Fournier RF-7

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Fournier RF-7
Prototype of the Fournier RF-7
Type: Powered aircraft
Design country:

FranceFrance France

Manufacturer:

Sportavia

First flight:

February 26, 1970

Number of pieces:

1 + 2 self-made

The Fournier RF-7 was a single-seat touring aircraft by René Fournier from 1969, which was primarily intended for the US market.

history

When the Fournier RF-4 was marketed in the USA, the lack of American approval turned out to be a problem. All RF-4s sold in the USA could only be operated with an experimental license with corresponding restrictions. As a single igniter, the Rectimo 4AR engine of the RF-4 according to FAR-33 was not approved in the USA. Sportavia-Pützer therefore commissioned the Limbach company in 1969 to develop a suitable twin- igniter engine for the RF-4. The Sportavia-Limbach SL1700D, suitable for aerobatics, was then developed at Limbach. René Fournier then came up with the revised design of an RF-4 with the new twin-ignition engine SL1700D, which was initially to be approved in Europe as a purely motorized aircraft and later to receive a US type certification for the American market. Since René Fournier was able to do without the gliding characteristics required for motor glider certification for the certification of the powered aircraft, he reduced the wingspan of the RF-4 by two meters for the new design. Since the new design was to be approved as a purely powered aircraft, it was given the designation Fournier RF-7 .

Construction of the RF-7 prototype began in July 1969 at Fournier in Nitray. The first flight of the prototype WNr. 7001, F-WPXV with Bernard Chauvreau in Nitray. During the approval process in Germany, however, the SL1700D proved not to be approved by the Federal Aviation Office . The Limbach company then stopped development activities on the SL1700D. Alternative, already approved aircraft engines in the USA turned out to be too heavy for the RF-7. The development of the Fournier RF-7 was then given up at Sportavia.

The Fournier RF-7 was René Fournier's last single-seat touring aircraft and marks the end of more than twenty years of development from the "Avions Planeur" in the early 1950s to the RF-1 in 1960, the RF-3 in 1963 and the RF -4 in 1966. In the mid-1970s, René Fournier took up the idea of ​​a simple, inexpensive aircraft with minimal engine requirements when designing the two-seat Fournier RF-9 . The RF-7 prototype initially remained a one-off. Later, at least two kits appear to have been used to build self-builds.

construction

The fuselage and tail unit of the Fournier RF-7 were adopted unchanged from its predecessor RF-4. A wing shortened by two meters was used as the wing, in the wing root of which René Fournier provided a flat tank instead of the central tank of the RF-4. In addition to various other optimizations, Fournier fundamentally revised the central landing gear of the RF-4 when designing the RF-7.

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
Crew / passengers 1
length 6.14 m
span 9.40 m
height 1.57 m
Wing area 10.26 m²
Empty mass 300 kg
Takeoff mass 445 kg
Cruising speed 180 km / h
Top speed 220 km / h
Service ceiling 7000 m
Range 650 km
Engines a Limbach SL1700D
68 PS (approx. 50 kW)

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Fournier RF-7  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ René Fournier: Mon reve et mes combats , Edition Sier, Jan. 2005, ISBN 978-2-9519-4580-7
  2. ^ Paul Zöller: Fournier Airplanes , 2017, ISBN 978-3-7460-4864-2
  3. ↑ Jane's All the World Aircraft 1970/71