Definition
A type of light-sport aircraft consisting of a wheeled cart with a propeller and engine, suspended beneath a ram-air parachute canopy that serves as the wing. The canopy inflates and provides lift once the aircraft accelerates along the ground, and the pilot controls direction by deflecting the trailing edges of the canopy with foot pedals.
Plain English
A small aircraft made of a go-kart-like seat with an engine and propeller, hanging under a large parachute that acts as its wing. You steer with your feet and fly slowly at low altitude.
Context Anchor
Seen in light-sport aircraft discussions when comparing different kinds of aircraft a sport pilot may fly.
Derivation
The name describes the aircraft directly: a parachute that has been given an engine (powered). The parachute provides the lift; the power lets it climb and stay aloft rather than just descend.
Why Pilots Care
These aircraft require minimal runway, fly at very low speeds, and qualify for sport pilot privileges with reduced training time.
Intuition Check
Do not think of a powered parachute as simply a skydiving parachute with a motor. In aviation use, it is a complete aircraft with its own wing, engine, landing gear, controls, and operating limits.
Example Sentence 1
He earned his sport pilot certificate in a powered parachute and now flies it on calm mornings over the local farmland.
Example Sentence 2
Powered parachutes can operate from grass strips only a few hundred feet long.