The Fournier RF7 was a single-seat
motorglider
A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flight ...
designed and built in prototype form by
René Fournier in France in 1970 and intended for series production by
Sportavia-Pützer in Germany.
Design and development
The RF7 was a conventional motorglider design derived from Fournier's
RF 4D,
a low-wing cantilever
monoplane
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 ...
with an engine mounted 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 ...
in the nose.
[Taylor 1989, p.75] The sailplane-style undercarriage consisted of a retractable mainwheel, a fixed tailwheel, and small outriggers under each wing.
Compared to the RF 4. the wings were shorter and the tailplane surfaces larger.
The ailerons were also larger,
["Hanover Report", p.720] and the RF7 was fully stressed for
aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...
.
[''Interavia'', p.1225]
Construction of the prototype (
registered ''F-WPXV''
) began in July 1969,
and the aircraft first flew on 5 March 1970.
It was displayed at the
Hanover Air Show the following month, where the journal ''
Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...
'' praised it for the quality of its finish "
spite of its prototype status."
By 1971, Sportavia-Pützer abandoned its plans of series production of the type and hoped to market the RF7 in kit form instead.
By 1978, all development had been abandoned and the prototype was offered for sale.
["Hanover Review", p.1439]
Specifications
See also
Notes
References
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{{Sportavia-Pützer aircraft
1970s French sport aircraft
Fournier aircraft
Sportavia-Pützer aircraft
Motor gliders
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1970