The Falco F8L is an Italian-designed lightweight 2-seater

aerobatic 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 ...

aircraft.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 251. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed by the renowned Italian designer

Stelio Frati Stelio Frati (born in Milan Italy in 1919, died 14 May 2010) was an Italian mechanical engineer and aeroplane designer. He graduated from the Politecnico of Milan as a mechanical engineer in 1943, participating in the design of the Aeronautica Lom ...

Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 118. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X in 1955, with the prototype, powered by a

Continental C-90 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).'' Federal Aviation Admin ...

engine, flying for the first time on 15 June 1955. The prototype was soon re-engined with a Lycoming O-290-D2B, forming the basis for the initial production batch. It was originally built in Italy by Aviamilano then

Aeromere __NOTOC__ Aeromere was an Italian aircraft manufacturing firm established at Trento in 1957 to build Aviamilano Super Falco aircraft for the US market, and the Aeromere M-100 sailplane for Italy's gliding clubs. In 1964 Events January ...

and later Laverda.Munson, Kenneth; Taylor, John: ''Jane's Pocket Book Light Aircraft Second Edition'', pages 130-131. Jane's Publishing Company, 1982. The aircraft is single-engined,

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

driven and designed for private and general aviation use.Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 69. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 The Falco was sold in kit or plans form for amateur construction by the Sequoia Aircraft Company of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

from the 1980s until its closure in 2014. Laverda F

The aircraft is widely considered to be one of the best handling, strongest, and most aesthetically pleasing designs ever made available to home builders. Pilots sometimes refer to the Falco as "the

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

of the air." Performance includes a 175 knot cruise speed and full

capability, with an inverted fuel tank an optional item. The Falco F8L is constructed of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

and typically Finnish birch

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

. The structure is built from laminated spruce bulkheads and the birch plywood is used for the skin. The plywood is often softened with hot steam, formed over the various structures and glued in place. The aircraft is rated for 6g positive and 3g negative. Reviewers Roy Beisswenger and Marino Boric described the design in a 2015 review as "a complex all-wooden construction in spruce and plywood and is therefore time-consuming to build. But the results in terms of weight and speed are remarkable., so much so that the Falco is considered a classic, with outstanding performance and handling."Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 124. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Variants

;F.8L Series I: Initial production model powered by 101 kW (135 hp) Lycoming engine. Ten built by Aviamilano starting in 1956. ;F.8L Series II: Improved model built by Aviamilano, with 112 kW (150 hp) engine. Twenty built. ;F.8L Series III: (Also known as F.8L America) Modified version of Series II built by Aeromere in conformance with US airworthiness requirements. 35 built by Aeromere. ;Super Falco Series IV: Similar to America, but with more powerful engine ( Lycoming O-320-B3) and constant speed propeller. Built by Laverda. Twenty built. ;Sequoia Falco: Similar to the production aircraft but re-designed for homebuilding from kits or plans, by Alfred Scott of Sequoia Aircraft Company and

David Thurston David Thurston (20 September 1918 – 10 December 2013) was an American aircraft designer noted for his work on small amphibious aircraft, including the Colonial Skimmer, Lake Buccaneer, Thurston Teal and AeroMarine Seafire. He also wrote three ...

Lake Buccaneer The Lake Buccaneer is an American four-seat, light amphibious aircraft derived from the Colonial C-2 Skimmer, itself a development of the three-seat Colonial C-1 Skimmer. Development The Colonial Aircraft of Sanford, Maine developed the C-2 ...

fame.

Specifications (Laverda Super Falco Series IV)

Notes

References

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External links