TERO WING History
Back in the early 1960s, Robin Wedderburn-Bisshop invented the powered hang glider. He built a 1/10 scale articulated model, which sat on his desk, next to his drafting table and the grand piano he built. He flew it from the attic window. The airfoil was inspired by his favourite paper plane. It looked a lot like the later Rogallo wing. Robin had a number of discussions with Rogallo, and offered him a number of suggestions to improve stalling and stall recovery: for example, batons and higher aspect ratio.
The model looked remarkably like the early "Trikes" that appeared in the 1980s, with a single nose wheel and a pusher prop. Robin applied for, and was granted, a provisional patent for the invention, but with eight children to support there was never a chance that he would get a full patent.
Robin's work was done under his invented "TERO WING Aircraft Company" with a logo shown above. It's unlikely that it was ever a registered company.
Robin's son Thomas took his father's paper plane design to win a few paper-plane competitons, but didn't do anything about powered hang gliders. In the 1990s he did a full (non-powered) hang glider course, but his own family obligations meant he never followed it through. He continued his career as an Electrical Engineer then App Developer. Then with his own son almost grown up, Thomas became a pilot and eventually owned his own plane. Then he went on to his qualification as a flying instructor for RA-Aus. He now has the privelege of teaching other people to fly.
TERO WING Today
Now Thomas is resurrecting the TERO WING brand, with the first product being the in-development TERO WING app, a cloud-based tool to help flying instructors and their students achieve their goals without getting bogged down in paperwork.
TERO WING Future
Of course, Thomas's first student was his son Rowan. The family tradition continues with the next generation. Thomas is also working towards a flying training scholarship programme for Aboriginal youth.