Briffaud GB-80 Aerovolier
| Briffaud GB-80 Aerovolier | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | brushless glider |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Georges Briffaud |
| First flight: |
September 21, 1960 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Briffaud GB-80 Aerovolier was a single-seat French brushless glider .
history
Georges Briffaud worked as an engineer for the French Atomic Energy Agency and was an amateur aircraft builder. In 1955 he built a brushless motorized airplane, a small board high-wing aircraft. The aircraft had a Lutetia 44 hp engine and was named GB-6. The span of the rectangular wing was about 8 m. End bodies designed as so-called edge lobes were attached to the edge arches. It is controlled by internal elevators and external ailerons as well as a central vertical stabilizer. The machine also had a tripod chassis. The pilot Lucien Querey carried out the flight tests. On landing, the nose wheel broke and the fuselage was damaged.
In 1960, Briffaud built the aerobatic GB-80 glider based on the existing wings of the GB-6. The wings received an elliptical extension, the controls were retained.
The machine was equipped with a modification of the proven NACA profile 23012 and the view from the cockpit should have been unsurpassed. The first flight took place on September 21, 1960 in the aircraft tow with Jacques Goby at the controls. The aircraft received its type certification on June 6, 1961 . Different pictures show the GB-80 with a low, another time with an upwardly extended vertical tail unit with horn compensation. The flight characteristics and performance with the enlarged rudder are said to have roughly corresponded to those of a DFS titmouse . A conversion as a motor glider was planned from the start, whereby the propeller, similar to the German RW-3 , should rotate in a gap between the fin and the rudder. The motor should be installed behind the pilot and drive the propeller via a shaft. However, there was no suitable engine with a starter and so the GB-80 remained a sailor.
Disappointed, Briffaud downgraded the GB-80 in 1965 to use the wing for a new project called the GB-9. The GB-9 should have a front engine with a tension screw that could be started more easily. Later, however, Briffaud regretted disarming the GB-80 because he was very busy and the GB-9 was never finished.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 4.2 m |
| span | 11.2 m |
| height | |
| Wing area | 15.4 m² |
| Wing extension | 7.8 |
| Wing profile | NACA 23012 |
| Empty mass | 165 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 260 kg |
| Glide ratio | 22nd |
| Slightest sinking | 0.9 m / s |
| Top speed |
literature
- Rudolf Storck among others: Flying Wings. The historical development of the world's tailless and flying wing aircraft. Bernard and Graefe, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-7637-6242-6 .
- Martin Simons: Gliders - 1945 to 1965. Eqip Werbung & Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-9807977-3-2 .