The first design by Teratorn Aircraft was known simply as the Teratorn, named after the extinct ice-age soaring bird. The company took its name from the first design. This design quickly evolved into the T/A model and was produced until supplanted in production by the Tierra I.
The aircraft was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of 2540NaN0. The original Teratorn has a standard empty weight of 2120NaN0. It features a cable-braced high-wing, a single-seat, open cockpit, conventional landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration.
Both the Teratorn and the T/A are made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with the flying surfaces covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its single-surface 321NaN1 span wing is supported by cables attached to a simple kingpost. The landing gear is bungee suspended. Both models were supplied with the 280NaN0 Rotax 277 single cylinder, two-stroke powerplant as their standard engine.
The T/A model proved a commercial success and a large number were sold. The Skye Treck Skyseeker was based on the T/A.
