The Pober Pixie is a single-seat light aircraft that was designed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1974 and marketed as plans for homebuilding.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 140. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', pages 91. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. It is a conventional parasol-wing

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 fixed tailwheel undercarriage and a single open cockpit. The design was inspired by the

Heath Parasol The Heath Parasol is an American single or two seat, open-cockpit, parasol winged, homebuilt monoplane. Design and development In 1926, Edward Bayard Heath, a successful American air racer and the owner of an aircraft parts supply business, b ...

Development

In response to the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

, the EAA launched "Project Econoplane" to develop an aircraft with high fuel economy that would therefore be affordable for its members to operate. The Pober Pixie was the result, with a

Volkswagen air-cooled engine The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and co ...

of 1835 cc and a fuel consumption of 3 to 3.5 US Gal (11 to 13 L) per hour. Plans were completed in January 1974 and the prototype flew in late July, in time for the EAA Annual Convention that year. After the convention, the prototype was returned to the workshop for modifications, including installation of a Limbach SL 1700 EA engine and Rehm 5330 two-blade fixed-pitch propeller, details of which were incorporated into the plans.

Design

The Pixie fuselage is fabicated from welded

4130 steel 41xx steel is a family of SAE steel grades, as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Alloying elements include chromium and molybdenum, and as a result these materials are often informally referred to as chromoly steel (common ...

tube, while the wings are made from Sitka spruce covered with Stits Poly-fiber fabric. Recommended engines include

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

or the

Continental A65 The Continental O-170 engine is the collective military designation for a family of small aircraft engines, known under the company designation of A50, A65, A75 and A80. The line was designed and built by Continental Motors commencing in the 194 ...

. The design includes full-span

ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in Flight dynamics, roll (or ...

that give it a high roll rate with minimal

adverse yaw Adverse yaw is the natural and undesirable tendency for an aircraft to yaw in the opposite direction of a roll. It is caused by the difference in lift and drag of each wing. The effect can be greatly minimized with ailerons deliberately designed to ...

Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co. is an American producer of aircraft parts and services including plans for homebuilt aircraft. History Aircraft Spruce Co. was founded in 1965 by Bob and Flo Irwin as a follow-on to founding Fullerton Air Parts ...

says of the design:

Operational history

By March 2017, 27 examples had been registered in the United States with 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 ...

and six with

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 ...

Variants

;Pober Pixie II :Paul Poberezny developed some drawings and started design and partial welding of a fuselage for a two-seat model. Michael Hoye of Heath Texas purchased the project in 1989, continued the design, and over a period of ten years completed building a single scratch built example of a tandem two-seat Pixie in 2000. This aircraft won an "outstanding workmanship" award at Airventure 2001 and was featured as the cover story by noted author Budd Davisson in the January 2002 issue of Sport Aviation magazine.

Specifications (typical Pixie)

References

* *
AirVenture Museum website on the type

EAA specification sheet for Pober Pixie

External links

{{commons category, Pober Pixie
Manufacturer's website
1970s United States sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft

Pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Acro Sport aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1974