Fournier RF-1

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Fournier RF-1
f2
Type: Motor sailer
Design country:

FranceFrance France

Manufacturer:

Rene Fournier

First flight:

May 30, 1960

Commissioning:

1960

Production time:

1960

Number of pieces:

1

The Fournier RF-1 was a single-seat motor glider that was developed by Rene Fournier in France between 1957 and 1960.

history

The Fournier RF-1 was the first aircraft type developed by Rene Fournier . Since 1951, Fournier has been working on the design of his "Avion Planeur", which as a single-seat touring aircraft should have maximum flight efficiency, which aerodaynamically was given in a non-powered glider and thus made minimal demands on the motorization. For its users, the Avion Planeur was supposed to be an aircraft that was both inexpensive to purchase and operationally, and whose flight characteristics were easy to control. Although the Avion Planeur was often equated with motor gliders and was also approved as a motor glider in many countries, Rene Fournier focused on the powered flight of the Avion Planeur.

From the mid-1950s, Fournier began building a prototype in the forge workshop of a friend of his neighbors. In the fall of 1957, Fournier moved from Tours to the Cote d'Azur. In order to be able to continue the construction of his prototype, the management of the Waldorf Hotel in Cannes gave Fournier the rooms of a disused hotel laundry. After three years of construction, the machine, now known as the Fournier RF-1, was completed in early 1960. Since Rene Fournier had neither a test pilot license nor a pilot 's license in the early 1960s, Charles Fauvel carried out the first flight of the RF-1, certified as F-WJBX, on May 30, 1960 in Cannes-Mandelieu . Fauvel was himself a designer of various gliders. Further flight tests were carried out by Fournier's flight instructor Michel Ciret with the RF-1 in Cannes. In September 1960, Bernard Chauvreau, with whom Rene Fournier had attended the flying school in Tours in the 1950s and who was now in possession of a test pilot's license, took over the further testing in Tours, in which above all the aerobatics and glider suitability were tested. Load factors between +6 g and −3 g were determined. Since Rene Fournier had built the aircraft exclusively for his own use, it was approved as an amateur aircraft in France. Proof of 15 flight hours and 50 landings, as well as proof of a take-off distance of 600 meters to reach an altitude of 15 meters, was sufficient for this. After Ciret and Chauvreau provided evidence, the aircraft received the F-PJGX amateur license

In August 1960, Fournier and Chauvreau presented the RF-1 to a wider public for the first time. Chauvreau performed demonstration flights with the RF-1 on all major French air days in 1961. Interested pilots were given the opportunity to experience flights. Pilots from the French aviation authorities also flew the RF-1, whereupon the French state commissioned the construction of two more machines as pre-production aircraft that could be approved for future RF-1 series production. In 1961 Fournier calculated a unit price of around 18,500 francs. Francs or $ 3,800. Fournier revised the RF-1 design again for series production and continued development under the name Fournier RF-2 .

The Avion Planeur Fournier RF-1 remained a one-off. The prototype of the Avions Planeurs, the RF-1, was lost in June 1961 during a demonstration flight from Chauvreau to the Val-Suzon airfield near Dijon due to a pilot's error. Chauvreau was largely unharmed.

construction

The Avion Planeur Fournier RF-1 was a single-seat low-wing aircraft made of wood. The one-piece wing was made of spruce plywood and fabric planking. The RF-1 had a single, retractable central wheel as the landing gear. Two thin support struts under the wings kept the aircraft in balance when moving on the ground. The control on the ground took place via the star wheel. A 1131 cm³ Volkswagen engine with 25 hp that had been converted by Miettaux was used as the drive.

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
Crew / passengers 1
length 5.90 m
span 11.20 m
height 1.58 m
Wing area 11.00 m²
Empty mass 225 kg
Takeoff mass 335 kg
Cruising speed 150 km / h
Top speed 230 km / h
Service ceiling 5000 m
Range 500 km
Engines 1 x Miettaux 1131 cc; 27 PS (approx. 20 kW)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Zöller: Fournier Airplanes , 2017, ISBN 978-3-7460-4864-2
  2. ↑ Pilot, Aug 1988: The Avions Planeurs of Monsieur Fournier. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .
  3. ^ Rene Fournier: Mon reve et mes combats , Edition Sier, Jan. 2005, ISBN 978-2-9519-4580-7
  4. ↑ Flight, June 1, 1961: Flying for fun in the Fournier. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Aviasport, November 1960: RF-01 tourisme Rene Fournier de Monomoteur. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .