| 3V-1 Eolo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | High performance glider |
| National origin | Italy |
| Manufacturer | SIAI-Marchetti |
| Designer | Giovanni Bruni |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | August 1955 |
The Bruni 3V-1 Eolo was a single seat Italian competition glider, first flown in 1955. It took part World Gliding Championships of 1956 but retired early after sustaining damage.
The Bruni 3V-1 Eolo, sometimes known as the SIAI-Marchetti Eolo 3V-1, was a high performance sailplane designed by Giovanni Bruni in Italy in the early 1950s. The 3V-1 was built by a collaboration between SIAI-Marchetti and the Alessandro Passeleva Soaring Sports Club of Vergiate. The high performance sailplane, intended for competitions and record breaking, was an all wooden cantilever mid-wing aircraft, with a high aspect ratio, single spar wing which was sharply tapered in plan and mounted with 3° of dihedral. [1] [2] The wing was covered with unusually thick plywood to maintain the laminar profile [3] and its tips carried "salmons", small streamlined bodies intended to minimise induced drag. Narrow slotted control surfaces filled the whole trailing edge, each occupying about a third of the span; the outermost were conventional ailerons, followed by a second set of ailerons which drooped when the flaps on the inboard third of the wing were lowered. [1] [2] The Eolo had a pair of mid-chord airbrakes mounted just behind the wing spar, each with sixteen blades deployed above and below the wing surfaces. [1] In the initial version there were inboard leading edge tanks that could hold 32 kg (71 lb) of water ballast. [1]
The Eolo's fuselage was a wood framed, ply skinned semi-monocoque of elliptical cross-section. Behind a pointed nose the pilot sat under a long, one piece canopy which extended rearwards almost to the wing leading edge where it was smoothly blended into the fuselage. It had a straight tapered V-tail with surfaces at 110°, ending in salmons, like the wings. [1] The elevators were equipped with trim tabs. [4] The glider had a monowheel undercarriage, equipped with a brake, which retracted behind two doors. There was also a sprung tailskid and a small protective nose skid. [1]
The Eolo first flew in August 1955. [1] A year later it competed in the World Gliding Championships held at Saint-Yan but had to retire after an accident on the third day. [5]
Data from The World's Sailplanes - Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt - Les Planeurs de le Monde (1958) [4]
General characteristics
Performance
