The BDC Aero Puma is a Canadian

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

and

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a fairly new category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictio ...

, originally designed by the Italian aircraft designer Antonio Bortolanza and built by Aeroplast of

Sale, Piedmont Sale is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northeast of Alessandria. Sale borders the following municipalities: Alessandria, Alluvioni Piovera, Castel ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is currently produced by BDC Aero Industrie of

Lachute, Quebec Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport. It is located on Autoroute 50, at the junctions of Quebec Provincial ...

. At one time available as a kit for amateur construction, now the aircraft is supplied only as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 71. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 75. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The aircraft was originally called the

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

by Bortolanza when he first designed it in the mid-1980s. Later it was known as the ''Drakken'' (Swedish for "

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

") before being renamed Puma. The aircraft was structurally redesigned by BDC Aero Industrie for higher gross weights, to comply with the Canadian

Advanced Ultralight The Canadian Aviation Regulations define two types of ultralight aircraft: basic ultra-light aeroplane (BULA), and advanced ultra-light aeroplane (AULA). Definition Regulation of ultra-light aircraft in Canada is covered by the Canadian A ...

rules and US light-sport aircraft rules, in 2006. It features a

strut-braced In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

enclosed cockpit with composite doors for access, fixed

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

with

wheel pants An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher c ...

. The aircraft is made with an

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

wing and composite

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

. Its span wing has an area of and flaps. Standard engines available are the

Rotax 912UL The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

and the

Rotax 912ULS The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

and

Rotax 912iS The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, later ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplants, plus the

Rotax 914 The Rotax 914 is a turbo-charged, four-stroke, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed aircraft engine with air-cooled cylinders and water-cooled cylinder heads. It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier R ...

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

engine. Originally there was a factory-supplied kit that was 90% complete and required the builder to paint the

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...

and procure and install the engine and instruments. By 2015 the aircraft was only available factory-built. The Puma is an approved

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

Advanced Ultralight and limited category aircraft, but, as of September 2015, does not appear on the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

light-sport aircraft list.

Operational history

In November 2017 there were three advanced ultralight and two limited category BDC-built Pumas registered with Transport Canada, all built by BDC between 2010 and 2016. There was one BDC-built Puma registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration in 2013. In addition Canada had one Bortolanza Puma, built in Italy in 2007, on its register.

Variants

;Aeroplast Pluto A-65 :Original model, designed by Antonio Bortolanza and produced by Aeroplast in Italy, with a gross weight for the European microlight category. Powered by a

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-certified aircraft operating ...

or a

. ;Aeroplast Drakken :Model designed by Antonio Bortolanza in Italy. ;Bortolanza Puma :Model designed and built by Antonio Bortolanza in Italy, with a gross weight for the Canadian advanced ultralight category. At least one built in 2007. ;BDC Aero Puma Advanced Ultralight :Redesigned model produced by BDC Aero Industrie in Lachute, Quebec, Canada, with a gross weight for the Canadian advanced ultralight category. Three built, one in 2010 and two in 2011. ;BDC Aero Puma LSA/Limited :Redesigned model produced by BDC Aero Industrie in Lachute, Quebec, Canada, with a gross weight for the Canadian limited category and the US LSA category. Two built in 2013 and one in 2016.

Specifications (BDC Puma Advanced Ultralight)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.puma-aircraft.com/
Photo of an Aeroplast Pluto A-65Photo of an Aeroplast Pluto A-65
1980s Canadian ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Light-sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft