| PW-4 Pelikan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| PW-4 Pelikan in the Polish Aviation Museum. | |
| Role | two seat motor-glider |
| National origin | Poland |
| Manufacturer | Politechnika Warszawska |
| First flight | 23 December 1990 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Politechnika Warszawska PW-4 Pelikan was a motor-glider variant of the two seat Polish PW-3 Bakcyl glider. Only one flew.
The Pelikan's structure and general layout was based on that of the PW-3 Bakcyl trainer glider. Both had fibreglass-epoxy structures, with a high wing, a tailboom with a conventional tail and a forward fuselage with two seats in tandem under a long canopy. Their differences stemmed from the pusher engine and its propeller, together with new landing gear to enable self-powered take-offs. [1] [2] [3]
Both aircraft had two-part wings built around a single spar with a glassfibre-covered D-box ahead of it and fabric covering behind. Unlike the Bakcyl, no forward sweep was necessary because the weight of the engine moved the centre of gravity rearwards to the passenger's seat, allowing the Pelikan to be flown with that seat occupied or empty, so the central section of the wing was rectangular in plan and the long tips straight-tapered on both leading and trailing edges. As on the Bakcyl, ailerons were on the outer sections and spoilers inboard, just behind the spars. The wings were braced from the lower fuselage with a single, faired strut to the spar on each side. [1] [3]
Forward of the wing the two aircraft were similar but the pod of the Pelikan ended ahead of the trailing edge of the wing. Its flat four, air-cooled, 60 kW (80 hp) Limbach L2000 engine was mounted on the wing and drove a pusher propeller, requiring the slender, rounded tailboom to be lowered from the wing, on the Bakcyl, to the bottom of the pod. The tail was similar to that of the Bakcyl, with a tall, broad fin and smaller, fabric covered rudder, together trapezoidal in profile, and a smaller, low set, fin-mounted, rectangular plan horizontal tail at the extreme end of the tailboom, its one-piece elevator aft of the rudder. [2] [3]
The Pelikan had fixed tricycle gear with mainwheels, equipped with brakes, on arched, cantilever, fibreglass-epoxy/spring legs from the lower fuselage [1] [3] (though one photograph [2] shows an additional drag strut) and a smaller, steerable nosewheel.
Two airframes were built but only one flew, with the other used for stress-testing. The first flight was on 23 December 1990. [3]
A very long series of testing followed, only concluding on 29 July 1995. It was decided that the Pelikan would not sell well, so no more were built. The prototype was operated by the Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics of Warsaw University of Technology. It displayed at the 16th Meeting of Amateur Aviation Structures in Oleśnica in June 1997 and remained active until seriously damaged in an accident on 11 November 2012. [3] In that period it logged 800 hours of flight. [4]
It never flew again but was restored to display condition by 2015 and can be seen in the Polish Aviation Museum, Kraków. [4]
Data from Samolotypolskie [2] except where noted
General characteristics
Performance
The SZD-45 Ogar (Hound) is a T-tailed cantilever high-wing monoplane of wooden, aluminium and fibreglass construction designed and manufactured in Poland.
The Strojnik S-2 is an American high-wing, single-seat motor glider that was designed and built by Aleš Strojnik.
The Radab Windex is a family of Swedish high-wing, single-seat aerobatic gliders and motor gliders that was designed by Sven Olof Ridder and produced initially by Radab and later by WindexAir AB as a kit for amateur construction.
The ProFe D-8 Moby Dick is a family of Czech pusher configuration, parasol wing, strut-braced, V-tailed, motor gliders that was designed by Oldřich Olšanský, M.Sc, and produced by ProFe as well by several amateur builders according to available plans. The aircraft is named for the great white whale of Herman Melville's novel of the same name and was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.
The ProFe Banjo is a family of Czech high-wing, strut-braced, T-tailed gliders and motor gliders designed and produced by ProFe in kit form for amateur construction.
The Air Est JCD 03 Pelican is a French mid-wing, twin tailed, flying wing single-seat motor glider that was designed by Jean-Claude Debreyer and produced by Air Est Services of Marly, Moselle and supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete aircraft.
The Bagalini Bagaliante is an Italian high-wing, strut-braced, single-seat, pusher configuration, conventional landing gear motor glider that was designed by Marino Bagalini and made available as plans for amateur construction.
The TeST TST-1 Alpin is a Czech shoulder-wing, single-seat, pusher configuration motor glider that was designed and produced by TeST.
The Alpaero Sirius, also called the Noin Sirius, is a French high-wing, strut-braced, pod-and-boom, cruciform tail, single-seat motor glider that was designed by Claude Noin and produced by his company, Alpaero of Châteauvieux, Hautes-Alpes. It was available as plans for amateur construction and also as a kit, but has been discontinued.
The Tisserand Hydroplum is a small amphibious aircraft with a single, pusher engine, built in France in the 1980s. Originally a single-seat, high-wing monoplane, it was developed into a two-seat biplane for production in kit form as the SMAN Pétrel.
The Cijan-Obad Orao is a competition single seat sailplane designed in Yugoslavia just after World War II, one of the most advanced of its type at the time. It flew in three World Gliding Championships, having greatest success at its first in 1950 when it reached third place.
The Bede XBD-2 was an experimental short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft, with several novel features such as structural use of glass-fibre and aluminium honeycomb, a suction boundary layer control (BLC) system and fuselage-mounted twin engines driving a pusher configuration, shrouded single propeller. The sole example flew in the early 1960s in the United States.
The Aérostructure Lutin 80, earlier known as the PLM 80, is a small, single seat motor glider with a low power pusher configuration engine, designed and built in France in the 1980s. Only two were completed.
The Blessing Rebell was a one/two seat motorglider designed for amateur construction in Germany. Only one was built, flying for the first time in 1973 in a pusher configuration. It was later modified and flew in 1980 as a tractor aircraft.
The ViS Sprint is a pusher configuration, pod-and-boom two-seat ultralight, designed and built in the Ukraine in the mid-2000s. It can serve as an agricultural spraying aircraft.
The Kortenbach & Rauh Kora 1 was an unusual twin boom, pusher configuration motor glider, designed and built in Germany in the 1970s and intended as a training aircraft.
The Rubik R-15 Koma (Godfather) was a side-by-side seat Hungarian training glider designed to introduce pilots to winch-launching techniques. A second, very similar but single seat design, the Rubik R-16 Lepke, provided follow-up solo experience of the same techniques. Pairs were widely used by Hungarian glider clubs post-war, with 65 of each produced.
The Rubik R-16 Lepke (Butterfly) was a single seat Hungarian training glider designed to follow the very similar but two seat Rubik R-15 Koma in a winch-launch training programme. The Lepke provided solo experience of the techniques learned with an instructor in an aircraft with similar handling characteristics. That done, the Lepke could be used as a standard trainer to take its pilot to C-certificate level. The pair were widely used by Hungarian glider clubs post-war, with sixty-five of each produced.
The Kemény K-02 Szellő was a Hungarian training glider from the late 1940s. It was originally designed for a national contest to build a primary trainer but when this was won by the Rubik R-16 Lepke it was resigned to have more advanced soaring capability which could take pilots to their Silver C badge. Ninety were produced.
The Politechnika Warszawska PW-3 Bakcyl (Microbe) is a Polish primary glider developed from the PW-2 Gapa.