the basic design into a crop
                               duster, the FU-24.  The first orders for this aircraft came from New Zealand and in 1961 the Fletcher
                               organization sold the manufacturing rights to a New Zealand group and production of the FU 24 was moved
                               to New Zealand.  Although the final product resembled the T-211 superficially, about all that remained was
                               the tail shape.  The aircraft below was actually the first production model and was built in the USA as N6505C.
                           
                               Fletcher FU-24        ZK-BDS                   (c/n   1)