The St Croix Pietenpol Aerial is an American

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

that was designed by Chad and Charles Willie and produced by

St Croix Aircraft St Croix Aircraft, was an American manufacturer of wooden propellers for homebuilt and ultralight aircraft and a supplier of aircraft plans and kits. The company headquarters was located in Corning, Iowa.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Ai ...

Corning, Iowa Corning is a city in Quincy Township, Adams County, Iowa, Quincy Township, Adams County, Iowa, Adams County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,564 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Adams County. Cornin ...

, first flown in 1977. When it was available the aircraft was supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction, with partial kits available.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 248. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

The Pietenpol Aerial was conceived as a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

adaptation of the

Pietenpol Air Camper The Pietenpol Air Camper is a simple parasol wing homebuilt aircraft designed by Bernard H. Pietenpol. The first prototype that became the Air Camper was built and flown by Pietenpol in 1928.Bowers, Peter M.: ''Guide to Homebuilts'', 9th ...

parasol 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 ...

homebuilt design. The design work was completed in 1974 and the first example flown in 1977, with the plans as supplemental drawings to the Aircamper plans. The resulting aircraft features a biplane layout, two separate

tandem 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 ...

open cockpits with individual windshields, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

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 from a combination of wood and welded steel tubing, all covered in doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. Its span wing has four

aileron 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 roll (or movement around ...

s and has a combined wing area of . The lower wing is removable, allowing the aircraft to fly as an Aircamper parasol

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 ...

. The cabin width is . The acceptable power range is and the standard engine used is the

Continental O-240 The Continental O-240 engine is a four-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engine that was developed in the late 1960s for use in light aircraft by Continental Motors, Inc. The first O-240 was certified on 7 July 1971. Design ...

powerplant. The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage is . The designers estimated the construction time from the supplied plans as 1200 hours. Flight testing showed that the aircraft has shorter take-off and landing distances that the standard Aircamper, a lower

stall speed In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', p. 486. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. This occurs when the ...

and better stability in turbulence. The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine is and the landing roll is .

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that 400 sets of plans had been sold. In February 2014 one example was 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 ...

Specifications (Pietenpol Aerial)

References

{{St Croix aircraft Aerial 1970s United States sport aircraft 1970s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Homebuilt aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1977