Eaves Cougar 1

The Eaves Cougar 1 is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Leonard R. Eaves of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and made available in the form of plans for amateur construction.

Design and development
The Eaves Cougar 1 was based upon the Nesmith Cougar and features a strut-braced high wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft is made from welded steel tubing and wood, covered in doped aircraft fabric. Its wing has a 23.25 ft span and can be folded for storage or ground transportation. Engines used typically range from 85 to 125 hp but the airframe can accept engines as powerful as the 150 hp Lycoming O-320.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 700 lb and a gross weight of 1400 lb, giving a useful load of 700 lb. With full fuel of 35 u.s.gal the payload is 490 lb.

The construction of the prototype was commenced in January 1957 at Eaves' home in Oklahoma City. The design won third place in the 1963 Experimental Aircraft Association aircraft design competition. It was featured on the cover of Sport Aviation magazine in February 1963.

Eaves was killed in the crash of another homebuilt aircraft design on 3 March 2012 at age 92 and plans for the Cougar appear to be no longer available.